Hello and welcome to another book review. Today’s pick is The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, her first married name, was a prominent American humanist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. First published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper is a written secret journal of a new mother who was failing to relish the joys of domestic life, and was sent to a secluded country home to cure her “nervous condition,” or Postpartum depression. Isolated from people, & forbidden to read or write due to how it “aggravates her” her doctor & husband insist on complete passivity. Locked in her bedroom she creates a reality of a hidden figure moving underneath the yellow wall paper and goes about freeing her.
Rediscovered in the 1960s, this book became a rallying cry for the importance of self empowerment and legal freedom for women.
This book is a psychological & dramatic read and is great for anyone wanting to understand how women can be treated physically well, but also be mentally & emotionally neglected.