“...a Progressive Home for the Curable Insane.” (1)
Macallister’s Goldengrove in the Napa Valley, sounds a lot like the Napa State Hospital that was a fixture of my hometown of Napa, California. We called it Imola, which refers to the neighborhood that grew up around the hospital. Built in the late 1800s, and spanning several hundred acres, what remained in my youth was a far cry from the “Castle” that first inhabited the grounds. As a child, with my mother’s women’s group, we wrapped gifts for patients as part of a community outreach event at Christmastime. Napa State Hospital is what I saw in my mind's eye as I read “Woman 99.”
Running into a burning building is the analogy I draw of Charlotte’s crusade to save her sister from Goldengrove. Sanity vs. Insanity. Women being sent to asylums as a means of making them disappear. Safety, cures, inhuman treatment, compassion. How do you create an environment that works for so many disparate women? And what of the women who weren’t technically insane?
The historical aspect of the story kept me engaged. The storyline had its moments...right up until the end. How does Charlotte’s sister find her happiness, her sanity? Is a happily-ever-after ending the way this story should end?
