The Lobotomist's Wife: A Novel
An enthralling historical novel of a compassionate and relentless woman, a cutting-edge breakthrough in psychiatry, and a nightmare in the making.
Since her brother took his life after WWI, Ruth Emeraldine has had one goal: to help those suffering from mental illness. Then she falls in love with charismatic Robert Apter--a brilliant doctor championing a radical new treatment, the lobotomy. Ruth believes in it as a miracle treatment and in Robert as its genius pioneer. But as her husband spirals into deluded megalomania, Ruth can't ignore her growing suspicions. Robert is operating on patients recklessly, often with horrific results. And a vulnerable young mother, Margaret Baxter, is poised to be his next victim.
Margaret can barely get out of bed, let alone care for her infant. When Dr. Apter diagnoses her with the baby blues and proposes a lobotomy, she believes the procedure is her only hope. Only Ruth can save her--and scores of others--from the harrowing consequences of Robert's ambitions.
Inspired by a shocking chapter in medical history, The Lobotomist's Wife is a galvanizing novel of a woman fighting against the most grievous odds, of ego, and of the best intentions gone horribly awry.
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Community Reviews
The best parts were about Margaret, the young mother with postpartum depression. The descriptions of her feelings and thoughts were really true to how the postpartum period is for many women including myself. Margaret was the most well-developed character, and I honestly wished we would have heard more about her story than Ruth's.
I am also curious if I missed something (I listened to about half with the audiobook) - but what happened to the first patient that Ruth bonds with - Penelope? When checking up on previous patients I was waiting for her update.
The medical info was interesting, but I already had a decent amount of previous knowledge of the lobotomy. The parts with the patients were a high point in the book as it brought some humanity to the medical descriptions.
The pacing was a little off, and the writing was rather stale and boring at some points, but I do feel overall that this was a very different historical fiction novel that did bring some good insight into how mental health treatment has changed over time.
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