KATHERINE, IT'S TIME: An Incredible Journey into the World of a Multiple Personality

Add to the revelations of Eve and Sybil another gripping account of a woman who led many lives and became whole through the intervention of a ""spirit guide"" named Michael. Kit Castle began life as Elizabeth Meyer and before she was two years old had split into Little Elizabeth and Little Andrea. Joining that pair as the years passed were Liz, the victim; Me-Liz, the religious one; Penny Lavender, artistic and ethereal; Jess, a science-minded boy; and Kitty Rosetti, a capable, assertive, attractive woman who worked both as a successful stripteaser and a successful business executive. Kitty was the only one to know about the existence of all the others. Frequently attired in dark coat and hat, Michael was an important mental presence in the lives of these women from early childhood, appearing sporadically and usually in time to stave off disaster. Psychiatrists specializing in multiple-personality disorder are familiar with this type of benevolent persona, dubbing it an ""inner self-helper."" The story is told in the third person, re-created from the memories of the integrated personality, Kit Castle. It is fascinating biography/autobiography, and well-written by a man who first met Kit when she was Penny and he a newspaper reporter--and who likens the multi-personality phenomenon to a handful of unstrung pearls, and to a long corridor lined with closets in which each character hid until time to emerge. Such metaphors help clarify the experience--though the addition of the mysterious Michael to the mental cast of characters here makes it somewhat more difficult to accept.