Bibliography: Eagland, Jane. (September 2010). Wildthorn. New York: Houghton Mifflin Children’s Books. ISBN: 9780547370170
Plot Summary: 17 year old Louisa Cosgrove wants nothing more than to study to become a doctor, a rare choice for a woman in Victorian England. When her father, her main supporter, becomes ill and dies, she resigns herself to becoming a lady’s companion instead. When the carriage pulls up, not at a manor house, but at an insane asylum, Louisa is sure there must have been a mistake. They don’t even seem to know her true name. As the truth sinks in, she is determined to survive the horrible conditions, find out who put her there, and get away as soon as she can.
Critical Analysis: I found this book utterly compelling and was unable to put it down. I think it was a combination of factors. The narrative structure alternates between vignettes from Louisa’s past and events happening in her present. It adds to the mystery, as present Louisa wonders what from her past might have landed her here. Louisa herself refuses to conform to the expected role of a girl/woman in Victorian times, and this is made even more evident in the secondary characters with which Eagland surrounds her. Some are sympathetic to Louisa, like her father, and others are not. As the story goes on, the reader, along with Louisa, learns that most of these characters are not what they seemed, adding if not to their growth, to hers.
The publisher calls this a romance, perhaps a misnomer, or at least misleading, as while there is a romantic thread, this story is focused much more on Louisa than on the romance. For me, the part of the story that felt the most new and fresh were the scenes in the asylum, both how Louisa was treated and the descriptions of the other women there, their pasts and stories. To have this shown in such vivid detail and to realize how common a practice it was at times in the past leaves me reeling. I almost want to seek out some of the diaries or other materials Eagland used for her research, but I’m not sure I could handle it.
Readalikes: Not long after I finished Wildthorn, I listened to the audio of My Name is Marry Sutter by Robin Oliveira. Mary Sutter has many parallels to Louisa–upper middle class background, well educated, wants to be a doctor at a time when that was still considered strange. Mary, however, has the support of her midwife mother, and the benefit (if you want to call it that) of the American Civil War as a training ground. A story both epic and intimate, of family and of coming of age , of medicine and war, I highly recommend it as well.
Reviewed from publisher provided egalley downloaded from Netgalley.com Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.
