Title: One Glorious Ambition, the Compassionate
Crusade of Dorothea Dix
Author: JaneKirkpatrick
Review: This book is a historical fiction based
on the life of Dorothea Dix the crusader for the rights of the mentally
ill. This book is a good combination of
historical fact and enough fiction to keep it somewhat interesting to the less
informed. By this I mean, those of us
who are not into biographies and who know nothing of the history or the
treatment of the mentally ill through the ages of time.
To understand the story one must understand the nuances of
the times in which Dorothea lived. She
was born in 1802 in Hampden, Maine. Her
mother was mentally ill all of Dorothea's life.
Dorothea remembered her in later years as always having "a blank
expression in her lovely blue eyes," her father was the black sheep of the
family, expelled from Harvard University, never wanted to pay his bills and was
forever asking for money from friends and family. The young ladies of her day were educated
just enough to be able to attract "catch a husband".
At the age of 11 Dorothea left home and walked to her
Grandmother's home forty miles away. She
was going there to ask her Grandmother if she, Dorothea, and her brother and
the new baby, Joseph, could come and live with her. It was a bitter cold day and the maid,
thinking she was a street urchin, sent her around to the servants door of the
mansion to wait in the kitchen.
Grandmother would not do as Dorothea requested and Dorothea was sent
home to live with her abusive father and "sleepy" mother. It was a sad time for her and her brothers
but eventually her Grandmother sent for her and had her go and live with her
Aunts family who were willing to "take" her in, and teach her to be a
proper young lady.
Dorothea lived with her Aunt and Uncle and her cousin Mary
and was taught all the proper things that a young lady of that age should
know. How to ride a horse, how to laugh,
but not to loudly, at a suitor's little jokes, how never to disagree with a
gentleman, how to walk so her hoops moved in just the right way, how to knit,
crochet and cross stitch, all of the important things for well bred women of
her day. But this was not enough for
Dorothea, she could read and write and think and she wanted to be something, to
do what God in Heaven had placed her on the earth to do. But first she had to find what that
"something" was.
As the years past, with no marriage in sight, she decided to
open a school for girls, to teach riding, reading, mathematics, English, cross
stitching. She loved teaching and
learning and wanted to instill that love in her students. But the thinking of the day was not in her
favor, as one of her students fathers told her " Just teach her, her
letters, so she will write to her mother and me when she marries and moves
away." Later Dorothea opened a
school for indigent children and taught them in the evenings and weekends. She loved to teach but still did not feel
fulfilled.
One day she was called into her Aunts sitting room and told
she was going to live with her grandmother.
It seemed Grandmama felt that her Aunt had failed her by Dorothea not
being married and so was bringing her home to "Find a Husband" before
it was too late.
Dorothea's Grandmother had fallen on hard times and so had
moved into the carriage house and her mansion was being used as a boarding
house. Dorothea was given rooms in the
mansion house and would take her meals with the boarders. Interesting conversations ensued and Dorothea
met many interesting people some of whom would change her life forever.
Dorothea felt a need for religion in her life and loved to
hear the fiery sermons of the preachers on Sunday morning. These sermons and those who delivered them,
helped Dorothea become the beacon for hope that the mentally ill, she later
helped, needed.
"yearning to fulfill her God given purpose, Dorothea
discovers her gift for teaching and writing..." she has bouts of illness that leave her
weak. It turns out that she had T B, a
dreaded health problem that was prevalent in that time. She was able to fight against these bouts and
regain her health to carry on the battle.
Dorothea fought prejudice against her sex, showing the "Hallowed
Halls of Government" that women did have something to offer, she was a
feminists long before it became the thing to be. She fought for basic human
rights for the mentally ill, basic rights that every living creature deserves.
At this point in time, the mentally ill, in some cases, were
kept chained to walls that were dripping with water, with no heat in the
winter, no blankets, overflowing slop buckets and with food tossed through the
bars of their cells. They were put into
prisons with common criminals and were mistreated right along with them. Dorothea saw their condition and decided her
life's work would be to help them received decent care in state run
institutions, where nurses and doctors could care for them with humane
treatment. Thoughts of her own mother's
condition came back to her each time she became discouraged with all the
"red tape". She fought in the
halls of congress clear up to the Oval Office.
She knew two Presidents of the United States and solicited their help and
compassion, but the "business" of politics came first and bill after
bill she had presented was tabled until the next session year after year. Slavery was the big question at this point in
time so humane treatment of the mentally ill was not much of an issue.
There are so many good quotes in this book, one of my
favorite was "if it is to be, it is up to thee" and "Give me one
glorious ambition for my life....",
This is a well written book, you can feel Dorothea's
frustration with the people around her that have the power to help but who
refuse for political ambitions. The
author fills out her character from a little girl worried about where her next
meal will come from to a woman who gives up her life and her funds to provide
care to the most helpless.
If you like Biographies and the stories of historical people
and times this is the book for you. This
book will receive four out of five stars from me for good historical accuracy,
vivid descriptions and sticking to facts.
The down side of this book for me was I do not feel that I
know Dorothea Dix any better, her personality did not come out in the story,
her feelings of sadness and hurt only made her seem petulant and over
bearing. I felt the character was flat
and two dimensional. I do realize that taking a historical character, fleshing
them out and bringing them to life is tough going but that is what this book
needs.
Thanks Eileen for this review.
Thanks Eileen for this review.
Published: Published
April 2nd 2013 by WaterBrook Press
ISBN: 9781400074310
Pages: 400
Copyright: 2013
Quick Review: 4
out of 5 stars
Synopsis: One dedicated woman...giving voice to the suffering
of many
Born to an unavailable mother and an abusive father,
Dorothea Dix longs simply to protect and care for her younger brothers, Charles
and Joseph. But at just fourteen, she is separated from them and sent to live
with relatives to be raised properly. Lonely and uncertain, Dorothea discovers
that she does not possess the ability to accept the social expectations imposed
on her gender and she desires to accomplish something more than finding a
suitable mate.
Yearning to fulfill her God-given purpose, Dorothea finds
she has a gift for teaching and writing. Her pupils become a kind of family,
hearts to nurture, but long bouts of illness end her teaching and Dorothea is
adrift again. It’s an unexpected visit to a prison housing the mentally ill
that ignites an unending fire in Dorothea’s heart—and sets her on a journey
that will take her across the nation, into the halls of the Capitol,
befriending presidents and lawmakers, always fighting to relieve the suffering
of what Scripture deems, the least of these.
In bringing nineteenth-century, historical reformer Dorothea
Dix to life, author Jane Kirkpatrick combines historical accuracy with the
gripping narrative of a woman who recognized suffering when others turned away,
and the call she heeded to change the world.
About the author: Kirkpatrick
brings us a story of one woman's restoration from personal grief to the meaning
of community.
Other Reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment