The Redemption of Morgan Bright by Chris Panatier

Book Review

Pauline Morgan

One of the reasons why books are written, particularly in the SF/fantasy/horror genre, is as a dire warning. Over the past century, there have been great steps taken in the matter of women’s rights. Unfortunately in recent times, some of those have been backwards – one only has to look at Afghanistan. Even in the so-called Western countries, equality between the sexes has not been completely achieved and in the United States, the over-turning of abortion rights has begun to sound alarm bells. With the rise of the ultra-conservative agenda, anything could happen. One of the ideas at the base of The Redemption of Morgan Bright is the thought that more right-wing states could reinstate laws that give a husband rights over his wife, bringing back the status of wife as property.

            For Morgan Bright, the reasons for her actions are grief and guilt. When her sister, Hadleigh, died, Morgan felt she should have been more attentive to her sister’s needs. Hadleigh had always supported Morgan, paying for her drug rehabilitation sessions. The relationship between the sisters falls apart after Hadleigh’s marriage. Then it is too late. Hadleigh is dead and Morgan finds that her sister had been committed to an asylum by her husband. He could do this because the state, Nebraska, had reintroduced the statute, allowing him to do that using a diagnosis of domestic psychosis.

            Morgan decides she wants to know exactly what happened to her sister, so decides to follow in her footsteps. She and Darius Stanton, a friend of Hadleigh’s who also wants to know the truth, move to Nebraska and set up a fictional household in which they live for a year. Then, under the name of Charlotte Taylor, Morgan is committed to Hollyhock House, the Nebraska Stata Asylum, with the condition her sister was supposed to have, domestic psychosis.

            When she first arrives, Hollyhock House could be taken as a regular institution where women get help to sort their lives out. Her first night in the Welcome Room lulls her into high expectations, but from the next day onwards the situation changes. She is well fed, but other things are disturbing, especially the other women she associates with. While the treatment might have been acceptable a century ago, for modern times, it seems barbaric. The women are given domestic tasks to do as if to subdue them sufficiently to become the perfect housewife. Then there are more sinister aspects of the place which lead Morgan to think they are being drugged.

            This is a horror novel, and the institution is barbaric enough without the gradually escalating events which Morgan becomes unable to prevent.

            The novel is not linear. It is told mostly as a first person narrative, detailing Morgan’s experiences as she descends into a truly horrific situation. This is interspersed with an interrogation of Morgan as the authorities try to work out what happened at Hollyhock House and with recorded text messages between Morgan and Hadleigh. The structure works well, dribbling out the information the reader needs.

            While rational people will say that the events here are unrealistic (and the mad-scientist element could be) the idea of subjugating fractious women to make them biddable to their husbands wills and the removal of their rights, is already happening in some parts of the world. Already, in some American states there is an erosion of rights, taking away from women the right to choose what they do with their bodies. The narrative here is extreme, but these things happen by increments.

            This book is written by a man who understands what could happen if all people fail to fight for the equality women have gained. We do not want the advances to be taken away from us. It may be fiction, but this book has a warning within its pages. It needs to be heeded.