The Woman in the Wallpaper
In 1788, France is on the brink of insurrection when sisters Lara and Sofi, along with their mother, are evicted from their Marseille home following the death of their father. Their aunt finds them work at the Oberst wallpaper factory at Jouy-en-Jouant near Paris. Here they discover that the reclusive factory owner and his son, Josef, to whom they both form an attachment, have been profoundly affected by the tragic mystery of the death of Josef’s mother, years before. The sisters become entangled in the legacies of this tragedy as Revolution sparks and relationships turn volatile, testing sisterly loyalty.
Inspired by the 18th– century wallpaper designs of Oberkampf’s textile factory near Paris, this story may remind readers of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s tale The Yellow Wallpaper, in which the wallpaper uncannily morphs into life. In Jones’ novel, Lara, moved into the mysterious tower room in the Oberst chateau, begins to see herself as the woman caught in its wallpaper vignettes, mirroring scenes from her own life.
This story is full of secrets to be uncovered and romantic tangles to be unknotted. It has as many twists and turns as the spiral staircase which leads to the tower chamber which was Josef’s mother’s room, and which holds the truth everyone seeks. Jones spotlights women’s experience of the French Revolution as workplace activists and sans-culottes insurrectionists, which is welcome. Aristocratic self-absorption is also enjoyably conveyed as Jones has fun engaging us in the pointless lives of nobles.
There is some elision here of the course of the Revolution. I would have liked more about the events between the fall of the Bastille and the Terror. These are understandably chosen milestones, but characters seem untouched by the changes of the intervening years. That said, readers who enjoy a Gothic tale will absolutely love this.
