An Inconvenient Wife

April 26, 2004
In this gripping historical, Chance (Susannah Morrow
) exposes the horrors women faced in late 19th-century New York when they dared to show passion of any kind or repudiate society's norms. Highborn Lucy Carelton suffers from a common female disorder, "hysteria": its symptoms are headaches, excitable reactions and feelings of claustrophobia. Her cold-hearted, nouveau riche husband, William, determined to find her a cure, brings her to several specialists, who recommend everything from an ovariotomy to several months of confinement in a private asylum. At their wits' ends, the Careltons come to the renowned Dr. Victor Seth, a controversial specialist in the new field of neurology, who uses a combination of hypnosis and electrotherapy to cure his patients. Chance ratchets up the tension when Victor and Lucy's patient/doctor relationship crosses the line into something more intimate and intriguing, as Lucy's horrifying childhood and loveless marriage are brought to light in her therapy. The author showcases the class prejudices inherent in New York's high society in the 1880s and aptly depicts the stifling life a woman had to accept. It becomes clear that the healthier and more independent Lucy is, the more threatened and alienated her husband becomes, and the resulting fallout is catastrophic. The role of the unconscious mind and its impact on conscious behavior is explored in depth here, and Chance ends this lightning-paced narrative with a clever twist underscoring the risks one woman takes to be her own person. Agent, Marcy Posner
.

March 15, 2004
Despite her stated desire to conform to the customs of upper-class New York society in the 1880s, Lucy Carleton behaves in unconventional ways that shock her contemporaries. In addition to her rich and domineering father's restrictions, Lucy faces the smothering concern of her social-climbing husband, William. These pressures cause nervous outbursts and prevent Lucy from having a child. When one doctor after another fails to isolate the problem, in desperation, William hires Dr. Victor Seth, a neurologist whose unconventional methods include hypnotism. His "cures" unleash in Lucy artistic and sexual passions that threaten her reputation and social position. An affair ensues, and when William finds out he sends Lucy to an asylum. Chance (Susannah Morrow) skillfully creates the abusive and prisonlike atmosphere that patients endured in such facilities at the time. Her depiction of the repressive world experienced by women outside such asylums is equally compelling. Lucy is no mere victim, though: the complexity of her character will intrigue readers. Unexpected turns in a well-paced plot provide additional reasons that historical fiction fans will enjoy the novel.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2004
In this wholly absorbing historical novel, Mrs. Lucy Carelton, who comes from one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in 1880s New York City, has been completely undone by her nerves. Her ambitious husband, a nouveau riche stockbroker, drags her from one doctor to another in search of a cure that will allow her to fulfill her many social obligations without giving in to hysteria. They think they have found the solution in charismatic neurologist Victor Seth, a champion of a relatively new procedure called hypnotism. Seth sets about freeing Lucy from the social constraints that have made her so unhappy, encouraging her to pursue her artistic talents and explore her sexuality. Seth convinces himself that his techniques, including his handy way with an electrotherapy wand, are all in the name of science, but even he is unprepared for the new Lucy who emerges--a passionate, calculating, amoral creature of large appetites. Chance's straightforward prose and over-the-top plotting effectively combine in this diabolically clever, thoroughly entertaining take on women's liberation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)