Ellen Wolfe

Set in New York during the 1960s, this is the story of a woman who had a nervous breakdown and spent a month in a mental hospital, where she received electroshock therapy. The book describes her attempts to resume normal life at home. It's very difficult, because her memory is in a terrible state. She can't remember who she spoke to yesterday, how to make breakfast for her children, that she and her husband are about to buy their first house. She can't even recall the incident that led to her admittance in the hospital, and is constantly afraid of running into people who know what happened, while she has no idea who they are or what she might have said to them while in her prior "manic state". Following through her days of bewilderment and frustration, I was waiting for the revelation of what had led to her nervous breakdown. It wasn't what I expected at all, and for several pages the book became a discussion of morality and abortion.

It was very interesting to me to see how this book reflected its times, the attitudes of and towards women and the occasional cultural references that placed it in a time frame for me.

from the Dog Ear Diary… (més)