A Cure for Cecily

Cecily, a beautiful orphan, travels alone to Paris after the Civil War, in the hopes of making a name for herself as a painter. Though talented, she is not discovered and must return to the United States nearly penniless and with her hopes dashed. Out of desperation she marries a much older man, Robert Parker, a prosperous judge who can offer her security. Though she tries to adjust to domestic routine Cecily still longs for a fuller, more creative life. Upset at her increasing depression, Robert commits her to an insane asylum for upper middle class women. There, her possessions are taken from her; she is forced to remain in bed all day in a small white room, denied company and stimulation such as books and drawing materials. She can talk to no one except her doctor, Gabriel Clermont, a handsome physician with radical ideas. Cecily and Gabriel soon fall in love. But her elopement with him leads to new dangers. As was then fashionable, Robert is convinced her failure to follow the rules is due to a diseased uterus. He is determined she be given a hysterectomy, hoping she will then be "cured." Kidnapped away from Gabriel and brought back to the asylum, Cecily must literally fight for her life.