Gayle Chapman is known in Victoria's mental health system for being a difficult nut to crack. Despite a life spent in and out of psychiatric hospitals from her teens to her 60s - or perhaps because of it - she founded a successful program that pairs persons with mental illness with volunteers, and she was named Volunteer of the Year by the British Columbia Volunteer Association. Nominated for a Women of Distinction Award by the Division of Canadian Mental Health. She is a gifted artist as well as a survivor. This is her debut novel.