Jenna's Book Club
Emilie Autumn performs Cornbread's theme song:
We just entered Mental Health Awareness Week. As an acknowledgement to that, and to spread awareness for mental health, we would like to share Victorian Goth/Industrial singer and autistic woman poster child Emilie Autumn's book "The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls."
"If leeches ate peaches instead of my blood, then I would be free to drink tea sitting in the mud." Semi-autobiographical, Ms. Autumn penned this book to tell the story of her own time spent in a psych ward-intertwined with the tale of another young woman "Emily with a Y" incarcerated in an asylum in Victorian London, with whom she was supposedly able to communicate through space and time with through the use of talking rats.
This book is an absolutely fascinating read, (and I LOVE Emilie Autumn's music-I can relate to so much of it!)
This book is an absolutely fascinating read. However, I have mixed thoughts about individuals who struggle with depression, PTSD, suicidal tendencies, or self-harm reading it (or listening to her music.) While in a way it may be a small comfort for such individuals, at the same time it may be a trigger for some. So if you're someone who struggles with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, etc. please use your own judgements on reading this book, or even listening to some of her songs. Please get help, as well.
This book has gotten some negative reviews on how it "romanticizes"mental illness. I both agree and disagree. This book, as well as her songs, are obviously a huge coping mechanism for her. It's not unusual for trauma victims to withdraw into "their own little world"-as I actually did myself as a child. (Emilie is a victim of sexual assault.)
I have many things that I would like to say about mental health, and my own struggle with cutting some years back, but I don't want to deviate from the book review, so I'll continue in another post. Overall, "The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls" is a good read, and it shows how far we've come-but we have to go even farther.
Here is EA's official site: https://www.emilieautumn.com/#intro
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