THE GRAY CHAMBER by Grace Hitchcock, Reviewed by Kim and Rebecca

REBECCA'S REVIEW:
"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes skyward, for there you have been , and there you will always long to return." Leonardo da Vinci

Would she ever be free to walk the earth again with her eyes turned skyward, or had her world turned forever gray? Edyth Foster was terrified that color had been forever removed, that love had become forever denied, and that justice had been drowned in the depths of the sea. How had it come to this?

Exceptionally eccentric, but undeniably vivacious, heiress Edyth Foster never imagined that her unusual hobbies and accidental tendences would forfeit her entire future. Deemed insane by her greedy uncle, Edyth is whisked off to a mental asylum on Blackwell's Island without a trace. Desperate to find his beloved, Raoul Banebridge works feverishly to find her, while the answer to Edyth's predicament may be found within hospital's walls . . .. or will everyone be too late?

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me." Psalm 23:4

What an outstanding story; a balance of hope and desperation that so many readers will identify as timeless.
3.5 stars
*I won a copy of this book but was no obligated to provide a review.

KIM'S REVIEW:
The Gray Chamber is my first book by Grace Hitchcock. I was kind of worried as to whether I would like this story or not because of the prominent part the Blackwell Lunatic Asylum plays in the story. While this part is very chilling, suspenseful, and eye opening, it really makes you feel for those that were wrongly committed and the conditions they all lived under. It also makes you thankful for those like Nellie Bly who helped expose these horrific conditions.

I really liked Edyth and her “unconventional” ways and always positive personality. I was so happy that she kept her positivity and never gave up after she was committed. Otherwise, this could’ve been too dark. I also loved that Bane never gave up on Edyth! There is also a great secondary character, Lavinia. I would love to see her get her own story!

I really like Ms. Hitchcock’s writing style and look forward to reading more of her stories. And, this cover is the perfect cover for the feel of this story.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

BackCover Blurb:
True Colors: Historical Stories of American Crime
Fiction Based on Strange, But True, History
 
Will Edyth prove her sanity before it is too late?
On Blackwell’s Island, New York, a hospital was built to keep its patients from ever leaving.

With her late parents’ fortune under her uncle’s care until her twenty-fifth birthday in the year 1887, Edyth Foster does not feel pressured to marry or to bow to society’s demands. She freely indulges in eccentric hobbies like fencing and riding her velocipede in her cycling costume about the city for all to see. Finding a loophole in the will, though, her uncle whisks Edyth off to the women’s lunatic asylum just weeks before her birthday. And Edyth fears she will never be found.

At the asylum she meets another inmate, who upon discovering Edyth’s plight, confesses that she is Nellie Bly, an undercover journalist for The World. Will either woman find a way to leave the terrifying island and reclaim her true self?

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