An intelligent but troubled eighteen-year-old girl to whom Freud gives the pseudonym "Dora" is at the center of this captivating case study. Freud's analysis focuses on Dora, however she is surrounded by an emotionally disturbed cast of characters that thicken the psychological intrigue. As Dora falls into the paralysis of psychological hysteria, Freud uses all of his analytical genius and literary skill to explore Dora's inner life and explain the cause of her neuroses.