Book review: "The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls" by Emilie Autumn

Warning: Possible spoilers (though I have tried very hard not to give any).

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls is the debut novel of singer and musician Emilie Autumn. As well as being a novel of sorts, it is also an autobiographical account of Autumn's experiences with mental illness and psychiatric treatment. The story begins when Emilie tries to kill herself with sleeping pills, and her subsequent incarceration in a mental health ward in present-day California with other "crazies". While there, Emilie finds letters from another young woman who has been committed in London in the Victorian era, Emily ("with a 'y'"), and thereafter the stories are told in tandem, with exceprts from Emilie's real diaries interspersed with letters from Emily.

Emilie's stay in the mental ward, promised to only be for a short time, soon lengthens and she finds herself trapped with only unsympathetic nurses and creepy doctors, as well as the other inmates, for company. Upon finding Emily's letters, the story takes on a different quality, with Emily's diaries providing the reader with a sense of macabre fantasy, while Emilie's diaries feel far more grounded in reality, though this is subverted and unravelled every so often (indeed, with the existence of the letters themselves). Having been introduced to a small cast of characters in the mental ward, Emily's letters come with one rather larger, including the despicable Count de Rothsburg and Dr Stockill. As Emilie's time on the ward begins to take a turn for the worse, so does Emily's story.

The Asylum is a highly personal story and does a lot to explain Autumn's music and her life: as such, while this book is an interesting read in and of itself, it is perhaps a book better suited to those already familiar with Autumn, her music and her work in general. I found that many lyrics and songs I had found somewhat confusing before were explained in barely a sentence while reading, and would suggest that newcomers listen to the Opheliac album, and possibly also Fight Like a Girl, before reading.

Something that struck me while reading The Asylum is how difficult it can be to read, but not in an academic sense. It took me a good few months to read because of the content. Anyone squeamish may want to give it (or certain passages within) a miss, as the descriptions of abortions, labotomies and leechings are not skimmed over. In addition, some of Autumn's own diaries pre-institutionalisation are included: these are visceral, sad and horrific, especially the "Cutting Diary" (this written in red ink for good measure). Anything involving pregnancy or the reproductive system is especially so, probably due to Autumn's tokophobia.

If you're into Victorian literature, or the history of the period, the Emily passages are interesting in showing the attitudes towards women of the time. While I found some of the details to be a little strange, for the most part the era is well-researched, and it is easy to overlook small details in favour for the messages Autumn wanted to convey with this book: messages about feminism, mental health and enduring attitudes towards them. While the treatment in the present-day ward is better than that in the Asylum, the people being kept there in both are treated similarly by those around them: the nurses stay at arm's length, and Dr Sharpe acts a little too much like the doctors in the Asylum for comfort. The Asylum also shows the attitudes of outsiders towards the mentally ill. One of the enduring themes in Autumn's music is the disparity between the romanticising of mental illness (more prominent in the Victorian era and most notably shown with the "Ophelia Gallery") and the social stigma of mental illness.

A part of the story that really stuck with me was the ending in both stories: both are utterly chilling and eerie, and Emilie's ending in particular made my blood go cold (it reminded me heavily of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman). Although arguably there was no real conclusion in the latter, I think it works well and leaves the book with a feeling of dread, even at the end. At the beginning, I would perhaps have expected to be told of what happened when Emilie left the ward, and the twist comes with a real sense of surprise.

One last thing to be said about The Asylum is the aesthetics of the book itself. It is a heavy hardback book, with thick glossy paper. If someone were to pick it up without knowledge of what it was or opening it, they could be forgiven for thinking it was a book for a roleplaying system. The pages of the book are covered in photos, drawings and objects linked to the story. As such, it is satisfying to flick through and simply look at as well as read.

Overall, I think The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls was great, and well worth the time I took to read it. As someone who is a fan of Emilie Autumn and with an interest in the Victorian era (and, to an extent, issues surrounding mental illness), I found it to be engaging and compelling, even if I found some parts of the book harder to read. For fans of Autumn, I would say this book is almost essential reading. For those unfamiliar with Autumn, it could still be a good read, but as I said I would recommend listening to some of her music beforehand.