Goldcord Asylum

Darwin - Australia
by Jude Starling | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1484978234 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingJ4Shawwing of finding my place, Somewhere -- Controlled Releases on 5/10/2014
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingJ4Shawwing from finding my place, Somewhere -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, May 10, 2014
From the back of the book:
Preston, 1866:
Time is running out for Goldcord Asylum. Once a progressive establishment dedicated to curing the mental problems of the inmates, now the asylum is under increasing pressure to treat and release patients whether they are ready or not. Professional pride, personal ideals, financial pressures and dark secrets compete to determine whether Goldcord will survive.

In the midst of this maelstrom of conflicting interests, Ivy Squire is committed. A strange young woman, so self-destructive that she must be kept in isolation, Ivy begins to reveal her story to new nurse Tilly Swann. But can Tilly find the key to Ivy’s madness before she is dragged into danger by Superintendent Enoch Gale’s increasing recklessness?


Read May 2015 - My Review
This book came to my attention around 2 years ago when I stumbled across some photos of an old asylum in the grounds of where my Father used to play cricket. As you do when browsing the web, searches lead you to all sorts of interesting places, and these photos led me to learn of this book.
You can read about Whittingham Hospital (a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Whittingham, near Preston, Lancashire, England) HERE and the photos that lead me to this book can be seen HERE

Now this book is not my usual read. I’m more of a contemporary fiction kinda gal, but the story stole my heart and had me gripped from the very beginning.
I am a huge fan of authors who use just enough characters, and use them well, and this author certainly did that.
This book will no doubt stay with me for some time, and I appreciate being able to visualise Preston (my hometown) in the story.

Released 8 yrs ago (6/8/2015 UTC) at Tarawa Island, -- Not a city, Geographical features, etc. -- Kiribati

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book will always hold a special place in my heart, but it has sprouted wings and it is off to the U.S.A as LadyVeg has picked it in Round 2 - VBB of Debut Novels

(I always add physical postage stamps to my packages. If you are not a collector yourself, check out the I collect postage stamps because... thread to find them a happy home.)

Journal Entry 3 by ladyveg at Baraboo, Wisconsin USA on Monday, June 29, 2015
I forgot to mention that I received this book! Thank you! I'm actually halfway through it already.

I have finished the book now. It was interesting, and I liked it. Now it will be a seed book for the General Literature/Fiction VBB.

Journal Entry 4 by ladyveg at Baraboo, Wisconsin USA on Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Released 8 yrs ago (9/22/2015 UTC) at Baraboo, Wisconsin USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent out as part of the Virtual Book Box. Enjoy! Be sure to look for the bookmark inside.

I read this book fairly quickly. I found it interesting and enjoyed the ending.

Journal Entry 5 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, September 28, 2015
The book arrived today. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Journal Entry 6 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Friday, November 6, 2015
Thank you for sharing this wonderful book with me.

Set in northwest England in the year 1866, this novel is about a woman put into a mental institution by her husband (that she did not want to marry) Ivy Squire was married to Benjamin Squire as a social and economic move; Squire's mother, who made the match, only wanted someone decorative and fertile. Ivy, an avid reader and devoted to her invalid sister, had no interest in leaving home. But her odd ways had always been an embarrassment to her family.Sadly, her odd ways make her less than satisfactory to her new spouse and mother-in-law, and Ivy is revolted by her husband and his demands. When she finds secret ways to maintain some autonomy, her happiness proves short lived.

Ivy's odd ways are simply Asperger's syndrome, unheard of in the Victorian age.
Problems at the institute make the patients' situations worse. Enoch Gale, founder of Goldcord and Medical Superintendent, has secrets that would ruin him were they known. To add to Gale's problems, the Commission in Lunacy, which oversees mental hospitals, is starting to frown on the fact that very few patients are released as cured. Dr. Ballard, new to Goldcord, and the new nurse, Tilly Swann, show promise of making humane changes.

Ivy comes through as a determined person who may not always make choices that everyone would but has to be admired for her strength, loving nature, and intellect. The characters all come to life on the page, but I felt I knew Ivy as a living, breathing person. A lot of research went into this book and the historical aspects are spot on. I highly recommend this book.

This book is will Keep Moving to Perryfran to enjoy.

Journal Entry 7 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Saturday, November 7, 2015

Released 8 yrs ago (11/7/2015 UTC) at Cape Coral, Florida USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! For E-Less Release Challenge 2015 -- off to perryfran to enjoy.

Journal Entry 8 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Friday, November 13, 2015
Thanks for sending me this one...looks very interesting and hope to get to it soon!

Journal Entry 9 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Friday, December 25, 2015
This was an engrossing and disturbing account of a woman who ends up in a mental asylum in the 19th century. The woman, Ivy Squire, is put in the asylum by her husband who Ivy was forced to marry by her parents. Ivy suffers from Asperger's Syndrome which was an undiagnosed condition in the 19th century. She merely seemed a little odd because she avoided eye contact, wanted to learn geology (which was considered solely a man's pursuit), avoided perfumes, and other traits considered to be unfeminine. The focus of the book is on Ivy who tells her history to a young nurse, Tilly, but the novel also details the conditions of mental health at the time and the gross misconceptions especially of female patients. For example, women were diagnosed with mental conditions based on such things such as "excessive reading, studies not suited to the female sex, a fancy to forego marriage and children in favor of pursuing work." The novel really fleshes out the characters including Ivy and her family, Tilly, Dr. Ambrose (a young doctor newly appointed to Goldcord), and Enoch Gale, the hospital administer who is a syphilitic using all the wrong methods on his patients. Overall, a high recommendation for this although I thought parts of Ivy's narrative could have come from a romance novel. The author, who has Asperger's, also includes some bonus material at the end about Asperger's, Victorian era asylums and mental patients, and some trivia related to the story. This add-on material is a great way to enhance the novel.

Journal Entry 10 by wingperryfranwing at bookstogive's general lit VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, January 16, 2016

Released 8 yrs ago (1/16/2016 UTC) at bookstogive's general lit VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to BooksandMusic,,,,a selection from the Lit VBB. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 11 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Received, thank you very much!

Journal Entry 12 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Monday, August 24, 2020
Excellent historical fiction although very difficult to read due to dread and horror. I had to stop a few times when I realized something terrible was going to happen. The things that happen in the story all serve purpose to tell the story in historical, social and mental health construct. The notes at the end, which tells why the author wrote the book as she did and gives additional historical context, is very good. The story is not spare but it is very carefully and thoughtfully constructed.
Recommended if you have an interest in mental health and the history of mental health treatments.

Journal Entry 13 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Monday, October 12, 2020
Looks like I will be putting this book in the 1st sentence wrap it up book box.

Journal Entry 14 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Friday, October 16, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (10/15/2020 UTC) at Seattle, Washington USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

mailed

Journal Entry 15 by Chicvolley99 at Denver, Colorado USA on Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Received in the First Sentence Wrap-It-Up Bookbox ROUND 2

I have decided to pass this book along elsewhere

Released 3 yrs ago (11/22/2020 UTC) at Little Free Library #11521 - 455 Washington St. in Denver, Colorado USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Released at the Little Free Library on Washington in between 4th and 5th Aves. Please enjoy!

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