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Rating: 
Summary: In turn horrifying, moving and informative
Review: I have worked in the field of mental health for several years, and collect fiction that deals with the subject. This collection is among the best I have found. It includes the well known Yellow Wallpaper, and selections from Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted. But it also includes lesser known works that portray vividly what is it like to suddenly find yourself in the throes of depression and schizophrenia, and what it is like to watch a family member's descent into that hell, knowing there is little or nothing you can do. You will also find descriptions of how society has attempted to treat mentally illness for the last 400 years, with terrifying results. If you have any interest in this subject, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: In turn horrifying, moving and informative
Review: I have worked in the field of mental health for several years, and collect fiction that deals with the subject. This collection is among the best I have found. It includes the well known Yellow Wallpaper, and selections from Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted. But it also includes lesser known works that portray vividly what is it like to suddenly find yourself in the throes of depression and schizophrenia, and what it is like to watch a family member's descent into that hell, knowing there is little or nothing you can do. You will also find descriptions of how society has attempted to treat mentally illness for the last 400 years, with terrifying results. If you have any interest in this subject, read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Slim volume on a vast topic
Review: The Modern Library carries a certain weight of moral authority, especially for readers who grew up with its respectable tomes lining the family bookshelves. It was the canon, really, for middle class America. So I expected more than twenty-odd quick (though arresting) briefs filed from the various historic madhouses - that comprise this collection. Why so meager? The listing claims 229 pages. My edition has 175 plus an eight-page Introduction. In addition, quite a few of the selections have likely already been read by many, since they have been culled from American best-sellers of the past several decades. As dark and important a subject as women and madness deserves more than this quick once-over.
Rating:
Summary: Illuminating
Review: This is an excellent collection of essays, stories and excerpts from longer works that lingers long after you put it down. Despite the brevity of most entries (the entire book is less than 200 pages) their resonance deepens as you read story after story of women from the 15th century through today. It does not matter if you are a therapist, a therapy client or you have never thought about entering such a relationship. Nor does it matter whether you are a man or woman. These stories speak to everyone who has had a dark night of the soul. Yet they clarify the difference between having an occasional dark night and being swamped in darkness. It is painful reading, but will bring you closer to "madness" than anything short of direct experience.
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