Books to Borrow Claysburg Area Public Library Recommends

In Victorian England, Miss Vivienne Mourdant was well known as a concert pianist. Her father was known as an excellent music teacher. He had taught her well. He expected perfection and when she didn’t achieve it, her knuckles were slammed with a ruler or she would be locked up in a dark larder for half a day. When her father died, Vivienne expected to enjoy the freedom of no longer having a controlling father. Yes, she would help other women who needed to be freed from men who abused them.

Her father’s solicitor informed her that her father left her with a great amount of debt. Also, she was now the guardian of Rosamond Swansea. Rosamond was held in the Hurstwell Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Who was she and what was she doing there?

Vivienne’s manager cancelled all of her next concerts for a period of mourning. With debts to pay, Vivienne decided to take a job at Hurstwell. Maybe she would find Rosamond and get some answers. Vivienne did not want to use her real name so entered the employment as Cora Fletcher. Dr. Timothy Thornhill was in charge. He denied there was a Rosamond Swansea in his care. But father had paid monthly for her care. Someone slipped a drug in her tea and she awoke to find that she had been admitted as a patient to the asylum. The conditions were dreadful. The patients wore different colored gowns depending on how mad they were. Vivienne was uncertain who she could trust. Would she ever find Rosamond? Why was her father paying for her care? The ones thought to be a lost cause were kept in the Lost Tower. Could she be there?

Dr. Mitchell Turner was responsible for the chronic patients. He seemed to have some compassion which Dr. Thornhill seemed to totally lack. Vivienne hears music that nobody else does. Is she truly mad? When she discovers more than was safe, she finds herself in a dark place and no way out. What is God doing? What of her plans to help women who are trapped?