Melanie who is recovering from TB and the birth of her first child has been confined to bed rest. Doted on by her husband, doctor and nursemaid, she is delighted to be allowed to repair from her bed to her victorian chaise -longue which she had picked up in a charity shop. The idea of resting on the chaise longue seems like such freedom after the confines of the bed. She settles in for a restful nap…..
… and wakes up no longer Melly but Milly, she is the same person but in another woman’s body and if that wasn’t enough she has been transported back to Victorian times where she is still confined to bed rest, still on the chaise-longue. No matter how she tries to communicate it, nobody believes that she is not Milly. The spiralling events in Milly’s life are happening to Melanie and there is nothing she can do about it.
The concept behind this little book is certainly terrifying. It’s like having one of those dreams where you try to speak or shout but nothing happens or you are desperately trying to look at something but no matter how hard you try it is impossible to focus. I think the feeling of being trapped of having absolutely no control would be very frightening.
Unfortunately though I didn’t feel any of this terror for Melanie as I read this story. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen but in a curious way rather than actually caring about what happened to her. While it was a clever idea, I would have liked to have felt more when reading it
Published: 1953
Pages: 99
Challenges: Guardian 1000 novels, R.I.P IV challenge
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