I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. While there was quite a bit to like, stylistically, about this book, it didn't feel particularly substantial. I didn't feel satisfied when it was done--and not in a, "there needs to be more of this" way, but a feeling-less-ness way. Which is very strange because, as I said, there's much to like.

Lots of interesting characters, if not all multi-dimensional. Beautiful storytelling and writing. A clipping pace that packed in a lot (photography! London! the seaside! the madhouse!) and didn't always feel rushed--though it did seem to race through Anna's time at Lake House. For all she's going stir crazy, the reader doesn't really feel it happening along with her. And when she starts suffering treatments, we're told more about the physical effects than the mental. Somehow, and we're not quite told how, Anna presents herself as more sane than when she arrived after horrible physical abuse. A bit of introspection showing the reader how she got there might have been nice.

I really liked Anna's character overall, and her sister's. Louise's dependence on clairvoyants and mix of wanting to help and not wanting to fight struck very true to me. Anna was, for the most part, a lovely human bundle of contradictions. My one major complaint about her is that I didn't actually want there to be a story behind her madness. While it makes sense that something triggered her visions of a boy drowning, I was disappointed that it was a memory rather than imagination--either elaboration or whole cloth. For all the book had sympathy for the "mad", it seemed to explain away instances of madness so that a character was or was not. I would have preferred a little more grey area, something we really only get with Abse and (maybe) Vincent.

At the same time as I wanted a bit more greyness, I also wanted one thing explicitly stated: the fact that Anna's knife is missing. We're told she can't find it. We're told Talithia killed herself with a knife. But I don't think the connection is ever actually made between the two. Didn't anyone wonder where the knife came from? Didn't anyone notice that it was unusual, not just your average kitchen knife?

Finally, I felt the end was just wrapped up with a bow a bit too neatly. Dr. St. Clair learned his lesson. Anna not only got out of the asylum, got the guy, and got rid of her marriage. Seriously, how did that last happen? It's completely out of character for Vincent to have married two women--I would have been much more convinced if he and Maude had a common law marriage or something, some technicality, than this oh-so-convenient escape clause.

So while I did like the writing, the characters, and the settings, I can't say this was one of the better books I've read. I'd be happy to read something else by Wallace as she matures as a writer, since she definitely has all the groundwork she needs, but this particular book will be passed along to someone who might appreciate it more.

No quotes because I'm writing this from Canada! ( )

Anna Palmer married a man who she thought was honest and kind; he was after all a Reverend. However after being abandoned at Lake House by her new husband, committed to an asylum without either her knowledge or consent, she beings to see things a little differently. She was sure she wasn't crazy, sure that her husband was deceiving her. But it was true that she was seeing things that weren't real, true that it was common for husbands to have mistresses. Was she really losing her mind or was there something more going on?

The Painted Bridge was the only thing at Lake House that seemed real, solid. It was a symbol of freedom, a link to the outside world that would be Anna's escape. Only the bridge was an illusion, a facade, like so many other things at Lake House and if you weren't mad when you entered then you soon would be. A story that questions the sanity of women, the ethics of asylums, the merit of photography, the bonds of friendship and the sanctity of marriage. A suspenseful search for truth and love in a Victorian asylum, a deceptive tale of illusions and heartbreak in Victorian London. ( )

Anna Palmer is the wife of a prospering, older preacher...until he imprisons her in an insane asylum against her will. While Anna comes to terms with what her husband has done to her she must also try to bear the agonizing "treatments" being forced upon her. Along this harrowing journey, Anna finds that she is not alone in her struggle and that other women have also been imprisoned by their family members in the hopes of "curing" them of their "ailments."

A very good book that makes you think about the perception of society towards love, our actions, and our behaviors in Victorian England. It also makes one thankful for how far society has come and the privileges that we all now have. ( )

A great book exposing the horrible circumstances inside mental institutions in the 19th century. There is also the element of photography as a science to "look into" the eyes of the women in the asylum. ( )

An excellent read. There was real tension as Anna tries to survive and escape from her confinement. The Victorian culture was very well described and I learned a lot about what that period believed about mental health and its treatment. The experiments by a doctor that tries to work out how to read photographs to diagnose mental illness were intriguing — and loosely based on phrenology which was considered to be a science at the time. It’s a beautifully written novel with great plot development and interesting characters. Liked it a lot. ( )