Love is the Hardest Lesson: A Memoir

Margaret Hope Bacon. Love Is the Hardest Lesson: A Memoir
Paperback: 160pp. Pendle Hill Publications 1999

"Margaret Hope Bacon gives us a vivid account of her experience working in a state psychiatric institution as the young wife of a conscientious objector during World War II. She portrays the insulated and dehumanizing world of Sykesville where patients lost their individuality and caregivers behaved abusively from their own fear. The tale reminds us of our own vulnerabilities as well as of the critical importance of community-based mental health treatment. Margaret's personal story movingly illustrates the transformative power of love which casts out fear and restores to others their sense of humanity." - Lee Junker, Mental Health Professional and Quaker