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The Yellow Wallpaper

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The Yellow Wallpaper

By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Narrated by: Jo Myddleton
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About this listen

 In this classic late-nineteenth-century story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a new mother suffering from what we might today call 'post-partum depression', is diagnosed with a nervous disorder.

Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.

Public Domain (P)2008 Summersdale Publishers Ltd Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Gender Studies Short Stories Social Sciences Scary Health Mental Health
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The Narrator was excellent! I really enjoyed the story. It was fascinating yet weird at the same time

The Yellow Wallpaper Review

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When I first read this remarkable story I was overwhelmed with sadness and sympathy. Although written back in the 1890s, one could make parallels today about misinterpreted and misdiagnosed conditions which could easily mirror this poor woman's situation. Jo Myddelton reads with complete empathy for her character's dilemma and her tones, initially perfectly acceptable and 'normal' become so subtly altered it gave me goosebumps. A remarkable performance indeed.

Goosebumps

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A dark, intriguing short story, and very well-read in this Audible version, which captures how a lack of understanding of depression leads one woman deeper into the neurotic recesses of her mind. Brilliantly executed, the author relies on repetition, imagery and symbolism to portray the narrator's declining mental health, whilst borrowing on Gothic characteristics that chill and unsettle the reader. An unnerving yet compelling read that still has contemporary relevance, as it raises questions about how well mental health issues are understood and supported even today.

Fascinating, disturbing and thought-provoking

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I remember reading this for the first time in A Level English Lit, and I find it just as thought provoking today. It’s amazing how impactful such a short short can be - I’d definitely recommend reading this a few times over!

A great short read

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This is a great early feminist story, and one which still resonates these days. It is cleverly and beautifully written.

Perfect story

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