Title: Wildthorn
Author: Jane Eagland
Published: 2009
Genre: YA Historical
Synopsis: They strip her naked, of everything—undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen—still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . .
Originally published in the UK, this well-paced, provocative romance pushes on boundaries—both literal and figurative—and, do beware: it will bind you, too.
In a word: Engrossing
I did not know anything about this story when I borrowed it from the library. I liked the cover and the story of young girl locked up in an asylum sounded intriguing to me. To review this book I am going to have to give away something- there is no other way for me to give my review. First I want to say, this was an EXCELLENT book and because I want to share how it touched me, I need to give something away that some might or might not already be known about the story. (I didn't know it)
***If you haven't read the book, have no idea what it's about and don't want to know anything more, don't read my review. If you have no plans to read this, please read the review anyway...it might change your mind.
Let me start by asking you a question. Have you ever really considered what it must have been like years ago when men dominated everything? When men decided a woman's fate? Decided how she would live her life, whom she would see, talk to... whom she would marry? A time when women had very little to no choices at all. That would all be hard enough for a heterosexual woman to endure...being given in marriage to man she didn't love or even like. Now imagine for a moment would sort of hell it would be like if you were a lesbian. No hope of ever truly being with someone you cared about and loved. Not only would men forbid it, but even other women and society at large would forbid it- in many places this still occurs. But to get back to the book review, I personally hadn't given it much thought. Not being a lesbian, I haven't ever thought about them in history. I've thought about women in general and their plight, but never specifically a lesbian woman in historical times... until I read this book.
As I've already said, I had no idea what this book was about except for a young girl being institutionalized in an asylum for "mad people". As I read each chapter I asked myself more questions and began to put myself in the place of women throughout history whom have suffered injustices merely because they were women and dependent on men in their lives for their very lives. It made me angry.
This book begins by flipping back and forth between what is currently happening to Louisa and her history leading up to being locked in an asylum. At first I was annoyed by this set up, but soon found it was the best way to tell the story.
Louisa is not lady-like much to her mother's displeasure. Louisa prefers playing marbles to playing with dolls. As she gets older she still prefers the company of her doctor father discussing illnesses to visiting other ladies with her mother. Her brother Thomas is jealous of her because she's smart and the apple of their father's eye.
Over and over again, Louisa seems to put off other girls and young ladies because Louisa isn't like them. She just can't seem to relate to them at all. She's not interested in boys or getting married. She doesn't care about proper manners or keeping her clothing neat and tidy. She has her heart on becoming a doctor like her father. She loves investigating things, experimenting and learning. She wants to help people, not invite them over for tea. This causes a rifted between her and her mother. These two women just don't understand each other and Louisa being young finds herself very frustrated by her place in life and societies expectations of her. She's very unhappy most of the time...her happiest times are with her father and studying.
When her father dies rather suddenly, the family is torn apart. Her brother is away at school and her mother falls into a depression. Louisa is heartbroken she's lost her beloved father, the only one who understood her and supported her. At the same time Louisa is shocked to discover she's got a crush on a girl. She is appalled by the thought, but the feelings are real and won't go away. The object of her crush is soon to get married and if that isn't bad enough she's also related to the girl. Incest girl love- Louisa is stunned but can't deny it.
With the blow of losing her father, quickly followed by the blow of knowing the girl she loves is marrying someone else Louisa is beside herself in confusion and frustration. Without her father, she nearly loses hope of ever becoming a doctor. But she never the less tries to engage her brother to help her, only Tom is still jealous and bitter towards her. He will not be swayed. Instead he and others in the family plot against her.
Hence, Louisa finds herself institutionalized and the real hell of her life begins. She is stripped of her clothing, dignity and dreams. No one will believe a word she says. They think she is truly nuts and her rants are lies. Louisa's frustration at not being believe cause her outbursts that do nothing to get anyone to believe she is sane and has been unfairly locked up. Louisa is poorly treated and abused at the institute. She loses weight, her hair is a tangled mess, she stops washing herself and begins to think the institute is succeeding in driving her insane. Until one of the institutes attendants, Eliza, befriends her. She is the only kind person Louisa has any contact with and even that contact is very limited. Eliza's job is strict and if she steps over the line and shows favoritism to Louisa she will find herself out of work. Louisa takes pity on another inmate. A girl whom everyone thinks is crazy, but Louisa believes her story. She doesn't think the girl is insane at all. She inspires Louisa not to just escape, but to also be a hero and rescue the girl from the unfairness of her imprisonment.
Louisa focuses on escape. If she can't get anyone to listen to her, she must escape the hell she is in. She has no idea where to go or what she'll do once she escapes but she knows if she stays she will end up dead. The institute is that terrible. I won't give any of this away...its daring and full of hold your breath moments.
Later, after Louisa is free the truth of her imprisonment is revealed and I was fuming mad for her. The injustice of it. Mostly the power given to men at that time was enraging, but also that the people with lots of money could basically do as they liked. If you weren't a man or didn't have money you were doomed to live at the whims of those who were men or had money. Sad.
What is also revealed is that Louisa finds love with someone who loves her back. Another woman. A woman who understands Louisa, supports her and dares to love her back. While they grapple with their feelings they try to figure out how they can be together in the world they live in. Lesbians living and loving together is just not done in their time period. But Louisa won't give up the love she's found. She is determined more than ever to find a way to have it all. She wants to be a doctor and she wants her female love with her. Her tenacious spirit and will to live her life her way drive her forward as she embraces who she is. She never gives up and it pays off in the end.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.
I really enjoyed this thought provoking and touching story. This is my first "lesbian" story, though I've read some bi-sexual girl love stories before. This was certainly my first YA historical lesbian story and it was very well done. The plight of women in history, specifically lesbians, was front and center on every page. Something some women today might take for granted. Never, ever take for granted the rights we have today. Too many women have suffered- are still suffering today to take it for granted.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK.
To buy it: Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Author: Jane Eagland
Published: 2009
Genre: YA Historical
Synopsis: They strip her naked, of everything—undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen—still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . .
Originally published in the UK, this well-paced, provocative romance pushes on boundaries—both literal and figurative—and, do beware: it will bind you, too.
In a word: Engrossing
I did not know anything about this story when I borrowed it from the library. I liked the cover and the story of young girl locked up in an asylum sounded intriguing to me. To review this book I am going to have to give away something- there is no other way for me to give my review. First I want to say, this was an EXCELLENT book and because I want to share how it touched me, I need to give something away that some might or might not already be known about the story. (I didn't know it)
***If you haven't read the book, have no idea what it's about and don't want to know anything more, don't read my review. If you have no plans to read this, please read the review anyway...it might change your mind.
Let me start by asking you a question. Have you ever really considered what it must have been like years ago when men dominated everything? When men decided a woman's fate? Decided how she would live her life, whom she would see, talk to... whom she would marry? A time when women had very little to no choices at all. That would all be hard enough for a heterosexual woman to endure...being given in marriage to man she didn't love or even like. Now imagine for a moment would sort of hell it would be like if you were a lesbian. No hope of ever truly being with someone you cared about and loved. Not only would men forbid it, but even other women and society at large would forbid it- in many places this still occurs. But to get back to the book review, I personally hadn't given it much thought. Not being a lesbian, I haven't ever thought about them in history. I've thought about women in general and their plight, but never specifically a lesbian woman in historical times... until I read this book.
As I've already said, I had no idea what this book was about except for a young girl being institutionalized in an asylum for "mad people". As I read each chapter I asked myself more questions and began to put myself in the place of women throughout history whom have suffered injustices merely because they were women and dependent on men in their lives for their very lives. It made me angry.
This book begins by flipping back and forth between what is currently happening to Louisa and her history leading up to being locked in an asylum. At first I was annoyed by this set up, but soon found it was the best way to tell the story.
Louisa is not lady-like much to her mother's displeasure. Louisa prefers playing marbles to playing with dolls. As she gets older she still prefers the company of her doctor father discussing illnesses to visiting other ladies with her mother. Her brother Thomas is jealous of her because she's smart and the apple of their father's eye.
Over and over again, Louisa seems to put off other girls and young ladies because Louisa isn't like them. She just can't seem to relate to them at all. She's not interested in boys or getting married. She doesn't care about proper manners or keeping her clothing neat and tidy. She has her heart on becoming a doctor like her father. She loves investigating things, experimenting and learning. She wants to help people, not invite them over for tea. This causes a rifted between her and her mother. These two women just don't understand each other and Louisa being young finds herself very frustrated by her place in life and societies expectations of her. She's very unhappy most of the time...her happiest times are with her father and studying.
When her father dies rather suddenly, the family is torn apart. Her brother is away at school and her mother falls into a depression. Louisa is heartbroken she's lost her beloved father, the only one who understood her and supported her. At the same time Louisa is shocked to discover she's got a crush on a girl. She is appalled by the thought, but the feelings are real and won't go away. The object of her crush is soon to get married and if that isn't bad enough she's also related to the girl. Incest girl love- Louisa is stunned but can't deny it.
With the blow of losing her father, quickly followed by the blow of knowing the girl she loves is marrying someone else Louisa is beside herself in confusion and frustration. Without her father, she nearly loses hope of ever becoming a doctor. But she never the less tries to engage her brother to help her, only Tom is still jealous and bitter towards her. He will not be swayed. Instead he and others in the family plot against her.
Hence, Louisa finds herself institutionalized and the real hell of her life begins. She is stripped of her clothing, dignity and dreams. No one will believe a word she says. They think she is truly nuts and her rants are lies. Louisa's frustration at not being believe cause her outbursts that do nothing to get anyone to believe she is sane and has been unfairly locked up. Louisa is poorly treated and abused at the institute. She loses weight, her hair is a tangled mess, she stops washing herself and begins to think the institute is succeeding in driving her insane. Until one of the institutes attendants, Eliza, befriends her. She is the only kind person Louisa has any contact with and even that contact is very limited. Eliza's job is strict and if she steps over the line and shows favoritism to Louisa she will find herself out of work. Louisa takes pity on another inmate. A girl whom everyone thinks is crazy, but Louisa believes her story. She doesn't think the girl is insane at all. She inspires Louisa not to just escape, but to also be a hero and rescue the girl from the unfairness of her imprisonment.
Louisa focuses on escape. If she can't get anyone to listen to her, she must escape the hell she is in. She has no idea where to go or what she'll do once she escapes but she knows if she stays she will end up dead. The institute is that terrible. I won't give any of this away...its daring and full of hold your breath moments.
Later, after Louisa is free the truth of her imprisonment is revealed and I was fuming mad for her. The injustice of it. Mostly the power given to men at that time was enraging, but also that the people with lots of money could basically do as they liked. If you weren't a man or didn't have money you were doomed to live at the whims of those who were men or had money. Sad.
What is also revealed is that Louisa finds love with someone who loves her back. Another woman. A woman who understands Louisa, supports her and dares to love her back. While they grapple with their feelings they try to figure out how they can be together in the world they live in. Lesbians living and loving together is just not done in their time period. But Louisa won't give up the love she's found. She is determined more than ever to find a way to have it all. She wants to be a doctor and she wants her female love with her. Her tenacious spirit and will to live her life her way drive her forward as she embraces who she is. She never gives up and it pays off in the end.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.
I really enjoyed this thought provoking and touching story. This is my first "lesbian" story, though I've read some bi-sexual girl love stories before. This was certainly my first YA historical lesbian story and it was very well done. The plight of women in history, specifically lesbians, was front and center on every page. Something some women today might take for granted. Never, ever take for granted the rights we have today. Too many women have suffered- are still suffering today to take it for granted.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK.
To buy it: Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
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