Wildthorn by Jane EaglandThis is a very awkward book for me to review, because I have spent a long time trying to decide what I thought of it, and I still don't know.
Louisa wants to be a doctor and an independent woman, but Victorian England won't allow her to be anything other than a delicate wife and mother. When she follows her dreams just a little bit close, she is sent to a home for the insane, and told her name is Lucy Childs. Her attempts to clear up the "confusion" only make things worse for her, after all, it seems quite crazy to deny your own name...
The longer Louisa spends in Wildthorn, the more she suspects that it is not just he lack of "womanly pursuits" that got her sent there, it may have to do with one experience with her beautiful cousin Grace...
I like Grace and Eliza and Beatrice as characters, but I had such a hard time reading about Louisa. I love when characters in books/movies/tv shows are able to rebel against society by deftly playing the games and rules of the society. Louisa most emphatically does not. Her father gave her leeway growing up, and her mother was particularly strict. This leaves me confused as to how Louisa thinks it is alright to travel alone in a third class carriage, or to jump up at a dinner party and say that she thinks women should be doctors. She has to KNOW that it is not acceptable. Her heavy hand and naive outlook drove me crazy (no pun intended).
The romance was sweet, but light, and (at least on Louisa's side) rather sudden. This book definitely fills a niche in a YA collection, but I can't completely, whole-heartedly recommend it either.
(Note: this book was made available to me for free by the publishers through NetGalley. I have made every attempt to not allow this to bias my opinion in any way.)
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