THE RED ORGANDY DRESS

About the Book

The Red Organdy Dress takes you into the psychotic world of a schizophrenic. It is
a fi ctional case study, of a young woman, LaLa who has experienced a psychotic
break. You will understand how family dynamic and dysfunctional family styles often
exacerbate mental illness. Lala is a typical little girl who feels disenfranchised by
her father and detached from a mother overwhelmed by her new status of single
woman. During an era when it was not popular and extremely embarrassing and
stressful. The era for the story is between 1945 and 1985.
The Red Organdy Dress takes place in Los Angeles California during the boom of
growing prosperity immediately after the war. African Americans were moving west
in large numbers and establishing businesses. LaLa’s father was on his way to being
a successful business man but he was less than faithful to his wife. He was an old
fashion man who believed that women had their place in the home and that it was
natural for men to roam.

About the Author

The author, Beverly O’Rourke spent twenty five years working in mental hospitals and mental health facilities interviewing, diagnosing and writing case studies for psychotic individuals. The co-author, Teri Clark, Beverly O’Rourke’s daughter, has an amazing and creative spirit that helped to develop the story. The inspiration for the Red Organdy Dress came from a woman who could not get over the best time of her life as a child. The best present she had ever received and the person who gave it to her. LaLa's delusions made no since at all but they were embedded in these memories.