Stolen Summers - Libroj.org

Poŝlibro, 151 paĝoj

Eldonita je 27-a de septembro 2022 de Annecdotal Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-7391450-0-2

(1 recenzo)

All she has left is her sanity. Will the asylum take that from her too? In 1939, Matilda is admitted to Ghyllside hospital, cut off from family and friends. Not quite twenty, and forced to give up her baby for adoption, she feels battered by the cruel regime. Yet she finds a surprising ally in rough-edged Doris, who risks harsh punishments to help her reach out to the brother she left behind.

Twenty-five years later, the rules have relaxed, and the women are free to leave. How will they cope in a world transformed in their absence? Do greater dangers await them outside?

The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home is a tragic yet tender story of a woman robbed of her future who summons the strength to survive.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Stolen Summers de Anne Goodwin

An emotional read

5 steloj

Although I already had some idea of Matty's story, having read Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home last year, I wasn't prepared for just how emotional this novel would make me. The sheer unfairness of Matty's enforced hospitalisation made me particularly angry, especially as by seeing the experience through her eyes, I soon realised that she really did have no idea of what was waiting for her. Matty's naivete in the first chapter is heartbreaking. I don't often cry while reading, but my advice for Stolen Summers is to have a handkerchief near to hand.

Anne Goodwin portrays Matty and her fellow Ghyllside residents with great sensitivity so, while I could appreciate the absurdities of their situation, I never felt the patients themselves to be absurd. Indeed, the shifting social policies and expectations that dictate their treatments and freedoms seem to be the cause of many of Matty's troubles. Some of …

Although I already had some idea of Matty's story, having read Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home last year, I wasn't prepared for just how emotional this novel would make me. The sheer unfairness of Matty's enforced hospitalisation made me particularly angry, especially as by seeing the experience through her eyes, I soon realised that she really did have no idea of what was waiting for her. Matty's naivete in the first chapter is heartbreaking. I don't often cry while reading, but my advice for Stolen Summers is to have a handkerchief near to hand.

Anne Goodwin portrays Matty and her fellow Ghyllside residents with great sensitivity so, while I could appreciate the absurdities of their situation, I never felt the patients themselves to be absurd. Indeed, the shifting social policies and expectations that dictate their treatments and freedoms seem to be the cause of many of Matty's troubles. Some of those historical 'treatments' are just awful. The powerful aspect of Stolen Summers for me though waas to witness how a perfectly healthy, vibrant young woman was turned into the totally institutionalised Matty by a system that she should never have been anywhere near in the first place. Stolen Summers is a beautifully written story which made me both angry and very sad.