A Librarian and Her Books

I had absolutely no expectations when I picked up this novel. The cover was quite intriguing, but I’d never read any books by Phillips despite her having quite a few titles under her belt. This book was, in fact, a National Book Award Nominee for fiction in 2023. The concept of a book set at a late-1800’s asylum led me to believe it would be insanely dark and ridiculously disturbing in a very fascinating way. That was not, actually, what I found upon reading this novel.

Synopsis

In 1874, the United States is still reeling from the horrors of the Civil War. ConaLee and her mother, Eliza, alone on their family property when ConaLee’s father didn’t return from the war, have long been victim to one of the roving veterans who survives merely by taking from those he encounters. This period during and after the war was especially dangerous for women and children left alone on their homesteads where even vigilance wasn’t enough to prevent an attack. When this stranger inserts himself into their lives, insisting they call him Papa, Eliza withdraws into herself and becomes little more than a ghost in her own home, wordless and numb. ConaLee does her best to care for her mother and the children that have come from the forced union between her mother and “Papa.” When the cruel man has finally had enough, he sends the babies away and loads ConaLee and Eliza on a wagon and delivers them to the steps of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. There, using false identities, they make a home for themselves and Eliza slowly begins to return to her former self under the care and protection of the people they meet. Unfortunately, peace and security rarely ever last.

Review

I had a bit of difficulty getting into this book. The writing style is sort of vague and dreamy, requiring quite a bit of concentration to absorb the details. Additionally, I absolutely hate it when writers refuse to use quotation marks to delineate conversations. Frankly, I think it’s quite pretentious to think you can get away with breaking the rules just because you are otherwise a fabulous writer. It serves no purpose but to confuse and make the reader work harder to try to follow conversations. However, once I got used to Phillips’ writing style, I found myself quite engrossed. Mind you, the beginning of this novel has some amazingly disturbing scenes of violence and rape, so trigger warnings abound. She holds nothing back on the horrors experienced by people following the Civil War, a time of lawlessness and desperation for many. I expected the disturbing stuff to be at the asylum, but it was the exact opposite.

These characters have somewhat of a Dickensian quality, especially the Night Watch. This stoic and enigmatic man who greeted them at the gates of the asylum is a positive but mystifying presence, not unkind but keeping to himself. His face terribly scarred from his experiences in the war and being in possession of no family, he wants little more than to have his little corner of comfort within the secure walls of the asylum. There’s also the kindly doctor who takes a liking to Eliza, proving to her there are still good men in the world who don’t view her as a commodity to be used and discarded.

This novel is peppered with fascinating and original characters, including Dearbhla, a kindly old woman who was a mother figure to ConaLee’s father. In a touch of magical realism, Dearbhla has the ability to sense her loved ones, and for this reason she doesn’t believe him to be dead and sets off to find him to return him to his family. The story bounces back and forth between different perspectives, those already mentioned and a young orphan living at the asylum who is somewhat of a companion to the night watch. Even the characters on the periphery of this story play an important role, even if it’s just to illustrate the effects of the war on the psyche. Of particular note was a woman who befriends Eliza and seems to believe herself to be Mary Todd Lincoln, constantly recounting her expressions of grief over the loss of her husband and children, a clear projection of her own trauma surrounding the war.

As far as the asylum, itself, this is a very unique dive into history that most people don’t realize existed. We think of early asylums as a kind of Cuckoo’s Nest-esque horror, more akin to torture chambers than hospitals. But Phillips presents to us a very important historical figure, Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. Dr. Kirkbride was a physician who advocated for compassion in treatment of the mentally ill. His asylum in West Virginia was in operation from 1864 all the way until 1994, after which it became a tourist attraction and historical landmark. Sadly, after the turn of the century it did fall into disarray and became more of the horror factory we know of today, shackling patients in overcrowded wards and passing out lobotomies left and right, but it’s good to know part of its history was positive. It’s a beautiful building, a mix of Gothic revival and Tudor revival styles, still standing in the town of Weston, West Virginia. I do love how historical fiction can often introduce me to something new. I mean old… but new to me.

I did find myself a bit disappointed by the end of the novel. The conclusion felt a bit rushed, which lessened the impact I feel it should have had. The tone of the novel sort of shifted from a lyrically profound exploration of the effects of human suffering to an explosion of action all within a matter of pages. Overall, however, Phillips is a master story-teller who deftly uses language to illustrate the most important effects of historical events in a way few other authors are capable. The story and the characters will stick with me, which is a plus.

Published September 19, 2023 by Knopf. ISBN 9780451493330. Hardcover. 304 pages.