Riven Rock by T Coraghessan Boyle

The provided excerpts offer a glimpse into the novel "Riven Rock" by T. Coraghessan Boyle, which reviewers praise as both a love story and a historical account of early 20th-century social and medical practices. The narrative centers on Stanley McCormick, a man living with a severe mental illness, possibly exacerbated by his family and the medical approaches of the time. We encounter various characters, including his nurses, O'Kane and Mart, and doctors who employ different, often questionable, therapeutic methods, such as Dr. Hamilton's controversial ape experiments and Dr. Brush's "talking cure." Stanley's wife, Katherine, a determined suffragist, fights for access to and proper treatment for her husband, often clashing with his controlling mother and the male-dominated medical establishment. The text highlights themes of confinement, societal expectations, the complexities of mental health care, and the evolving roles of women through the entangled lives of these individuals.