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Review
"This subtly unnerving tale raises goose bumps as the tension builds towards the menacing finale"
--Mslexia
`Chapman deftly ratchets up the tension, pitting off-kilter emotions against a sense psychological doom' --Marie Claire
`A beautiful, edgy, not always comfortable and captivating novel'
--Daily Mail
'...a gem; weird, vivid and acrobatic, its intricacies are sophisticated, its stance beguiling and complex.' -- Guardian
`...the unfolding story has the compelling horror...that stays with the reader and leaves a sense of being drawn...into a nightmare.' -- Metro
`subtly, disquietingly hermetic.' --The Lady
`the general sense of unease Chapman skillfully generates' --Sunday Times
'A psychologically unnerving, elusive and readable book'. --Financial Times
`Chapman explores women's freedom within a medical setting'
--Sainsbury's Magazine
"There is an elegant sparseness to her writing, complemented by her use of tactile metaphors" --TLS
--Mslexia
`Chapman deftly ratchets up the tension, pitting off-kilter emotions against a sense psychological doom' --Marie Claire
`A beautiful, edgy, not always comfortable and captivating novel'
--Daily Mail
'...a gem; weird, vivid and acrobatic, its intricacies are sophisticated, its stance beguiling and complex.' -- Guardian
`...the unfolding story has the compelling horror...that stays with the reader and leaves a sense of being drawn...into a nightmare.' -- Metro
`subtly, disquietingly hermetic.' --The Lady
`the general sense of unease Chapman skillfully generates' --Sunday Times
'A psychologically unnerving, elusive and readable book'. --Financial Times
`Chapman explores women's freedom within a medical setting'
--Sainsbury's Magazine
"There is an elegant sparseness to her writing, complemented by her use of tactile metaphors" --TLS
Book Description
A brilliant and unnerving debut novel about the mysteriously ill patients at a remote hospital in Finland
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
(3.5 stars) A sanitorium set in Suvanto in rural Finland, sometime in the late 1920s, has drawn female patients from all over Europe and America. Many are wealthy women who enjoy the specialized spa treatments and the chance to escape from their everyday lives for periods of up to six months. One physician asserts that "these are bored women....They like being sick." A young American nurse, Sunny Taylor, who has taken a job here to escape the difficult memories of her own life, is also hard pressed to be completely sympathetic with the self-indulgent, yet Sunny recognizes that they all do experience real pain--and they are all unhappy with their lives "outside." The arrival of Julia Dey, a woman with a serious infection, changes the atmosphere. Julia is often mean-spirited and sometimes deliberately cruel, and she creates chaos.
Gradually, the lives of the women and their difficulties unfold--many are friends from previous stays. Dr. Peter Weber, the physician in charge of the hospital, believes that most of their problems are gynecological, and he is developing a surgical stitch which he believes will cure some of their problems. This, in combination with hysterectomy, may lead him to fame, he believes-if he can get his research completed in this rural hospital. It is his surgery on one of the women which leads to the climax and the long denouement, as the conflicts demand resolution.
In several places throughout this debut novel, author Maile Chapman refers to the action of Euripedes' The Bacchae, and though the parallels between that early Greek play and this contemporary novel are not exact, many of the themes become clearer when considered in view of that play. The "Bacchae" in Greek mythology were sometimes considered madwomen, who, acting together, enacted their own vengeance and appeared to be unconquerable. It may be this trait which has led some critics to call this a "proto-feminist" novel, though the shallow lives of the female "up-patients" certainly do not represent any ideal to which most feminists aspire. The novel's themes, as in the play, also depend on sets of contrasts: civilization vs. savagery, freedom vs. control, the rational vs. the irrational, order vs. chaos, and even men vs. women. The conflicts do get resolved eventually, and, with echoes of the Greek chorus reverberating throughout the conclusion, many readers will feel that the balance of the universe is restored in ways similar to Greek tragedy.
The novel is dark, almost claustrophobic in its intensity. By leaving much up to the reader and not spelling out exactly what is happening in the latter part of the book, Chapman avoids the trite and keeps her novel mysterious and atmospheric. The novel is often frustrating, however. The characters are not likable and rarely inspire sympathy, and the author's real purpose is not clear. Long character sketches sometimes prove to be for characters who are peripheral to the main action, and the idea of the women as victims, as they so often regard themselves here, counteracts the idea that these are real bacchae (and feminists). Chapman is an enormously talented writer with a smooth style and sense of drama, however, and many readers will look forward with anticipation to her next novel. Mary Whipple
Gradually, the lives of the women and their difficulties unfold--many are friends from previous stays. Dr. Peter Weber, the physician in charge of the hospital, believes that most of their problems are gynecological, and he is developing a surgical stitch which he believes will cure some of their problems. This, in combination with hysterectomy, may lead him to fame, he believes-if he can get his research completed in this rural hospital. It is his surgery on one of the women which leads to the climax and the long denouement, as the conflicts demand resolution.
In several places throughout this debut novel, author Maile Chapman refers to the action of Euripedes' The Bacchae, and though the parallels between that early Greek play and this contemporary novel are not exact, many of the themes become clearer when considered in view of that play. The "Bacchae" in Greek mythology were sometimes considered madwomen, who, acting together, enacted their own vengeance and appeared to be unconquerable. It may be this trait which has led some critics to call this a "proto-feminist" novel, though the shallow lives of the female "up-patients" certainly do not represent any ideal to which most feminists aspire. The novel's themes, as in the play, also depend on sets of contrasts: civilization vs. savagery, freedom vs. control, the rational vs. the irrational, order vs. chaos, and even men vs. women. The conflicts do get resolved eventually, and, with echoes of the Greek chorus reverberating throughout the conclusion, many readers will feel that the balance of the universe is restored in ways similar to Greek tragedy.
The novel is dark, almost claustrophobic in its intensity. By leaving much up to the reader and not spelling out exactly what is happening in the latter part of the book, Chapman avoids the trite and keeps her novel mysterious and atmospheric. The novel is often frustrating, however. The characters are not likable and rarely inspire sympathy, and the author's real purpose is not clear. Long character sketches sometimes prove to be for characters who are peripheral to the main action, and the idea of the women as victims, as they so often regard themselves here, counteracts the idea that these are real bacchae (and feminists). Chapman is an enormously talented writer with a smooth style and sense of drama, however, and many readers will look forward with anticipation to her next novel. Mary Whipple
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is not often that I find a writer whose work I can admire but who I don't want to read again.
Chapman can clearly write. She has a talent for creating atmosphere, evoking the elements and the seasons. She is not afraid to people her novel with unsympathetic characters.
However I don't feel that I want to explore any other books she goes on to write.
There were only a couple of sections where the unremitting greyness of the novel is pierced by bold colour - and they both involved blood. That vivid redness comes as such a shock to the reader that the writing of these paragraphs lingers in the mind.
Perhaps the subject matter put me off - it shouldn't but, as a male reader, I do not have the necessary insight into the female condition for the subject to resonate immediately. This is not to say this is a book just for women - but a male reader may have to work harder to fully engage with it.
Chapman is someone to watch - but I have to say that I will not rush to buy her second novel.
Chapman can clearly write. She has a talent for creating atmosphere, evoking the elements and the seasons. She is not afraid to people her novel with unsympathetic characters.
However I don't feel that I want to explore any other books she goes on to write.
There were only a couple of sections where the unremitting greyness of the novel is pierced by bold colour - and they both involved blood. That vivid redness comes as such a shock to the reader that the writing of these paragraphs lingers in the mind.
Perhaps the subject matter put me off - it shouldn't but, as a male reader, I do not have the necessary insight into the female condition for the subject to resonate immediately. This is not to say this is a book just for women - but a male reader may have to work harder to fully engage with it.
Chapman is someone to watch - but I have to say that I will not rush to buy her second novel.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Chapman's debut novel, set in a sanatorium in Finland in the twenties, is dark, atmospheric and beautifully written. Her sense of place and the seasons reminded me of the first time I read David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars, and is the highlight of an otherwise peculiar and often confusing novel.
I finished this a week ago, and it has returned to my mind several times since then, but I am still not entirely sure what happened. Much is hinted at, most things remain either unresolved or for the imagination of the reader to finish. In some novels this works perfectly. In this one I just felt there was too much going on and not enough that was concrete to pin anything down satisfactorily.
I really wanted to love this book. There were many things about it I did love. I thought the characterisation was strong, and the characters were intriguing, the writing style was lyrical and beautiful and the contrast between the natural world that surrounds the sanatorium and the unnatural world fostered within the walls was delicately handled and gave the novel a real edge. On the other hand I cannot say it was a complete success.
I do however look forward to reading whatever she comes up with next.
I finished this a week ago, and it has returned to my mind several times since then, but I am still not entirely sure what happened. Much is hinted at, most things remain either unresolved or for the imagination of the reader to finish. In some novels this works perfectly. In this one I just felt there was too much going on and not enough that was concrete to pin anything down satisfactorily.
I really wanted to love this book. There were many things about it I did love. I thought the characterisation was strong, and the characters were intriguing, the writing style was lyrical and beautiful and the contrast between the natural world that surrounds the sanatorium and the unnatural world fostered within the walls was delicately handled and gave the novel a real edge. On the other hand I cannot say it was a complete success.
I do however look forward to reading whatever she comes up with next.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
unsettling and disturbing
I agree with Mary Whipple (I often do!) - the plot is most interesting, and Maile Chapman's style is beguiling; I found myself reading more carefully than usual. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Krystina Divila
very atmospheric
I enjoyed this book as it is about the life of an institution and about the relationship of those within it. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lucinda Stern
Weird and Gripping
I once drove into Helsinki at dust as the snow was just beginning. Monsters of stone emerged, giant and bleak, from the landscape. Just like this book.
Published 16 months ago by Taylor
Superficially engrossing, but lacking depth...
This is one of those books that constantly sits on the brink of becoming something truly engrossing, without ever crossing the boundary. Read more
Published 18 months ago by bloodsimple
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