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Stolen Summers : A heartbreaking tale of betrayal, confinement and dreams of escape (Matilda Windsor) Kindle Edition

by Anne Goodwin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 51 ratings
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All she has left is her sanity. Will the asylum take that from her too?

In 1939, Matilda is admitted to Ghyllside hospital, cut off from family and friends. Not quite twenty, and forced to give up her baby for adoption, she feels battered by the cruel regime. Yet she finds a surprising ally in rough-edged Doris, who risks harsh punishments to help her reach out to the brother she left behind.

Twenty-five years later, the rules have relaxed, and the women are free to leave. How will they cope in a world transformed in their absence? Do greater dangers await them outside?

The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home is a tragic yet tender story of a woman robbed of her future who summons the strength to survive.

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  1. Part of series
    Matilda Windsor
  2. Print length
    138 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 1, 2022
  6. File size
    4871 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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From the Publisher

friends

She’s lost her home, her friends, her future. Will the asylum steal her sanity too?

morality

covers of 1st 3 books in the series

A series about the long, tragic and triumphant life of Matilda, also known as Matty and Tilly. The books can be read in any order, but most readers prefer to start with the novella, Stolen Summers, set between 1939 and 1964; followed by Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, set in the 1930s and 1989-91; and then the highly contemporary Lyrics for the Loved Ones.

Stolen Summers is dual-timeline historical fiction covering the twenty-five years following Matilda's admission to a psychiatric hospital aged 19, after being forced to give up her baby for adoption.

Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home is set in the dying days of the old asylums with flashbacks to Matty's childhood and teenage years. There are two other point-of-view characters alongside Matty: her brother, Henry, who hasn't seen her for fifty years, and Janice, an idealistic young social worker, who is determined to get Matty home.

Lyrics for the Loved Ones is set mostly in a care home in 2019-20 as Matty anticipates her hundredth birthday. Other important characters are Irene, a care assistant, who wants to reunite Matty with her long-lost child; Gloria, a widow who is ashamed of being adopted; and Tim, a nurse determined to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret from his mother.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anne Goodwin's drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.Anne writes about the darkness that haunts her and is wary of artificial light. She makes stuff up to tell the truth about adversity, creating characters to care about and stories to make you think. She explores identity, mental health and social justice with compassion, humour and hope. An award-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize. Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BFJH1VL8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Annecdotal Press (October 1, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 1, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4871 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 138 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 51 ratings

About the author

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Anne Goodwin

Anne Goodwin

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SHORT STORY E-BOOK FREE FOR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS https://bit.ly/daughtershorts

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.

Anne writes about the darkness that haunts her and is wary of artificial light. She makes stuff up to tell the truth about adversity, creating characters to care about and stories to make you think. She explores identity, mental health and social justice with compassion, humour and hope.

A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.

Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

Website: annegoodwin.weebly.com

Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3 out of 5
51 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars hard not to feel for Matty
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2022
4.5 stars.
This short book is told in first person by Matty, an institutionalized woman who is endearingly delusional at times. The writing is very effective at pulling the reader in to Matty’s world & empathizing with her, and I am left feeling engulfed by sadness for her.
Stolen Summers is the prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, which I had enjoyed, though I had felt cheated by the non-ending. This also happens in Stolen Summers, so again I feel a lack of closure.
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review.
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misty
2.0 out of 5 stars Very confusing
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2023
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I don't know what I missed, if it was the language barrier, the brogue throughout that I was unfamiliar with, or if the story was just boring. I didn't get this story. There was nothing about it that made me want to get back in to reading it after putting it down for a few days. And I am in no way interested in moving on to the sequel. Just wasn't my sense of something that had great objectives, a good hook, mysterious characters or scenes that keep you wanting more. Just an honest review from someone who normally finds some good in every book I read. Two stars for my just not giving it the credit it possibly deserves.
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Dorothy Winsor
4.0 out of 5 stars Touching prequel
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2022
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This touching prequel to MATILDA WINDSOR IS COMING HOME gives interesting insight into how young Matilda is affected by being locked up, told she's bad and mentally ill, and forced to live in that "reality." We can see how hard it is to hang on to a different perception of herself and the world. Goodwin's professional experience gives her an uncommon understanding of what the situation would be like.
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Rita
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and sad story
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
I was given a free copy of the book "Stolen Summers" by Anne Goodwin via LibraryThing. Anne Goodwin did a great job of developing a story about a tragic time when women could be put away into a Mental Facility for any reason and left there. The story was well written. It is sad to think that many sane women were admitted to facilities at the whim of a family member. Anyone interested in history should read this story.
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OlgaNM
5.0 out of 5 stars A close, personal, and moving look at UK society and mental health care in the XX century
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022
I write this review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team and thank her and the author for this opportunity.
I was lucky enough to read Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, the previous book Anne Goodwin wrote about the same character, Matilda, before its publication as well, and I was moved, saddened, touched, and delighted, all in one. A tragic story, made worse because, although fictional, it is not an uncommon one, and it bears witness to the many people who ended up spending their lives in the old psychiatric asylums, sometimes for reasons that had little to do with their mental health.
In this novella, which the author describes as a prequel, but, at least in my opinion, isn’t exactly that, we get to fill in some of the gaps of the previous book. This novella, although written in the third person (apart from some letters Matilda addresses to her brother, Henry, one of the characters who play a major part in the original novel) only has one narrator, Matilda herself, and it alternates two different periods of time: 1939-1940, exploring what happens when Matilda first arrives at Ghyllside Hospital, the trauma it supposes, and readers can start to see how and why her mind starts to unravel; and a particular day in 1964, when one outing with one of her friends and hospital peers, Doris, turns into a nightmare. We also get to see, though briefly, the consequences of that outing, and there is a chapter at the end, set in 1989, which functions as an epilogue, and links it directly with Matilda Windsor.
This novella shares the virtues of the previous book, and it bridges the possible gaps left by the other, as we get to see more of what Matilda experienced and share with her some of the terrible humiliations and spirit-breaking practices she had to suffer. Seeing her robbed of her dignity, ignored (at best) or abused, the subject of dubious psychiatric treatments and moral judgements, and experiencing loss, guilt, and repeated trauma, it is no surprise that her mind sought refuge in a fantasy world that granted her an important and grand role in life.
I loved the way the story puts readers in the shoes of the protagonist, and we get to live what happens through her own eyes: the fear, the trashed hopes, the moments of joy, the many disappointments, the companionship, the grief, the confusion... This is not an easy read, and I caution people who might have experienced or known similar events, as it is heartbreaking at times. The author also manages to include snippets about the historical and social events taking place in the UK during those eras. We hear about WWII and how the recruitment efforts reached even the psychiatric hospitals; we also hear about race relations and discrimination; domestic violence and its terrible consequences (Doris’s story brought tears to my eyes); changes in Mental Health law and in the understanding of mental illness definitions, classifications, and treatments... It is particularly telling to see how isolated and “protected” (in a certain way) the character is from the outside world, and how she can hardly recognise her own town when she goes back 25 years later. It is a sobering thought.
Although the story centres on Matilda, there are a few other characters we meet. Doctors (very few make an appearance, unsurprisingly considering how things were run at the time) and nurses are not identified by name, and seem interchangeable, not individualised, as they might have appeared to Matilda, for very good reasons. Other patients do have a more important part to play, and I adored Doris. She suffered a terrible loss, but she is a survivor, and she helps Matilda keep afloat and keep going. Some of her behaviours reminded me of many patients I have met over the years, but she is pretty unique.
The writing is as beautiful and poignant as in the previous book. Although there are no lengthy descriptions of people or places, the author manages to make us feel the sensations, the touch, notice the smells, and be gripped by fear and embarrassment as Matilda is. The characters’ expressions and turns of phrases are distinctive and reflect the era and the location, and the pass of time and the changes in social mores are brought to the fore by the way the story is narrated.
As I said, I am not sure this novella would work as a prequel, though. Having read the novel first, it is difficult to think how it would feel to read this one without knowing anything about the character beforehand. Part of the story in Matilda Windsor takes place before 1939, although the majority of the story is set many years later, right at the point where we leave Matilda and a new character is introduced in the novella. I can see how this narrative fits in neatly with the rest of the story, and I am sure that people who read it first will glean enough information from it to make an educated guess as to what is likely to have happened, and will be eager to find out the rest by reading the main novel. On the other hand, considering the way Matilda Windsor is constructed and told, I think the impact of reading the full novel and putting the pieces together might be lost if Stolen Summers is read first. Ultimately, both of them are fantastic, so the order in which they are read may well be a moot point.
Another great story by Anne Goodwin, and one I recommend to all who have read Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home. And to those who haven’t yet, but are interested in the topic, enjoy great characters, and a story that touches upon social justice with a focus on mental health, now you can choose, if you want, to read Stolen Summers first, but I am sure you will end up reading both of them. Highly recommended.
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JenEllen
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Prequel
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2022
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Having read and enjoyed a previous book by this author, Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, I was very interested to see what would be revealed in this prequel. Told entirely from the point of view of Matilda, the reader is given an inside glimpse not just of her life but also of the other voices and situations running wild in her mind. Frankly, some of the situations she experiences are so intense it is amazing that anything is left for her. I think this book can be read either before or after Matilda Windsor but definitely enriches the story of Matilda.
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Top reviews from other countries

Nifty Girl
5.0 out of 5 stars This tragic tale is sheer joy to read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2022
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In Stolen Summers, the reader is treated to an insider's view into the injustices borne by a girl thrust into an institution seemingly hell bent on destroying her spirit.

We witness the deterioration of a courageous, loving and dreadfully wronged young woman into a shadow of herself, who survives the insanity around her by suppressing her feelings and adapting to the norms of the asylum; sacrificing her very self.

When a trip outside the asylum ends in disaster, Matty is again forced to repress her natural grief, as she is subjected to the most inhumane treatments available at the time.

With no escape, by the end of the book, Matty makes sense of the injustices heaped upon her, by mentally transforming the asylum into her country residence, peopled by servants and guests, who she treats with the courtesy befitting the lady of the house.

We are then led towards the beginning of Matty’s next chapter, told in Goodwin's beautifully written novel 'Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’.
4 people found this helpful
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Unity
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2023
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It kept my attention. A good read.
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linda bowes
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2023
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Rather a bit shorter than anticipated
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Annalisa
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful novella
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2022
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Stolen Summers is a wonderful, poignant, heart breaking look at Matty's life before she appears in Matilda Windsor is Coming Home. It explores how someone could end up in a lifetime of institutional care, and while the author doesn't shirk from the harsh reality of day-to-day life or the horrors of the 'treatments', she handles them sensitively and empathetically.

Anne Goodwin has such a beautiful way of seeing the world her characters inhabit, and in this novella, the language she uses really helps to set Matty's character in the reader's head.

Each of her books a pleasure to read and I highly recommend this one.
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JKF
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Poignant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2022
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I was drawn into Matty’s story from the first page, as she is thrust into a world she doesn’t understand, expecting to be released within the week. But several years later, she is still imprisoned, and has had to bury her feelings of rage and sadness. Rather than the crime of being an unwed mother and moral degenerate, it is the injustice and repression which damage her mental health.

Goodwin is a superb writer and I enjoy all of her books, but this is one to treasure.
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