The Yellow Wallpaper

Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Narrated by Lydia Leonard

Length

0h 41m

A woman is confined to a large, rural house following childbirth where she experiences hallucinations, paranoia, shame and confusion. She is suffering from post-natal depression and though her new-born is nearby she cannot imagine her role as mother to the child. The audiobook reader is none other than Lydia Leonard who does a magnificent job of channelling our protagonist in her fragile state, capturing her increasing disconnection from the world around her to one of frightened fantasy. This short story was first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine and is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. It’s also celebrated as a work of horror fiction.