Charlotte Temple is an eighteenth-century novel which tells the story of a fifteen-year-old English girl, Charlotte, who is seduced by an older soldier, John Montraville. After setting his sights on Charlotte, Montraville is able to elope with her with the help of one of Charlotte's teachers. The two abscond to America, where Montraville abandons the pregnant Charlotte. Charlotte's demise is meant to serve as a reminder that indulging in vice will lead to misery for all involved.
Girl, Interrupted relates the story of Susanna Kaysen, who was sent to the McLean psychiatric hospital for borderline personality disorder in the 1960s. Surrounded by women with varying degrees of mental illnesses, Susanna makes and loses friends while questioning the ideas of therapy, identity, and institutionalization. This true story examines a young woman's struggle to figure out who she is while slowly realizing that she is missing out on life.