The illness lesson
Beams, Clare2021
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1871. At the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds has descended. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher is waning, takes the birds' appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He starts a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has guided his daughter's. Despite Caroline's misgivings, Samuel's vision - revolutionary, as always; noble, as always; full of holes, as always - takes shape. It's not long before the students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, seizures, verbal tics, night wanderings. In desperate, the school turns to the ministering of a sinister physician - just as Caroline's body, too, begins its betrayal. As the girls' condition worsens, Caroline must confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities of her world, the ones who insist the voices of the sufferers are unreliable.
Main title:
The illness lesson / Clare Beams.
Author:
Beams, Clare, author
Imprint:
London : Doubleday, 2021.
Collation:
270 pages ; 20 cm
Notes:
Originally published: 2020.
ISBN:
9781784164386 (pbk)
Dewey class:
813.6H
LC class:
PS3602.E2455
Local class:
AFHI
Language:
English
BRN:
2768567