Book Reviews

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper is by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

I managed to read this book, or rather novella in about one hour and that's due to two things, it only has 31 pages and I absolutely loved it.

This novella was first published in 1892 and illustrates attitudes in the 19th century towards women's mental nd physical health and yet I have never found a book more relatable. This story revoked around a women and her physician husband as she tried to deal with her postnatal depression that no one believes in.
It's so relatable in the way that no one understands her true amount of suffering, or even listens go her when she wants to try to explain it as a result she slips into an invisible and silent spiral into psychosis.

This book has no chapters but is evident from the narrator's (the lady) slowly deteriorating mind describing her days spent in the nursery at the top of her rented summer house, her main accompany being the yellow wallpaper. By the end of the book in the last entry it's clear that the narrator has completely lost herself.

The most shocking thing about this book is that this was and maybe in someplaces is still the treatment of mental health, furthermore it represents the patriarchal society with the way her husband and other males in positions of power ignore her needs. In addition Charlotte is not only the author of the book but she is the inspiration of this book, using her own struggles and lack of good professional help. In fact this book has helped others to change their attitudes and outlook on mental health.

I give this book 4/5 because although it's perfect I'm still holding for something extra, mind blowing and special to get 5/5.

I know that previously I said the next review would be The Rose Society but to be honest I haven't even started reading it, in fact I started to read The Princess Bride which I am still in the middle of reading but due to school have been too tired to fully focus and read it.