Sacrifice for Love

Sacrifice for Love
Fern Shepard
1963

NUTSHELL: A book made of TV Tropes. 7

Dr. Brad Portner runs his very own psychiatric hospital with the help of plucky young nurse Anne Baldwin. Unfortunately, Brad’s being pushed into giving up the hospital by his fiancée, Margaret Slater.

Well, it’s a good thing he’s been kinda ambivalent about this one, because the next thing you know, Margaret’s adopted younger sister, Sherri, turns up and tries to kill herself. Huh. I wonder where she got those pills?

If you’re still with me, there’s even more plot ahead.

Sherri recuperates in Brad’s hospital and is on her way to believing life is worth her while after all when a car accident results in Brad admitting Margaret as well. (The reason for Margaret’s despair? A cut on her face.) Life suddenly gets a lot more dangerous for everyone at Faith Memorial.

Brad feels so guilty over Margaret’s accident that he tells Anne he loves her but can never be with her. At one point, he thinks maybe he should marry Margaret in order to commit her to a higher-security facility. Of course, Margaret’s dad decides that’s not an option and tries to stop the whole farce, but Margaret’s determined to get her revenge, so she goes back to Faith Memorial with some rags and gasoline and torches the place, starting with the cottage where her sister and Anne are sleeping.

It doesn’t work out quite as she planned.

In the end, Sherri is saved by the strong, handsome psychiatry student who conveniently happens to be a patient because of “self-confidence issues”, and Brad and Anne get their Happily Ever After.