• The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

  • By: Emilie Autumn
  • Narrated by: Emilie Autumn
  • Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (204 ratings)

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The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls  By  cover art

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

By: Emilie Autumn
Narrated by: Emilie Autumn
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Publisher's summary

Two young women, living centuries apart, both accused of madness, communicate across time to fight a common enemy...their doctors.

"It was the dog who found me."

Such is the stark confession launching the harrowing scene that begins The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls as Emilie Autumn, a young musician on the verge of a bright career, attempts suicide by overdosing on the antipsychotics prescribed to treat her bipolar disorder. Upon being discovered, Emilie is revived and immediately incarcerated in a maximum-security psych ward, despite her protestations that she is not crazy, and can provide valid reasons for her actions if someone would only listen.

Treated as a criminal, heavily medicated, and stripped of all freedoms, Emilie is denied communication with the outside world and falls prey to the unwelcome attentions of Dr. Sharp, head of the hospital's psychiatry department. As Dr. Sharp grows more predatory by the day, Emilie begins a secret diary to document her terrifying experience and to maintain her sanity in this environment that could surely drive anyone mad. But when Emilie opens her notebook to find a desperate letter from a young woman, imprisoned within an insane asylum in Victorian England and bearing her own name and description, a portal to another world is blasted wide open.

As these letters from the past continue to appear, Emilie escapes further into this mysterious alternate reality where sisterhoods are formed, romance between female inmates blossoms, striped wallpaper writhes with ghosts, and highly intellectual rats speak the Queen's English.

But is it real? Or is Emilie truly as mad as she is constantly told she is?

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls blurs harsh reality and magical historical fantasy whilst issuing a scathing critique of society's treatment of women and the mental health care industry's treatment of its patients.

Welcome to the Asylum. Are you committed?

©2007 The Asylum Emporium (P)2016 The Asylum Emporium

What listeners say about The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    132
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    28
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Painful narration

Painful to the point of distraction. Potentially if I read it myself, but this is my entertainment for commuting. I can’t even finish this. I cannot even focus on the story.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely amazing.

This book was a masterpiece made only more thrilling and tangible through the voice of Emilie Autumn. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, provided they’re in a place where they can handle a difficult story. Anyone who has ever dealt with trauma, sexism, grief, or hospitalization will find this book either a little too close to home or absolutely validating and cathartic. Personally, I loved this story. It is groundbreaking.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exquisite

The performance of this book is outstanding and leaves you on edge. It’s books like this that I use audible for. When she describes a scene where they’re singing she is actually singing and it’s musical and you get lost in the scene as though you were watching a play... Bravo Emilie Bravo

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

eh, not worth it.

ok story, absolutely awful narrator. I had anxiety listening to the author, but not in a good suspenseful anxiety type of way. I stuck through the story, and almost wish I hadn't.
listen to the sample before you use your credit.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Listen to a sample before you buy

I’m only 2 hours into this and I’m having a hard time with the narration.. I won’t say it’s bad exactly. Emilie has very a pretty voice. The accents are good and you can tell the characters apart.. the problem is the tone/ pauses and style in which it is read… I am having to take a lot of breaks to keep with the story because the way it is read is SUPER distracting and confusing.. I feel like it’s one of those things you will love or hate.. Personally I love and hate it.. I like that it is a unique story with a unique narration.. but I really don’t like that I keep having to turn it off or go back to understand what is going on…

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A journey through the mind.

Emilie Autumn has done amazing things with this book! I love her music, and this book had drawn me in instantly! The characters, the music, the dialogue. How she hints to songs she has wrote. If you enjoy her music and have not read her book. I highly recommend it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So much talent!

So much talent singer song writer and author of this amazing novel!I will be listening to this one over and over.My heart is filled with emotion.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Slow, Uninspired, Tedious Narration.

Sadly, the author, Emilie Autumn, is also the narrator. Emilie speaks much too slow and in a monotone which makes the narration very uninspiring and tedious to listen to.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Oh MY HAMBURGER! !!!

SHA POW! Whiskers, Tail, Stripes, Violin Please. Shaken, Not Stirred, DirtY, with a "Y" Two Olives.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing insanity

Truly an Audible experience! Impossible to release for a moment; the narrator's intensity is only paralleled by the author's magnificent tale of courage, woe, and ultimate heartbreak.

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2 people found this helpful