Literature -- 3 1/2 stars
In an 1800s society ruled by the patriarchy, a scholar, his daughter, and his acolyte open a country school on the same property where a forward looking community had previously failed, this time hoping to demonstrate that education for young women can go beyond needlework and manners. When the same mystical red birds begin to appear and their young students begin to manifest odd symptoms, a doctor attempts treating their "hysteria" in a manner that is upsetting to all concerned. ----- This is a story that starts out with a grand plan, and then fails miserably before fading off into nothingness. Beautifully written, but with nowhere to go, the one remaining thought at the end is how disturbing were the medical practices used by "advanced" medicos in treating females during the 19th Century.
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