The Nature of Things

Several years ago, I took a continuing education course entitled "The Great American Novel" at our local college. One of the works discussed in the course was The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I never actually read the book during the course, but I've always been curious about it and it had long languished on my TBR list. Time to tick that box. This short novel - actually more a novella or long short story - was published in 1892. It was inspired by the author's own experience with mental illness. Following the birth of her child, she suffered from what we would now recognize as severe postpartum depression.  Both her husband and her brother were agreed that the best treatment for what ailed her was the "rest cure," which was recommended by a specialist. It was essentially a period of enforced inactivity and solitude. And so this was the treatment which Charlotte endured. Her opinion on the matter was not solicited. Then, some years later, s...