The Illness Lesson
The Illness Lesson
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The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams
'A modern scream of female outrage. A masterpiece' ELIZABETH GILBERT 'Astoundingly original . . . belongs on the shelf with your Margaret Atwood' NEW YORK TIMES Haunting, intense and irresistible, The Illness Lesson is an extraordinary debut about women's minds and bodies, and the time-honoured tradition of doubting both. In 1871, at an elite new school designed to shape the minds of young women, the inscrutable and defiant Eliza Bell has been overwhelmed by an inexplicable illness. Before long, the other girls start to succumb to its peculiar symptoms - rashes, tics, night wanderings and fits. As the disease takes hold, teacher Caroline Hood tries desperately to hide her own symptoms, but the powers-that-be turn to a sinister physician with dubious methods. Does Caroline have the courage to confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities of her world and protect the young women in her care? 'You want to know how horrifying things happened while decent people looked on and did nothing? Read this novel' MARY BETH KEANE 'Subtle, clever, suspenseful . . . builds to a shocking climax' DIANE SETTERFIELD 'A Sunday Times Book to Read in 2020: A classic ghost story for fans of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Deborah Levy, Jeffrey Eugenides' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
Astoundingly original, this impressive debut belongs on the shelf with your Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler collections* New York Times *
The Illness Lesson is a brilliant, suspenseful, beautifully-executed psychological thriller. 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. I stayed up all night to finish reading it, and I can still feel its impact thrumming through my mind and body. A masterpiece. * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love *
‘Subtle, clever, suspenseful . . . builds to a shocking climax’ * Diane Setterfield *
Alcott meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of Margaret Atwood. It’s dark, quirky and even titillating . . . on the edge between realism and ghost story * The Washington Post *
A top pick for the coming year . . . this haunting novel blends historical fiction with a timely comment on women’s bodies and minds, and those who think they can control them. Unmissable. * Stylist *
A Sunday Times Books to Read in 2020: A classic ghost story for fans of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Deborah Levy, Jeffrey Eugenides * Sunday Times Style *
The gripping novel meditates on how an all-male establishment can deny women’s pain, and how the consequences can shape a society. * Vanity Fair *
Beams takes risk after risk in this, her first novel, and they all seem to pay off. Her ventriloquizing of the late 19th century, her delicate-as-lace sentences, and the friction between the unsettling thinking of the period and its 21st century resonances make for an electrifying read. A satisfyingly strange novel from the one-of-a-kind Beams * Kirkus *
'Beams' highly readable but unsettling debut novel has a 19th-century elegance and Gothic tone attuned perfectly to its themes of shadows from the past, omens, men's control over women's bodies and the hint of a malign force just beyond our ken' * The Herald *
The Illness Lesson truly shook me. In prose so sharp it cuts through the decades and arrives at the present day, Clare Beams takes a shocking moment out of true history, and brings it to life. You want to know how horrifying things happened while decent people looked on and did nothing? Read this novel. I believed every nuance of these characters’ thoughts, the conflicts waging war inside their own minds, their devastation, and their courage. I was immensely moved by this story, and the people who populate its pages. * Mary Beth Keane, author of 'Ask Again, Yes' *
The Illness Lesson is a brilliant, suspenseful, beautifully-executed psychological thriller. 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. I stayed up all night to finish reading it, and I can still feel its impact thrumming through my mind and body. A masterpiece. * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love *
‘Subtle, clever, suspenseful . . . builds to a shocking climax’ * Diane Setterfield *
Alcott meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of Margaret Atwood. It’s dark, quirky and even titillating . . . on the edge between realism and ghost story * The Washington Post *
A top pick for the coming year . . . this haunting novel blends historical fiction with a timely comment on women’s bodies and minds, and those who think they can control them. Unmissable. * Stylist *
A Sunday Times Books to Read in 2020: A classic ghost story for fans of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Deborah Levy, Jeffrey Eugenides * Sunday Times Style *
The gripping novel meditates on how an all-male establishment can deny women’s pain, and how the consequences can shape a society. * Vanity Fair *
Beams takes risk after risk in this, her first novel, and they all seem to pay off. Her ventriloquizing of the late 19th century, her delicate-as-lace sentences, and the friction between the unsettling thinking of the period and its 21st century resonances make for an electrifying read. A satisfyingly strange novel from the one-of-a-kind Beams * Kirkus *
'Beams' highly readable but unsettling debut novel has a 19th-century elegance and Gothic tone attuned perfectly to its themes of shadows from the past, omens, men's control over women's bodies and the hint of a malign force just beyond our ken' * The Herald *
The Illness Lesson truly shook me. In prose so sharp it cuts through the decades and arrives at the present day, Clare Beams takes a shocking moment out of true history, and brings it to life. You want to know how horrifying things happened while decent people looked on and did nothing? Read this novel. I believed every nuance of these characters’ thoughts, the conflicts waging war inside their own minds, their devastation, and their courage. I was immensely moved by this story, and the people who populate its pages. * Mary Beth Keane, author of 'Ask Again, Yes' *
Clare Beams' short story collection was published in October 2016. It won the Kirkus Best Debut and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Clare lives in Pittsburgh, where she teaches creative writing, most recently at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. This is her first novel.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780857526311 |
| ISBN 10 | 0857526316 |
| Title | The Illness Lesson |
| Author | Clare Beams |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 2020-02-06 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |