100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Iona Mueller grew up in an affluent home in Ithaca, NY in the early 1900's. Iona's mother wanted her to be the perfect young lady with skills in cooking, sewing, and keeping the house so Iona would be ready to marry. Iona however, would rather set traps for animals like her brothers and take care of the chickens. Iona had other quirks that made her parents upset and caused her to not make friends at school, she always counted her steps and had only befriended the maid, Hetty. When Iona has an outburst, her parents deliver her to the Willard Asylum. Iona has a difficult time at Willard, but also learns how to deal with her illness. She finds meaning working in the stables and befriends James, a farm hand. When Iona's life becomes endangered at Willard, her and another inmate, Cat, make a break for town and escape the harsh treatment at Willard. Years later, Iona's great-granddaughter, Jenna is starting to display strange behaviors. Jenna went from being an extrovert, to being afraid of everything and licking different surfaces. Jenna's grandmother remembers Iona's own mental health issues and goes on a search for any information about Iona that might be able to help Jenna. She is able to locate Iona's actual suitcase from when she was first brought to the asylum.

I was first drawn to this book because it is set near where I live and I know of the Willard Asylum. I also have experience working with people who happen to have mental health diagnosis. The aspects of the links with the suitcases found at the Willard also drew me in. Iona's story was intruiging; at first she seems like a perfectly normal girl who is a bit on the tomboy side, who likes to count things and who has very strict parents. Iona is endearing, even when she is skinning a rabbit; she is helping to feed Hetty's family. I felt for her when she had trouble making friends at school and when she is sent to Willard. When the seriousness of her mental health issues are revealed, it is a shock. I can tell that the author did a lot of research into the Willard Asylum and the treatment of the patients there. Iona's experience probably mirrored many of the real life patients that were kept there. Iona was lucky and made an escape from the Willard with the help of Cat, Iona was able to live her life with the person she fell in love with working at Willard. I was a little disappointed in the instant love connection between James and Iona, but it did enable Iona's character to continue her story through her great-granddaughter. I did appreciate the comparisons and contrasts of the mental health system in the past and present with Iona and Jenna's stories. Our medical treatment for people with mental health diagnoses has improved greatly, but still carries a terrible stigma that both Iona and Jenna's families felt. I really wanted the discovery of Iona's suitcase to lend more to the story and maybe reveal more secrets to her past, but the story was still rewarding.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.