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An Inconvenient Wife
In this wholly absorbing historical novel, Mrs. Lucy Carelton, who comes from one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in 1880s New York City, has been completely undone by her nerves. Her ambitious husband, a nouveau riche stockbroker, drags her from one doctor to another in search of a cure that will allow her to fulfill her many social obligations without giving in to hysteria. They think they have found the solution in charismatic neurologist Victor Seth, a champion of a relatively new procedure called hypnotism. Seth sets about freeing Lucy from the social constraints that have made her so unhappy, encouraging her to pursue her artistic talents and explore her sexuality. Seth convinces himself that his techniques, including his handy way with an electrotherapy wand, are all in the name of science, but even he is unprepared for the new Lucy who emerges--a passionate, calculating, amoral creature of large appetites. Chance's straightforward prose and over-the-top plotting effectively combine in this diabolically clever, thoroughly entertaining take on women's liberation.
422 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2004
157 people are currently reading
3273 people want to read
About the author
Megan Chance
32 books704 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Megan Chance is the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of several novels. Booklist calls her writing “Provocative and haunting.” Her books have been chosen by Amazon's Book of the Month, Borders Original Voices and IndieNext. A former television news photographer with a BA from Western Washington University, Megan Chance lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Visit her at www.meganchance.com
Megan Chance is the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of several novels. Booklist calls her writing “Provocative and haunting.” Her books have been chosen by Amazon's Book of the Month, Borders Original Voices and IndieNext. A former television news photographer with a BA from Western Washington University, Megan Chance lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Visit her at www.meganchance.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 466 reviews
April 7, 2017
Oh my goodness! This 19th century tale of a new American society girl and her stockbroker husband had me on the edge of my seat and kept my heart racing. I cannot believe that I've left this on my TBR so long. Maybe it's a good thing that so many of my Goodreads friends cannot hang with me on the weekend because I'm not able to stop talking about this book.
The storyline illustrates through main protagonist, Lucy, the confining nature of women of her status. Oppressed by her father and husband, her lack of childbearing, has left Lucy to the scrutiny of many doctors. "Hysteria" has left a final doctor to predict that Lucy's husband must commit her to an insane asylum. Lucy's husband makes the decision to seek a new type of treatment from neurologist, Victor Seth. The way in which Megan Chance unravels the relationship between Lucy and Dr. Seth sent my heart racing. I was so afraid of what this doctor was doing based on the amount of vulnerability that Lucy displayed and how her social circle treated her.
This novel reminded me of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening and the ending certainly had a "take notice " ending. Oh, how I loved the ending!
The storyline illustrates through main protagonist, Lucy, the confining nature of women of her status. Oppressed by her father and husband, her lack of childbearing, has left Lucy to the scrutiny of many doctors. "Hysteria" has left a final doctor to predict that Lucy's husband must commit her to an insane asylum. Lucy's husband makes the decision to seek a new type of treatment from neurologist, Victor Seth. The way in which Megan Chance unravels the relationship between Lucy and Dr. Seth sent my heart racing. I was so afraid of what this doctor was doing based on the amount of vulnerability that Lucy displayed and how her social circle treated her.
This novel reminded me of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening and the ending certainly had a "take notice " ending. Oh, how I loved the ending!
January 19, 2015
Whoa..wavered between a four and a five star rating for this book but alas had to admit that this novel was compulsively readable and interesting...I found myself reaching for this book every spare moment I had and I love that feeling because honestly I wasnt that sure this book would be all that it turned out to be..This is the story of Lucy, a woman born into high society, spoiled and married for the last four years and living a life that would be perfect except she suffers bouts of nervousness, hysteria and has become quite an embarrassment to her husband and family. Lucy's illness becomes the topic of everyone's conversation and her husband takes her to try several questionable treatments as he longs for her to be a proper society wife and have children-- but the question that begs to answered is what does Lucy want? As the attempts at treatment get more and more desperate there is talk of even sending Lucy to an asylum to cure her and then almost as if summoned they are introduced to the curious new doctor in town Victor Seth who practices a controversial brand of treatment through hypnosis and electotherapy. Lucy's husband William is intrigued and begins to send his wife there for treatment and it is here that the story takes off..While under hypnosis Dr. Seth is able to release Lucy and make her question all she is and all she wants, I found myself deeply entranced by the issues raised about women's freedom and sexuality as even though this book takes place in New York circa 1880's it is oh so prevalent in today's society as well....the only difference is now women can make their own money and define their own destinies... in theory..... Dr. Seth uncovers the unrequited and suprressed passions within Lucy that she was forced to deny her entire life..passions that found no other outlet but hysteria. As Lucy is treated and begins to show real signs of improvement she also shows her rebelliousness and her passions for sex, art and to be a free woman able to do as she pleases. Her husband hates it. William begins to fear and resent her and her relationship with Dr. Seth and as the book draws to its climax I find the story suffers and loses some of its depth but overall I thorougly enjoyed this book, it makes you think, feel and empathize with yourself and women everywhere.
November 10, 2021
Be sure to visit my Favorites Shelf for the books I found most entertaining.
I loved the setting; 1800's high society New York City. The book was well researched, and the characters were interesting. The only issue I had was I felt the ending was slightly rushed.
I loved the setting; 1800's high society New York City. The book was well researched, and the characters were interesting. The only issue I had was I felt the ending was slightly rushed.
December 7, 2012
Wow....my first experience with Ms. Chance and I just couldn't put it down, literally. I ended up downloading it to my phone so I could read it while waiting in line at the market, while running on the treadmill, waiting at the ATM....you get the idea. End result: A library book that I chose because of its interesting sepia cover, which languished on my book pile until it was almost due back was devoured in just 3, sleep-deprived days.
What a riveting story: from the illness to the affair - or was it unconscious suggestion - to the revenge(s) to the trial and then a terrific ending.
Ms. Chance has a fabulous, engaging prose style. She leaves you wondering, shocks you, horrifies you and then leaves you wondering a bit again. Of course my own horror at the impotence of women, even heiresses, in the relatively recent past coupled with the brutality of medicine at that time give me a profound sense of relief that I live in the 21st century. :-)
I will be looking for other titles by Ms. Chance, this one is certainly worth the read!
What a riveting story: from the illness to the affair - or was it unconscious suggestion - to the revenge(s) to the trial and then a terrific ending.
Ms. Chance has a fabulous, engaging prose style. She leaves you wondering, shocks you, horrifies you and then leaves you wondering a bit again. Of course my own horror at the impotence of women, even heiresses, in the relatively recent past coupled with the brutality of medicine at that time give me a profound sense of relief that I live in the 21st century. :-)
I will be looking for other titles by Ms. Chance, this one is certainly worth the read!
March 14, 2010
An Inconvenient Wife, although more complicated, is reminiscent of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Megan Chance's heroine, Lucy Carleton dares to have lusty desires and creative passions in 1895 New York, much to the dismay of her husband, father and society friends. They all think she's lost her mind--and as was in vogue for that repressed era, a woman's psychological problems were assumed to be caused by her reproductive system. Despite consulting doctor after doctor for help, Lucy's husband could not find anyone to "fix" his wife. In addition to daring to have emotions, Lucy had not conceived a child in four years of marriage and, naturally, this was considered to be her fault.
The Carleton's find their way to Dr. Victor Seth, a modern thinking physician who treats Lucy through hypnosis and "electrical stimulation," which brings her to a pleasurable relief she didn't know existed. Although Lucy begins to feel better, her husband isn't sold on Dr. Seth and still can't fathom why his wife is not the compliant, frigid, cookie cutter society girl he thought he had married. Afterall, men could go elsewhere for lust, they certainly didn't want that in a wife.
From the get-go, it's easy to dislike and distrust Lucy's husband. It's more difficult to know whether or not we should trust Dr. Seth's motives. And ultimately, we may find ourselves wondering about Lucy's own integrity. Is she strictly under Dr. Seth's control or is she simply behaving in the way of a strong, independent spirit?
As a 21st-century woman who makes her own choices and whose marriage is a partnership, I feel sorry for Lucy and shudder that hers would be any woman's plight. An Inconvenient Wife serves as a reminder that women in our culture have come a long way, baby, in a relatively short period of time.
It occurs to me, though, that there are plenty of women around the world who are still constrained by their own cultural mores--figuratively and perhaps even literally bound by husbands, fathers and extreme religions that would rather sentence them to death or otherwise persecute them for daring to desire personal or creative fulfillment. In that context, perhaps Megan Chance's novel is a more modern tale than it first appears.
The Carleton's find their way to Dr. Victor Seth, a modern thinking physician who treats Lucy through hypnosis and "electrical stimulation," which brings her to a pleasurable relief she didn't know existed. Although Lucy begins to feel better, her husband isn't sold on Dr. Seth and still can't fathom why his wife is not the compliant, frigid, cookie cutter society girl he thought he had married. Afterall, men could go elsewhere for lust, they certainly didn't want that in a wife.
From the get-go, it's easy to dislike and distrust Lucy's husband. It's more difficult to know whether or not we should trust Dr. Seth's motives. And ultimately, we may find ourselves wondering about Lucy's own integrity. Is she strictly under Dr. Seth's control or is she simply behaving in the way of a strong, independent spirit?
As a 21st-century woman who makes her own choices and whose marriage is a partnership, I feel sorry for Lucy and shudder that hers would be any woman's plight. An Inconvenient Wife serves as a reminder that women in our culture have come a long way, baby, in a relatively short period of time.
It occurs to me, though, that there are plenty of women around the world who are still constrained by their own cultural mores--figuratively and perhaps even literally bound by husbands, fathers and extreme religions that would rather sentence them to death or otherwise persecute them for daring to desire personal or creative fulfillment. In that context, perhaps Megan Chance's novel is a more modern tale than it first appears.
April 18, 2012
I should have reviewed this book ages ago, but I recently re-read it and realized that a. I hadn't written anything about it on goodreads and b. I absolutely need to because this book is majorly under appreciated.
An Inconvenient Wife is set (mostly) in New York City during the mid-1880s. Lucy Carleton, a member of New York's most elite social circle, is having some problems. She finds most of the social events she's required to attend taxing, frequently having "fits" and her husband, William is concerned not just about her, but the amount of cordial (laudanum) she's taking and the fact that he's taken her to see several specialists and they all agree that Lucy has hysteria--but their treatments aren't helping.
Enter Victor Seth, the newest trend among society, a neroulogist and a hypnotist. William decides Lucy needs to see him and Lucy doesn't want to go. But, of course, like every other woman she knows, she doesn't have a choice but to submit. After all, that's all she's done her entire life.
Victor Seth's "treatment" is part hypnosis and part vibrator. I know, but seriously, this was an emerging "treatment' for hysteria at the time and Chance does a great job of showing how utterly baffled some women, like Lucy, can be about their bodies and their minds.
Then the complications start. Victor realizes that Lucy is unhappy because all of the things she longs to do--travel, draw, paint--are forbidden to her. Her father felt that made her too high-spirited and William agrees.
Victor encourages Lucy to start to reclaim her passions, first on a professional level, and then, as thing shift between them, on a personal level.
The twists and turns are not unexpected except for the last two paragraphs. And the final sentence of the novel..oh, it sent chills up my spine. It was one of those sentences that makes you say "Holy crap!" and then think about what you've read and see that everything can be seen in an entirely different light.
And that, I think, is something that is majorly kick-ass and makes this novel worth checking out.
An Inconvenient Wife is set (mostly) in New York City during the mid-1880s. Lucy Carleton, a member of New York's most elite social circle, is having some problems. She finds most of the social events she's required to attend taxing, frequently having "fits" and her husband, William is concerned not just about her, but the amount of cordial (laudanum) she's taking and the fact that he's taken her to see several specialists and they all agree that Lucy has hysteria--but their treatments aren't helping.
Enter Victor Seth, the newest trend among society, a neroulogist and a hypnotist. William decides Lucy needs to see him and Lucy doesn't want to go. But, of course, like every other woman she knows, she doesn't have a choice but to submit. After all, that's all she's done her entire life.
Victor Seth's "treatment" is part hypnosis and part vibrator. I know, but seriously, this was an emerging "treatment' for hysteria at the time and Chance does a great job of showing how utterly baffled some women, like Lucy, can be about their bodies and their minds.
Then the complications start. Victor realizes that Lucy is unhappy because all of the things she longs to do--travel, draw, paint--are forbidden to her. Her father felt that made her too high-spirited and William agrees.
Victor encourages Lucy to start to reclaim her passions, first on a professional level, and then, as thing shift between them, on a personal level.
The twists and turns are not unexpected except for the last two paragraphs. And the final sentence of the novel..oh, it sent chills up my spine. It was one of those sentences that makes you say "Holy crap!" and then think about what you've read and see that everything can be seen in an entirely different light.
And that, I think, is something that is majorly kick-ass and makes this novel worth checking out.
October 14, 2007
I did like this book a great deal, even as it pissed me off HUGELY. Seriously, just the word “hysteria” in this context can send me on hour-long rants about the Victorian patriarchy and how women of certain social standings were delicate little flowers, and that the entire point of a woman's existence was apparently to serve (and service) men; certainly they weren’t to have sexual feelings at all, and if they did, then clearly, there was something wrong with them they had to be “cured” of. Not to mention, of course, how Dr. Seth seems to think orgasms are a cure for hysteria. /nips rest of tangential rant in the bud
I found this a very claustrophobic book, especially when we start seeing exactly how tied down Lucy is by social conventions, how she’s dominated by both father and husband, and how she wants so desperately to struggle against the ways she’s being controlled, but can’t allow herself to, as that would be “improper”, and it surely means she’s insane to be raging against the machine. And she doesn't want to be insane; she wants to make herself fit in the tiny box her father and husband want to keep her in.
It’s also infuriating to watch Lucy think Victor is allowing her to free herself from certain restrictions (and Victor seems to think he is, as well), when in fact, he’s only controlling her in a different way.
I found it painful to watch Lucy “misbehave” according to the rules of her social set – painful because the consequences are sure to be dire, and also because OH MY GOD, I would lose my MIND if I had to live like that. I don’t know how anyone could stand it, or be anything resembling happy in an environment that knocked you down and tried to strangle you any time you wanted to do something that was in the slightest bit unusual.
However, the ending just knocked my socks right off, and made me giggle in fiendish delight, so make of that what you will.
I found this a very claustrophobic book, especially when we start seeing exactly how tied down Lucy is by social conventions, how she’s dominated by both father and husband, and how she wants so desperately to struggle against the ways she’s being controlled, but can’t allow herself to, as that would be “improper”, and it surely means she’s insane to be raging against the machine. And she doesn't want to be insane; she wants to make herself fit in the tiny box her father and husband want to keep her in.
It’s also infuriating to watch Lucy think Victor is allowing her to free herself from certain restrictions (and Victor seems to think he is, as well), when in fact, he’s only controlling her in a different way.
I found it painful to watch Lucy “misbehave” according to the rules of her social set – painful because the consequences are sure to be dire, and also because OH MY GOD, I would lose my MIND if I had to live like that. I don’t know how anyone could stand it, or be anything resembling happy in an environment that knocked you down and tried to strangle you any time you wanted to do something that was in the slightest bit unusual.
However, the ending just knocked my socks right off, and made me giggle in fiendish delight, so make of that what you will.
December 30, 2008
Great idea, poorly executed. The author's background as a romance novelist really shows-- think something with Fabio on the cover. Shallow characters, stale dialogue, and narration that directs your conclusions rather than eliciting them. I would LOVE to see this fascinating topic (Victorian era women diagnosed with "hysteria") tackled by someone more competent.
That said, it's reasonbly entertaining and a fast read, largely due to the subject matter. I would take this over chick lit or Lifetime movie type bullshit, for sure. So that's why I gave it three stars, despite its flaws.
That said, it's reasonbly entertaining and a fast read, largely due to the subject matter. I would take this over chick lit or Lifetime movie type bullshit, for sure. So that's why I gave it three stars, despite its flaws.
August 10, 2009
"Old Style writing" but good...the way folks lived back then was pretty strange, but whose to say we don't live oddly today. :)
It was about a woman whose husband thought she was bored but then put her in a mental institution...she fell in love with her psychiatrist before that.
Shows the oppression of women back then in English Society.
It was slow at first, but keep going. :)
It was about a woman whose husband thought she was bored but then put her in a mental institution...she fell in love with her psychiatrist before that.
Shows the oppression of women back then in English Society.
It was slow at first, but keep going. :)
September 7, 2016
3.5 Stars
It was 1885, New York City, and such a formal time for the upper crust: who to associate with, what to wear, what to say. Lucy and William Carelton appeared to be 'The Couple' that everyone would envy. But behind the facade were very defective characters whose personalities were dictated by the times. Welcome, to Megan Chance's contorted world of the blue-bloods!
They had been married for several years. William wanted a child, an heir, someone to make his life complete. But Lucy hadn't conceived. Not once. And it was all her fault because of her 'fits' and, as she was told,"women in unhappy circumstances choose not to become pregnant." Women of this generation were thought to be inferior. They didn't have the mindset to perform certain functions. They couldn't be expected to know any better. It was up to the husbands, the men in their lives, to see that they behave and carry out their duties.
AN INCONVENIENT WIFE was just what the title implied. Lucy Carelton was William's burden. Her father's name brought him prestige and opened doors; he loved her, but it was off-center. His quirky feelings suffocated Lucy; she had been using laudenum to endure. That was, until Dr. Victor Seth entered the picture. He was a neurologist: someone whom specialized in brain disorders and the nervous system. His methods included hypnotism and he was a controversial healer.
William, Lucy and Victor had their good and bad sides. They all had issues stemming from their individual childhoods. Images and feelings that pushed to the surface but were then forced under smiles and polite words.
This rich historical drama encompassed imperfect social conduct, class prejudices and sexism. Its strength was found in Ms. Chance's depiction of the times; most women had stifling lives no matter how much money they had. Love and respect were for the lucky few. The last sentence in the book -don't peak!- showcased the survivor.
It was 1885, New York City, and such a formal time for the upper crust: who to associate with, what to wear, what to say. Lucy and William Carelton appeared to be 'The Couple' that everyone would envy. But behind the facade were very defective characters whose personalities were dictated by the times. Welcome, to Megan Chance's contorted world of the blue-bloods!
They had been married for several years. William wanted a child, an heir, someone to make his life complete. But Lucy hadn't conceived. Not once. And it was all her fault because of her 'fits' and, as she was told,"women in unhappy circumstances choose not to become pregnant." Women of this generation were thought to be inferior. They didn't have the mindset to perform certain functions. They couldn't be expected to know any better. It was up to the husbands, the men in their lives, to see that they behave and carry out their duties.
AN INCONVENIENT WIFE was just what the title implied. Lucy Carelton was William's burden. Her father's name brought him prestige and opened doors; he loved her, but it was off-center. His quirky feelings suffocated Lucy; she had been using laudenum to endure. That was, until Dr. Victor Seth entered the picture. He was a neurologist: someone whom specialized in brain disorders and the nervous system. His methods included hypnotism and he was a controversial healer.
William, Lucy and Victor had their good and bad sides. They all had issues stemming from their individual childhoods. Images and feelings that pushed to the surface but were then forced under smiles and polite words.
This rich historical drama encompassed imperfect social conduct, class prejudices and sexism. Its strength was found in Ms. Chance's depiction of the times; most women had stifling lives no matter how much money they had. Love and respect were for the lucky few. The last sentence in the book -don't peak!- showcased the survivor.
July 4, 2013
This book was amazing. I loved every aspect of it. The author did a wonderful job in showing the reader the "Angel in the House" belief that was the norm for the upperclass society during the Victorian era. Wives were expected to show zero emotion or passion. Sex between a husband and wife was to be for procreation only. If the husband wanted sex for enjoyment, he was expected to find it elsewhere. The wife was not to be "soiled" by "demeaning passion". She was the "Angel in the House". I loved the characters in this novel, Megan Chance did an amazing job in making them real to the reader. I would recommend this book to everyone. It has mystery, suspence, crime, romance, history, and a little bit of the bazaar combined into one novel. Definately worth the read.
October 24, 2010
This is the exact time period that I'd love to travel back to and live a day. I just loved this book and have been searching for others like it, since I've read it.
November 17, 2021
This was a brilliant historical fiction, set in the 1800's, with strong emphasis on the restraints of women within their social class and in their own households. Women were at the whims of their husbands and their fathers, keeping them caged. Any defiance of this control, or wilfulness in general may lead to a diagnosis of female hysteria - and this book delves into the reasoning and the treatment of this "disease".
Megan Chance write provokingly, making the reader sympathise, and shocking them too with the circumstance of Lucy Carleton, hailing from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York City though struggling under the pressures of society and clearly in the grip of a very real depression that is unacceptable for women of her status.
When a controversial doctor of Neurology opens his practice on Broadway, Lucy soon becomes one of his best patients and things in her life begin to change dramatically.
Megan Chance write provokingly, making the reader sympathise, and shocking them too with the circumstance of Lucy Carleton, hailing from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York City though struggling under the pressures of society and clearly in the grip of a very real depression that is unacceptable for women of her status.
When a controversial doctor of Neurology opens his practice on Broadway, Lucy soon becomes one of his best patients and things in her life begin to change dramatically.
December 9, 2016
Wow, where to begin? Very disturbing book that pulls you in to continue reading, even when you want to put it down. It is rare for me to read a book and not relate to ANY of the major characters but still enjoy it. Maybe that was what the author was aiming for. Although, I think as a women you were supposed to like Lucy, but I found I mostly wanted to slap her. I suppose at times I could emphasize.
Set in 1885, Victorian New York City, it is the story of a high society couple, William and Lucy. To the outside world they appear to have everything; money, multiple homes, vacations, gilded parties and balls, Lucy is even descendant from the Knickerbockers. But inside the marriage, things are not so rosy. Lucy is mentally unstable and prone to fits and hysterics that are becoming more difficult to hide. William seems like the perfect, caring husband, but likes to control everything. As Lucy becomes worse, William drags her from Doctor to Doctor. All with the same conclusion. Female hysteria originating in the reproductive organs. Man, those Victorians were so backward. So sexually repressed, but at the same time I think were secretly fascinated by sex. Treatment included electrical stimulation of her sexual organs, hysterectomy or be locked up in an insane asylum! Lol, we've come along way baby! In both medicine and women!! Anyway, faced with either surgery or an asylum for his wife, William finds a doctor of last resort, Dr Seth, a new type of doctor called a neurologist, that uses hypnosis. Dr Seth's treatment seems to work as Lucy becomes stronger, but something dark and secretive is going on that William is not privy to. William and society might not be ready for the new and improved Lucy to be unleashed onto society. Dr Seth opened pandora's lid, but now can't put Lucy back in the box.
Set in 1885, Victorian New York City, it is the story of a high society couple, William and Lucy. To the outside world they appear to have everything; money, multiple homes, vacations, gilded parties and balls, Lucy is even descendant from the Knickerbockers. But inside the marriage, things are not so rosy. Lucy is mentally unstable and prone to fits and hysterics that are becoming more difficult to hide. William seems like the perfect, caring husband, but likes to control everything. As Lucy becomes worse, William drags her from Doctor to Doctor. All with the same conclusion. Female hysteria originating in the reproductive organs. Man, those Victorians were so backward. So sexually repressed, but at the same time I think were secretly fascinated by sex. Treatment included electrical stimulation of her sexual organs, hysterectomy or be locked up in an insane asylum! Lol, we've come along way baby! In both medicine and women!! Anyway, faced with either surgery or an asylum for his wife, William finds a doctor of last resort, Dr Seth, a new type of doctor called a neurologist, that uses hypnosis. Dr Seth's treatment seems to work as Lucy becomes stronger, but something dark and secretive is going on that William is not privy to. William and society might not be ready for the new and improved Lucy to be unleashed onto society. Dr Seth opened pandora's lid, but now can't put Lucy back in the box.
February 14, 2017
I have very mixed feelings on this one. I loved the setting (the Gilded Age is my jam), I loved the initial set-up (a woman whose passion is all but reined in by the social confines and mores of the era), and mental health described and detailed to the nth degree as dictated by the time (hello, hysteria and insane asylums). But, it fell flat. The character development for the protagonist, Lucy, just didn't feel sincere in the end.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved the final sentence and all that it implies, but it was a complete 180 degree switch from the Lucy we've gotten to know over the course of 400 pages. It sprang out of nowhere. I'm guessing that's the point: the reader is left to wonder if Lucy's shift in personality is part of Victor's hypnosis or if had she truly become her own person, not under the control of any man, lover or otherwise.
I almost DNF'd this a few times, but I guess that's the power of the story: I DID want to find out what would happen to poor, hysteric Lucy, her conniving, hypnotist lover, and her society obsessed husband.
Overall, I'd give this 3 out of 5 spoonfuls of laudanum.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved the final sentence and all that it implies, but it was a complete 180 degree switch from the Lucy we've gotten to know over the course of 400 pages. It sprang out of nowhere. I'm guessing that's the point: the reader is left to wonder if Lucy's shift in personality is part of Victor's hypnosis or if had she truly become her own person, not under the control of any man, lover or otherwise.
I almost DNF'd this a few times, but I guess that's the power of the story: I DID want to find out what would happen to poor, hysteric Lucy, her conniving, hypnotist lover, and her society obsessed husband.
Overall, I'd give this 3 out of 5 spoonfuls of laudanum.
March 4, 2013
Really enjoyed reading this book. I agree with the Amazon.com reviewer who said, "This book is what I imagine would have happened to Rose (Titanic) if she had married Cal (the "bad guy")and gone on to suffer the marriage/life restrictions of her era and class." I truly felt sad for her predicament, or lot in life; and without giving anything away, will say that I loved the ending. Looking forward to the discussion this book will bring at book club!
June 21, 2021
What an unpleasant read. It starts well and just goes downhill as the novel continues. This is a novel that could have been so much more but instead you have a woman constrained by the society she lives in being abused by a doctor who basically rapes her whilst she is hypnotised and it is portrayed in some romantic notion! Why did I keep reading this I could've saved myself some annoyance.
July 27, 2019
This is a gorgeously written book, totally fascinating. I loved it even though it was outside of my typical genre choices. This is one reason I should step out of it a bit more often.
March 29, 2018
4.5* Parts of this moved slowly but the ending had me riveted. I enjoyed the window into the privileged society, though I wanted to strangle most of the men. I'm sorry that I took so long to read this but glad I finally did!
October 26, 2024
I picked this up at a library sale and I’m so glad it caught my eye! It was so good and very unpredictable. Definitely gives you perspective of that time period!
February 10, 2019
Review to come
October 9, 2019
This one started a little slow for me, but boy did it take a left turn that I did NOT see coming.
September 27, 2011
I liked this book a lot but wish the author took more time to develop the ending. I liked Lucy's changes, as she went from a hysterical woman to one who wanted to be free, but thought toward the end (after the asylum scenes) I needed to see her will more so the last line of the book wasn't so out there. I do believe her character underwent a huge change and was almost ready to be "free" but at the same time, one doesn't go from being coddled and bossed around to being a leader either.
I liked what the author did with William's character and how she showed what society really thought of him. I also liked the doubt that the author placed in the mind of the reader regarding what happened during the ball at William and Lucy's new home. (do not want to spoil!! But whose idea was it? Lucy or Victor)
I was interested to see how the author turned Lucy from a shaking -scared-unsure person into this sexual being who couldn't get enough of a certain someone. (don't want to spoil!) is that really what women of the late 19th century were repressing? If you repress sexual desires, you become hysterical? (and the treatment Victor first used on Lucy also shocked me! It's like he used one big vibrator on her!)
The book showed that being apart of high society had it's price for both men and women. It also showed prejudice runs across all classes- I liked when Victor told Lucy about his background in the tenements. I didn't realize until reading this book that passion was a bad thing (as is open-mouth kissing!) and men will do anything to feel superior to women. The treatments at Beechwood really bothered me, that was terrible, yet written in so much detail.
The Gilded Age in NYC may have been good for some, but this story showed that high society, while glamourous, was very constricting.
I liked what the author did with William's character and how she showed what society really thought of him. I also liked the doubt that the author placed in the mind of the reader regarding what happened during the ball at William and Lucy's new home. (do not want to spoil!! But whose idea was it? Lucy or Victor)
I was interested to see how the author turned Lucy from a shaking -scared-unsure person into this sexual being who couldn't get enough of a certain someone. (don't want to spoil!) is that really what women of the late 19th century were repressing? If you repress sexual desires, you become hysterical? (and the treatment Victor first used on Lucy also shocked me! It's like he used one big vibrator on her!)
The book showed that being apart of high society had it's price for both men and women. It also showed prejudice runs across all classes- I liked when Victor told Lucy about his background in the tenements. I didn't realize until reading this book that passion was a bad thing (as is open-mouth kissing!) and men will do anything to feel superior to women. The treatments at Beechwood really bothered me, that was terrible, yet written in so much detail.
The Gilded Age in NYC may have been good for some, but this story showed that high society, while glamourous, was very constricting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2017
Three stars because I could stand to read it. Definitely would not have read it just for itself, but it covers a period of history that I'm writing about and the characters are not so one-dimensional that to read about them is unbearably boring. On the other hand, they are definitely not shaded, unpredictable, multidimensional, or fully real. Victorian upper class society woman in New York is compelled to follow stultifying rules and becomes hysterical and neurasthenic through emotional and sexual deprivation. Enter a therapist (or neurologist, as he was then called) who has an affair with her, opens her eyes to her own sexuality and desire for artistic expression, whereupon she starts standing up to her Victorian hubby, who eventually shuts her away in a hospital etc. etc. The plot was somewhat clever but none of the characters, including the heroie, were terribly sympathetic, and the frustration is that Megan Chance gets close enough to making them work that it's very frustrating.
I also have to say that the idea of it being okay under any circumstances for a therapist to sleep with his patient (in the name of a waking her sexuality or what ever) is abhorrent to me. Fortunately, there is a clever twist at the end that mitigates his behavior, somewhat. But it still felt creepy.
However, I give Megan Chance points for doing her research. I read a bit of her blog and see that she is trying out Madame Bovary and -- is it Anna Karenina? Maybe reading the classics will give her writing more depth as she goes along.
I also have to say that the idea of it being okay under any circumstances for a therapist to sleep with his patient (in the name of a waking her sexuality or what ever) is abhorrent to me. Fortunately, there is a clever twist at the end that mitigates his behavior, somewhat. But it still felt creepy.
However, I give Megan Chance points for doing her research. I read a bit of her blog and see that she is trying out Madame Bovary and -- is it Anna Karenina? Maybe reading the classics will give her writing more depth as she goes along.
September 5, 2015
This book was something other than I thought it would be. The beginning is slow and I actually thought I wasn't going to like it. The main character's hysteria and fits in the beginning were so ridiculous to me. I was wondering if the whole book would be about something this stupid.
But the plot thickened and I enjoyed the read. Although I am still unclear if the love between Lucy & Victor is real. In the beginning it was clear she was an experiment. In the end it seems that he was in love with what he created and not who she was. For herself, it seems she became quite the cunning young woman!
I honestly can't imagine living in this time period it seems that rich Anglo women with brains would've been completely bored to death unless they had husbands who didn't care about appearances. Since that entire group was quite racist, it does make me wonder what rich people of other groups were doing. If they were emulating the American Anglos or if they were less caged. I know the rich ALL kept up appearances of some point but I wonder if women were allowed in any group of wealthy women to have intellectual stimulation or be sexually passionate.
But the plot thickened and I enjoyed the read. Although I am still unclear if the love between Lucy & Victor is real. In the beginning it was clear she was an experiment. In the end it seems that he was in love with what he created and not who she was. For herself, it seems she became quite the cunning young woman!
I honestly can't imagine living in this time period it seems that rich Anglo women with brains would've been completely bored to death unless they had husbands who didn't care about appearances. Since that entire group was quite racist, it does make me wonder what rich people of other groups were doing. If they were emulating the American Anglos or if they were less caged. I know the rich ALL kept up appearances of some point but I wonder if women were allowed in any group of wealthy women to have intellectual stimulation or be sexually passionate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2016
Lucy Carleton, a member of 1880's New York City high society marries for love but marries a man not of her class. William is a social-climbing nouveau-riche stock broker who has made all of the society crowd in Lucy's circle lots of money, and Lucy marries him with the blessing of her controlling father but soon finds herself constantly struggling with bouts of nerves that make it increasingly harder for her to behave as she is expected to. Lucy and her husband visit many doctors who cannot help until she meets Dr. Victor Seth who specializes in women's nervous disorders and treats this with hypnosis. Soon with the doctor's "help" Lucy finds a Pandora's box of passions has been opened and cannot be closed. At times I wanted to take both Lucy and her doctor and knock their heads together, but I ultimately found myself cheering Lucy on, as she discovers various freedoms denied to 19th century society women. Ultimately Lucy must learn how to get what she needs in a world run by men whose agenda usually is at odds with her own.
September 13, 2007
Wow, what a great book. Came really close to giving this 5 stars. About a wealthy woman in the 1880s who is indepedent and would like be diagnosed with some sort of anxiety disorder in present day. Her husband finds this all highly inconvenient so sends her to various doctors and ultimately Dr. Seth, a neurologist (new thing at the time). The author did a lot of research about how such a woman *would* be handled medically back then and it's astonishing. For example, a "cure" for "nerves" was for the doctor to bring her manually to climax. Anyway, things start to unravel, and it was just a fabulous, riveting read. Loved it.
February 1, 2010
I really liked this book the subject matter is an eye opener letting you know that Victorian women were property of the husband and there is no romance about the time period for women wether high society or lower classes woman were not their own person. So if you think it would be romantic to time travel the Heroes we read about in our romance novels are not the norm! It would be awful to be a woman back in time! No rights to anything other than your own thoughts and only if you never speak them out loud! It would be great to have this subject/story taken on by a more experienced writer...it could be an amazing book.
May 11, 2011
I highly reccommend this book! Set in 1885, this is the perfect book for anybody who likes historical fiction with romance, without the modern day "smut" that comes into play with some "romance" novels. Very tastefully written, and the reader feels Lucy's strain her society life puts on her. The reader will sympathize with her, even during the dark times that she herself creates. It takes a couple of twists I certainly didn't see coming and one simply can't put it down in the second half. It's absolutely captivating. It ended well, yet somewhat suspensful, leaving me to wonder what is next for Lucy. I didn't want the book to end and will truly miss these characters. Happy reading! :)
June 21, 2010
I keep thinking about this book. Lucy, a woman controlled by the will of men (her father, her husband, her doctors), "finds" herself through Dr. Victor Seth's hypnosis - but isn't that just another form of control? She falls in love with him and begins an affair. At first, I was all for Lucy leaving her husband to be with the doctor, but then you can tell from his notes that he is the same as all the others. He says, "I created her." He wants to control her just as the others have.
The end really got to me. All of a sudden, I felt sorry for her husband. There is no hero in this book.
The end really got to me. All of a sudden, I felt sorry for her husband. There is no hero in this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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