FLC Staff Picks Blog

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This short story is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century toward women's health, both physical and mental.  Presented in the first person, the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband (John) has rented an old mansion for the summer. Forgoing other rooms in the house, the couple moves into the upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment, the unnamed woman is forbidden from working, and is encouraged to eat well and get plenty of exercise and air, so she can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency", a diagnosis common to women in that period.  Gilman used her writing to explore the role of women in America at the time. She explored issues such as the lack of a life outside the home and the oppressive forces of the patriarchal society.

The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute

Call Number: 812.6 L127sh, 2001

How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? Which price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil Labute in The Shape of Things. A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friends' engagement crumbles, so unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships, exposing the raw meat and gristle that lie beneath.  We also have the movie:

The Shape of Things (DVD) by Neil LaBute

Call Number: DVD 791.4372 S529 2003

Adam is a college student who works part-time as a security guard at the university's art museum. One evening, Adam spies student, Evelyn, preparing to deface a statue - she is offended that a fig leaf has been used to "censor" a statue of a nude male. Adam and Evelyn begin dating, and she begins remaking Adam into the sort of boyfriend she'd prefer. Under her influence, Adam loses weight, gets contact lenses, changes his hairstyle, starts dressing better, and assumes a cooler and more confident personality. Adam's pal Philip notices the changes in his friend and isn't happy.

Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

Call Number: coming soon!

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.  At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent, and struggling to stay alive... They were a perfect family, golden and carefree--until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. Kept on the top floor of their grandmother's vast mansion, their loving mother assures them it will be just for a little while. But as brutal days swell into agonizing months and years, Cathy, Chris, and twins Cory and Carrie, realize their survival is at the mercy of their cruel and superstitious grandmother...and this cramped and helpless world may be the only one they ever know.

 

note: unless otherwise stated, descriptions were edited from publisher information.