Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Amid the mayhem of the American Civil War, a Virginia plantation wife is put on trial by her slaveholder husband. Iris Dunleavy is convicted of madness by a Virginia judge; it is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good compliant wife. But Iris knows her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing with him on Southern notions of justice, cruelty, and property. On a remote Florida island, a pompous superintendent heads this asylum populated by wonderful characters, including his self-diagnosing twelve-year-old son, a woman who swallows anything in sight, and Ambrose Weller, a Confederate soldier whose memories terrorize him into wild fits that can only be calmed by the color blue, but whose gentleness and dark eyes beckon to Iris. The institution calls itself modern, but Iris is skeptical of its methods, particularly the dreaded "water treatment." In this isolated place, she finds love with Ambrose. But can she take him with her if she escapes? Will there be anything for them to make a life from, back home? This novel is the story of a spirited woman, a wounded soldier, their impossible love, and the call of freedom.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Subjects
Fiction, Plantation owners' spouses, Psychiatric hospital patients, Asylums, History, Psychiatric hospitals, FICTION, Historical, Literary, Fiction, romance, historical, general, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, fiction, FICTION / Historical, FICTION / LiteraryPlaces
VirginiaTimes
Civil War, 1861-1865Showing 1 featured edition. View all 1 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?December 12, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
March 1, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
February 18, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
July 17, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
May 2, 2012 | Created by LC Bot | import new book |