3.35 out of 4 stars.

Eeps! Although this story is fictional, the treacherous storyline focuses on an upstate New York mental institution and similar corrupt events that actually may of taken place in the 1930s with mental health treatments. Mind you, this was during the time when electroshock torture was put into place.

We are introduced to Clara Cartwright a rich girl that seems to have everything until she meets a boy from the other side of the tracks her father doesn’t approve of. Instead of sending the male away with a check to stop seeing his daughter, Clara’s father decides to ship her off to a mental institution by the name of Willard. A horrible prison that only allows you to bathe once a week, eat mush everyday, and be locked up in isolated confinement. The craziest part is that Clara is not crazy!

Flip forward to the 1990s in the book and we are greeted with Isabelle Stone, a 17 year old girl that is living in foster care. The family she is staying with is performing a charity project to clean out Willard and sort through the former patient remaining items and files.

Eureka! The two stories collide when Isabelle becomes fascinated by Clara’s story.

Read the book to find out if Clara was able to make it out alive, how her passionate lovelife unfolded, and if Isabelle was able to help clear her muddied name.

This plot is very dark and eery. At times it was hard to read but of course I like reading suspenseful stories so I loved this. If you enjoyed anything by Gillian Flynn I would recommend this as well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you that Ellen Marie Wiseman does a great job of explaining the nitty gritty details of everything in that hell!