J.R. Bergstrom

Why are some people more resilient than others to emotional trauma? Family life makes a difference, but what other factors influence recovery? Do genetics play into emotional survival? Does birth order? How does a historical period a person comes of age in make a difference? What kinds therapies—formal or informal—help restore emotional equilibrium? The Truth About Normal explores these questions.

In the 1960s, when Janelle meets her best friend Nadia in junior high school, they are living carefree lives in a small town in Oregon. While navigating through their teenage years they hold one another up during the changing moralities and social structures sweeping the world. They come of age in an era that rejects old standards and struggles to create new ones.

This multi-layered novel explores many facets of love, loss of innocence, debilitating sorrow, broken spirits, and emotional recovery. Changing food, music, and fashion trends are woven throughout the story from the beginning to the end, and humorous and heartbreaking scenes take readers on an emotional journey.