WHAT IS "NORMAL"? That question consumes psychologist Cathy Morgen when she takes on the case of a devastated teenager named Joseph. In the spring of 1961, Cathy receives a distressing call from the director of Summerhaven Mental Hospital in Portland, Oregon: They need her expertise. Over her husband's angry protests, Cathy drives to the asylum, where she observes a bizarre sight: a kicking, neighing boy behaving exactly like a panicked mustang. What horrors, Cathy asks herself, have caused Joseph to give up being human? Thus begins Cathy's heart-wrenching quest to unravel the mystery of the talented, traumatized "horse-boy"-and in doing so redeem herself for failing to save a similar young patient. Many people are working against her, including an arrogant chief psychiatrist, a doctor who favors a host of barbaric "therapies," and her own spouse. Near escapes, brilliant insights, shocking confessions, and unthinkable betrayal will all play a role in helping Cathy discover the true meaning of "normal.".and the key to healing Joseph's broken psyche.

The Thundering is a haunting and uplifting tale of brutality and compassion during the darkest times of America's mental healthcare crisis.