Iris Dunleavy is commited to Sanibel islands asylum by her husband after comitting some kind of UNSPEAKABLE ACTION wholly unfitting an obedient wife in the Victorian era.

The thing she did is only hinted but ultimately revealed to be her having having married a plantation owner and slave owner to boot,and not being able to countenance his cruel behavior to them tried to help them escape. It didnt go well as you can imagine

When she arrives at island wich is a tropical paradise she tries in vain to appeal to the common sense of the staff. But their minds are made up. She is unhinged and her refusal to admit this fact is hindering her from becoming well again.

Its an impossible situation.

While at the asylum she meets a range of character from the self righteous asylums doctor,his young son who mourns the inmate girl who was his friend(she comitted suicide),the doctors wife who resents being shut off on the island and the other sane and not so sane inhabitants at the asylum.

And she also meets Ambrose Weller a young (ish?) former confederate soldier who is prone to fits after experiencing the war. To calm himself down the doctor has ordered him to think of the color blue,wich the doctor believes is a calming hue.

Ambrose and Iris strikes up a friendship wich is strongly discouraged since Iris is still a married woman and for two inmates at an asylum its considered detrimental to recovery to get overly attached.

Then it gets complicated when the characters get more and more involved with each other and tangled up in their emotions.

Wich was the point where i started to skim this book.

The narrative was very confusing and jarring at times as it shifts between at least 5 characters and got a bit too introspective at times wich needlessly flowery prose.

There is also a war raging at the same time,wich doesnt seem to affect the island very much-it might be explained by being a bit isolated from the mainland. But I just felt that some more mention of it would have been believable.

As for the historical accuracy...I can very well believe these things happened to people who were admitted to asylums.The water treatment is a big threat through the book (regarded today as torture)

Some people even went mad because they were forcibly admitted to asylums.

Just read Victorian female reporter Nellie Bly´s undercover expose10 days in a Madhousewritten in the 1880s a good example of the way mentally ill were treated back then.


But still...I was hoping there would be some kind of happy ending but most of the characters end up suffering and being unhappy (or even dying)

Among the most depressing things I have read of lately. ( )

Set on Sanibel Island during the civil War, Iris is committed by the judge and her husband to the asylum, after she assists with helping the plantation slaves run away. While there, she befriends a civil war soldier, convincing herself that if they just runaway together, her love will keep him safe and his mind intact. Blue comes from the color that the psychiatrist has the soldier focus on when his flashbacks and dreams become too overwhelming, along with a good dose of laudanum. surprising twist at the end. ( )

http://stitchingmystressaway.com/blog/?p=827 - General Book Review

http://stitchingmystressaway.com/blog/?p=841 - Historical Context, because I'm a history nerd ( )

As the United States fights a Civil War, Iris Dunleavy wages a battle at her Virginia plantation home against her husband’s tyranny. As a result, she is “convicted of madness,” and is sent to an island asylum off the coast of Florida.

I wanted to like this. I thought the premise was interesting and that there would be some opportunity to learn more about the issues of the time, especially as it concerned treatment of the mentally ill. But I was sorely disappointed.

Hepinstall populates the novel with a wide array of characters: Dr. Cowell, who prides himself on running such a “modern” asylum; the matron, obviously modeled on Nurse Ratched; Wendell, the doctor’s pubescent son; Mary, the doctor’s wife who is more neurotic and needy than most of the patients; the chef, who has befriended Wendell; Ambrose, a confederate officer suffering from PTSD; and various other patients, from the charmingly odd to the deranged and violent. The doctor’s wife was a wasted opportunity. She floats in and out of the novel, much as she must float in and out her of laudanum-induced haze. Poor confused Wendell spends more time masturbating and hiding in the swamp than interacting with the characters; still, he plays a pivotal role.

There are a few positives. Iris is (mostly) a strong female lead character. If she occasionally acts against her own best interests, well, I think that’s easily understood given her circumstances. But her decisions and behavior in the last few chapters are just ridiculous. One moment she seems to have some sense of self-preservation and is thinking along those lines, the next she’s throwing caution to the winds and behaving in a manner that is sure to attract unwanted attention.

Perhaps Hepinstall was trying to give the reader a sense of the disorientation a truly sane person must feel in such a mandated confinement. If that was her intention, then she mostly succeeded. But, like Iris, I just wanted to escape. ( )

If you like dark, gothic, Civil War era stories, this is a good read. ( )