The Darlings of the Asylum: A gripping new dark historical fiction psychological thriller and captivating winter read...

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In a society where women have almost no autonomy or social standing except in relation to their husband, it is misogyny to disparage women for their ability to thrive in such a patriarchy. I was really hoping that Violet would learn to better understand the other women around her and develop some empathy. She doesn't. The idea of this story intrigued me, the main character Violet is a strong women, interested in sports and an artist but in a time where women have to marry and can't do 'unlady' like things. She has an offer of marriage but she is determined not to follow that path. After reading Austen and other books about women who get married or don't I have mixed feelings about her decisions. On the one hand I understand that she wants independence and to pursue her dream but on the other she has been offered the chance to do so with money and a home from a man who is her friend. The author was clearly trying to write a female character authentically, and he succeeded in some aspects, but not in others. Although society's tendency to allow men (especially in 1880s English society) to easily escape any consequences for actions which would have completely "ruined" (in the book's own words) a woman has been explored in-depth in other books, I'm always up for feminist critiques of society in my literature. In 1886, a respectable young woman must acquire a husband. Violet Pring’s scheming mother has secured a desirable marriage proposal from an eligible Brighton gentleman. But Violet does not want to marry. She longs to be a professional artist and live on her own terms.

The more she is pushed into the marriage, the more she rebels until one night she finds herself forced into an engagement party she claims to have no knowledge of. The following morning Violet wakes to find herself incarcerated in a lunatic asylum, which happened (as we now know) to far too many people with mental health problems. This is then paired with the number of times that violet "feels faint" as a result of strong emotions. This tantalizing Gothic novel from Noel O’Reilly tells a thrilling story of duty and desire, madness and sanity, truth and delusion from within a Victorian asylum.

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Nervous disease, 1801, coined in medical Latin as an abstract noun from Greek hystera “womb,” from PIE *udtero-, variant of *udero- “abdomen, womb, stomach” (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the uterus. In 1886, a respectable young woman must acquire a husband. But Violet Pring does not want to marry. She longs to be a professional artist and live on her own terms.

There is exploration of female “hysteria” in relation to their menstrual cycle, and other female “issues” such as pregnancy and motherhood before people really knew what anti-natal depression was. I liked the interludes in this novel that slowly introduced the chilling atmosphere of the asylum and I like Violet’s character – independent, clever, and not afraid to push social norms. Brighton, 1886. Violet Pring is a respectable young woman from a relatively well-off household, however, the family’s financial situation has been diminishing steadily over the years. I'm in two minds about this book in that I'd like to have given it 7 out of 10 rather than 4 out of 5. Other reviewers have critiqued the romance aspect of the book as antithetical to the book's message or Violet's realizations about the damaging effects of the patriarchy, which is fair, but I'm not wholly against the fact that Violet had a relationship with painter dude (whose name I've honestly forgotten) since women are capable of critiquing society and the patriarchy while also having a romantic relationship and/or being taking advantage of by it/men. Unfortunately, women are taken advantage of all of the time, and that doesn't make them lesser or less able to be defiant of societal expectations (not targeting any reviewers here; this is just something I've noticed in some critics of popular media and I wanted to point it out). However, as I mentioned above, the romance just didn't make sense; I only cared about painter dude because of what he did for Violet, and half the time I didn't really know whether she was meant to be "in love" with him or not (needless to say, when they started boning on the asylum floor for some reason while scheming a plan to get her out, I was VERY confused). It felt like he was hardly mentioned anyways, apart from instances when she was trying to figure out an escape plan (which, again, I wasn't a fan of the romance bit, so I'm quite happy that he was almost never mentioned).THE DARLINGS OF THE ASYLUM introduces the reader to Violet, a young Victorian woman who shrugs off social norms and is punished for it. She has her own dreams, passions but her family insists that she must marry.