000			02066 a2200229 4500
999			_c53941 _d53941
008			210703b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780784164386
082			_a813.6 _bBEA
100			_aBeams, Clare
245			_aIllness lesson
260			_bDoubleday, _c2020. _aLondon:
300			_a270 p. ; _bpb, _c20 cm.
365			_aINR _b599.00
520			_aSarah Waters meets Red Clocks in this searing novel, set at an all-girl school in 19th century Massachusetts, which probes the timeless question: who gets to control a woman's body and why. The year is 1871. In Ashwell, Massachusetts, at the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds descends. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher has waned in recent years, takes the birds' appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully 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, fits, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. In desperation, the school turns to the ministering of a sinister physician--based on a real historic treatment--just as Caroline's body, too, begins its betrayal. As the girls' conditions worsens, long-buried secrets emerge, and Caroline must confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities around her, the ones who insist the voices of the sufferers are unreliable. In order to save herself, Caroline may have to destroy everything she's ever known. Written in intensely vivid prose and brimming with psychological insight, The Illness Lesson is a powerful exploration of women's bodies, women's minds, and the time-honored tradition of doubting both.
650			_aGirls' schools
650			_aFathers and daughters
650			_aNew England
650			_aDiseases
650			_aSecrecy
650			_aMassachusetts
942			_2ddc _cTD