The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
| Written by: | Emilie Autumn |
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| Synopsis: | |
| First published: | 2009 |
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls is an autobiographical/psychological thriller novel by Emilie Autumn. It was published in 2009 as a companion to her 2009–2010 North American, European, and Australian tour, the Asylum Tour. It contains two intertwining stories. One is her autobiography, detailing her time spent in a psychiatric ward in Los Angeles as well as three very detailed diaries: cutting, drug and suicide. The other is the story of Emily with a 'y' in the eponymous Asylum, sent to Emilie in letters originally written on wallpaper and re-typed by Sir Edward.
The book is both historical fiction and non-fiction, and one of the most complete accounts of bipolar disorder to be published, as well as a social criticism on the mental health system of the 21st century.
Tropes used in The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls include:
- Abusive Parents: The Count de Rothsberg was this to Jolie Rouge and her deceased sister.
- And This Is For: Emily with a 'y' says this when she stabs Doctor Stockill for the girls who couldn't be there followed immediately by Sir Edward for the rats
- Asian and Nerdy: Sachiko, a bit. She does play classical music.
- Bedlam House: The eponymous Asylum, where leechings are a common practice for almost every ailment. Bathing is done outside with a cold blast of water regardless of the time of year. After the bi-monthly bathing, death by pneumonia is a common thing. Ward B's inmates are often kept in chains. Pregnancy is often caused by the chasers and later the men who make use of the prostitution ring set up by Doctor Stockill. The modern psychiatric ward is better but still atrocious.
- Bitter Almonds: The only thing Madame Mournington can smell, recognizing it from the death of her daughter, Violet, on the breath of Christelle
- Bittersweet Ending
- Broken Bird: Emilie and Emily, as well as many of the girls in the Asylum.
- Brother-Sister Incest: One of the girls in the Asylum was abused by her brother. He had her committed to keep her from talking about it.
- Chekhov's Gun: The key Emily stole from the Count de Rothsberg, which is later used to open the gates to the Asylum.
- Development Hell: It was meant to come out in 2008 and was delayed. Then was it going to be out for the first 2009 tour and was delayed again. And on Emilie's 30th birthday a release date was set and was going to come out in October with people getting it mid tour via VIP tickets. It was delayed again due to problems with the printing press and has finally come out on December 15th.
- Did Not Do the Research: Quite a few things in the book display a clear lack of research on Emilie's part such as lobotomies did not exist until the 1930s, she refers to teddy bears despite the fact that term wasn't coined yet, and there are vultures in London.
- Of course, Emily's story was written while Emilie was drugged-up and out of it.
- Driven to Suicide: Emilie *and* Emily, though their attempts both fail. Later, Madame Mournington and Doctor Stockill succeed.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Doctor Stockill, in a really creepy way.
- Femme Fatale: Veronica
- Food Porn
- For the Evulz: Doctors Lymer and Greavesly
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Jolie Rouge is the girl so broken she chooses to live in her own fantasy, Emily is the "mannish", clever, artistic one, Veronica is the sexy, glamorous one(though this is deconstructed), and Anne is sort of a mother figure.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted, for once.
- Heel Face Turn: Madame Mournington
- Kill'Em All: The Asylum inmates all jump out from a building. Oh, and most of the doctors die in the massacre.
- Mad Doctor. Stockill, so much. And he's convinced that he's the Only Sane Man, only keeping the insane in their rightful place.
- Mad Scientist: Doctor Stockill who is attempting to create a new strain of the bubonic plague that only he can cure.
- Meaningful Name: Madame Mournington, Jolie Rouge...
- My God, What Have I Done?: Madame Mournington, post Heel Face Turn, says these exact words. Also, Thomson when he realizes what his photographs of the Asylum girls are being used for.
- Only One Name: Emily, Sachiko, Anne... Most of the Asylum girls, actually.
- The Ophelia: Played straight, discussed and to an extent, deconstructed.
- Rape as Drama
- Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: Emily's friendships with, respectively, Sachiko, Anne, Jolie Rouge and Veronica.
- Shaggy Dog Story: Used to highlight the pointlessness and chaos of Victorian women's lives, particularly the "mad" ones. Emily's story is spent building up to the moment when they will eliminate the doctors and run the Asylum. They succeed. Then they all commit mass suicide.
- Spell My Name with a Blank
- Talking Animal: The rats and leeches.
- Token Minority: Sachiko.
- Victorian London: This is the setting of the story of Emily with a 'y'.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Thomson, at first.
- Yandere: Doctor Stockill, toward his mother.