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The Illness Lesson

“Brilliant, suspenseful, beautifully-executed. With power, subtlety, and keen intelligence, Clare Beams has somehow crafted a tale that feels like both classical ghost story and like a modern (and very timely) scream of female outrage. A masterpiece.” Elizabeth GilbertIt is 1871. At the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds has descended. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher is waning, takes the birds` appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully guided his daughter`s. Despite Caroline`s misgivings, Samuel`s vision – revolutionary, as always; noble, as always; full of holes, as always – takes shape. It`s not long before the students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, seizures, verbal tics, night wanderings. In desperate, the school turns to the ministering of a sinister physician – just as Caroline`s body, too, begins its betrayal. As the girls` condition worsens, Caroline must confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities of her world, the ones who insist the voices of the sufferers are unreliable. Written in intensely vivid prose and brimming with insight, `The Illness Lesson` is a powerful exploration of women`s bodies, women`s minds and the time-honoured tradition of doubting both.

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