Judith Hooper

The youngest of five, the only daughter at a time when a woman's role was confined to the domestic sphere, and ailing or invalid much of her life, Alice James is not the James family member that history celebrates and reveres. That honor goes to her better known brothers, William and Henry. But she was a formidable intellect herself, often acknowledged by these famous brothers as the wit of the family. When her diaries were posthumously published, they received wonderful reviews for their show more thoughtful stance on social issues, her educated yet accessible style, and her incisive insights. Not bad for a woman overshadowed by her brothers by dint of her sex, her constitution, and social conventions. Judith Hooper's novel, Alice in Bed, imagines this witty, smart, unconventional woman, bringing her to life and examining not only her later years, spent entirely inside in bed, but also her life growing up with a famous father and then even more famous brothers.

Opening with Alice confined to her rooms, unable to walk, having frequent "going off" spells, and suffering from a feeling of snakes in the pit of her stomach, the novel moves back and forth from her long term sick bed to her younger years and back again. Via Alice's own narration, the reader feels the unhappiness and disappointment when she is denied the same sorts of freedoms and education that her brothers receive, even as it is clear that Alice idolizes William and Henry. When she does get a boon that she has envied from afar, like going to Europe, it has conditions and strictures that it never had for her brothers. Alice chafes at the bonds of womanhood but she is generally dutiful, even as she rails privately that no one understands her. Only in her choice of love does she embrace the unconventional, that choice remaining mostly secret. Outwardly compliant, Alice is actually rebellious at her core and when sparks of her rebellion bubble to the surface, it alarms her family, but it animates the story. Between her bouts of illness, Alice is quite funny and perceptive. Her poking fun at the pomposity of those around her, mainly those of the Boston elite literati, is sly and on target. Her understanding of social conventions is fascinating to read as she seems oblivious to the effect of her own forthrightness. She is an opinionated and brilliant woman indeed although she is no Angel in the House.

Hooper intersperses snippets from James family letters and excerpts from Alice's own diary into the novel, allowing the real Alice James to blend with her fictional counterpart and to highlight different members of the family's feelings and concerns about her well being and prospects. The author shows the toll that physical and mental illness took on the family as a whole, with Alice not the only chronic sufferer. And she captures the high-toned, interesting, debates between and differing beliefs of family members, especially Alice, on social issues like women's rights and the plight of the poor. Although Alice's outside experiences eventually ceased during her many years of mysterious, undiagnosed illness, she never gave up her curiousity or interest in the world outside her door. The novel is well written and thoughtful, almost entirely character driven. The pacing is slow and deliberate. The cast of characters is not large, as Alice's own world was not large and in fact grew smaller by the year. Readers with an interest in American literature, Boston in the mid to late 1800s, or in the frustrations of such a constrained life for an intelligent woman of the time period will find this an intriguing read. show less

3.5 For her first foray into fiction, non fiction writer Hooper has tackled the insular and well known James family. Narrated by Alice as she attempts to recover from her latest malady at a spa in England, she takes us back and forth into her life as the youngest and only daughter. Plagued most of her life by various ills, an intelligent woman with few outlets, her life is a matter of intellect, always yearning for the freedoms allowed her bothers. In the days before any effective medical show more treatments, rest cures, mesmerism and as a last resort, institutions were all that were offered. Tonics and supposed medicines contained poisons that taxed an already unhealthy disposition.

Many of the James letters from Henry and William are quoted, their love for their sister evident. Yet, they too suffered from undiagnosed illnesses, mental and physical, took to sanitariums and looked for answers in other ways. Yet, they became successful, even if plagued by demons.

Well written, introspective, a fascinating look at a family that still influence many today. All the famous people they met, their lives and philosophical debates, a book that will prove fascinating for those interested in this family. The author at the end attempts in todays better understood psychiatric diagnoses, to understand the many causes of this family's ills, this family, things that ran in the family bloodline.

I enjoyed this, thought it was a very in depth look with historical backing of a family I was curious about. show less

Proponents of Darwinian evolution and 'creation science' remain locked in conflict over the question whether Darwin's theory is supported by the rise and and decline 'industrial melanism' in peppered moths. Judith Hooper's account of the controversy, first published in 2002, was quickly superseded by new research and subsequent debates arising from the research. For anyone interested in the science of the peppered moth controversy, the studies by Michael Majerus and his successors: Cook, show more Grant, Saccheri and Mallet, 'Selective Bird Predation on the Peppered Moth: The last Experiment of Michael Majerus' (2012)(http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/01/27/rsbl.2011.1136.full.pdf+html) are essential reading. So far as I can gather from the current state of research, it does appear to be the case that the peppered moths did evolve from predominantly speckled to a darkly umbrous form as industrial pollution blackened their habitat. The speckled form seems once more to be predominant in areas where pollution has been eliminated. The significance of this instance of intra-species evolution for the more general issues in Darwinian evolutionary theory continues to be contested.

None of this detracts from the interest of Judith Hooper's study of the scientists involved in the early experiments on the peppered moth. This is an absorbing and moving account of the life and probable suicide of Dr David Kettlewell, whose studies of the peppered moth in the 1950's launched 'industrial melanism' is the best known and best publicised example of evolution in a action. Kettlewell was a medical doctor, passionate lepidopterist and bipolar by temperament. In Judith Hooper's account he was, 'recruited to Oxford by E B Ford, famous geneticist, eccentric don, and megalomaniac founder of the Oxford School of Ecological Genetics' where he remained forever an outsider and subject to the exquisite tortures of his mentor. It is now apparent that Kettlewell's original experimental work was deeply flawed, probably as a consequence of his desperate need, never quite fulfilled, to gain acceptance in the academic environment at Oxford, and prove the theory that the peppered moths changed their shades in response to predation by birds. The obsolescence of Hooper's account of the scientific controversy in no way lessens, it may indeed heighten, the involvement one feels in her exposure of the emotional torments and occasional ecstasies of David Kettlewell's life. show less

This is an imaginative and witty account of Alice James not just as the invalid sister of her famous brothers. Hooper depicts Alice as passionate, mischievous, intellectual and thoughtful. She is full of ideas and full of life. This a slowly paced novel that reveals much about the James family and their peers as well as the historical era as these were things Alice cared very much about. The dialogue is realistic and the letters included at the end of chapters provide a nice summary of the show more family happenings and climate. Obviously well researched, Hooper' s crossover to fiction is a success.

Copy provided by TLC Book Tours and Publisher show less