A Splitting of the Mind — John Babb

His father laid a hand on his shoulder and told him to do what had to be done. Problem was, his father died three years ago.Silas knows that he suffers from schizophrenia, and sometimes he sees, hears, and even feels things that aren't really there. He knows, when dead people hold conversations with him in the middle of the night, that it can't be true. The brain doctor told him that sooner or later, those imaginary people would start telling him to hurt himself or others. He worries that his mind will split apart and he'll hurt his ma, his brother Nathan, his neighbors, or some stranger who angers him on the streetcar.In the first years of the Depression and the last of Prohibition, it's a fight to survive. In the back roads of Missouri, it's worse. Silas and Nathan will try almost anything to earn a living, from learning stone masonry in a CCC camp to smuggling in liquor from wet Arkansas. Amid the angry attacks, family feuds, and murder, Silas waits for those dead people to start giving him their grisly instructions - for his mind to finish splitting apart.A riveting, realistic historical novel exploring mental health care and everyday life during the 1930s.