Wickett's Remedy

Wickett's Remedy is a 2005 historical novel[1] by Myla Goldberg, about the 1918 influenza epidemic. It was published by Doubleday.

The novel makes heavy use of annotations, marginalia, and false documents to support its premise;[2] Goldberg has stated that Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire was a major influence on her in this respect.[3]

Plot

In 1918 Boston, Lydia Kilkenny is a sales clerk who marries medical student Henry Wickett. When Henry, and most of her relatives, die of the "Spanish flu", Lydia becomes a nurse, and works to help find a cure by assisting in medical experiments on convicted Navy deserters. She also continues to sell Henry's patent medicine (the Remedy of the title)[4] until Henry's business partner repackages it as a soft drink.[5]

Reception

In the New York Times, Andrea Barrett described it as "ambitious", "thoroughly researched", and "admirable", with "a set of nightmarish, wonderfully well-written chapters that would have made a strong short novel all on their own", but felt that it was a "somewhat uneasy mixture" of emotional fiction and historical fact; as well, Barrett considered that the novel's sheer scope and "kaleidoscopic narrative" worked to its detriment.[4] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette felt it was "too ambitious", but a "heartening example of (...) risk-taking" on Goldberg's part, emphasizing that the novel was nonetheless "very readable", and that Goldberg had included "powerful imagery, succinct prose and unabashed sensitivity".[6]

The Seattle Times considered the book "well-researched" but "somewhat elusive and not entirely satisfying", comparing it unfavorably to Goldberg's earlier work Bee Season.[7] Salon described it as "historically credible," and stated that "the real reason to read" the novel is "the chance to spend a few hours" with Lydia.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Porras-Gallo, Maria; Davis, Ryan A. (2014-11-15). "Chapter 13: Remembering and Reconstructing: Fictions of the 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic". The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: Perspectives from the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781580464963.
  2. ↑ "'Wickett's Remedy' Rooted in Drama of Flu Epidemic". All Things Considered (National Public Radio). September 28, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Minzesheimer, Bob (September 21, 2005). "Myla Goldberg is back, and completely different". USA Today (New York). Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Barrett, Andrea (September 18, 2005). "'Wickett's Remedy': Flu Season". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Boudway, Ira (October 1, 2005). "“Wickett’s Remedy” by Myla Goldberg". Salon. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ Jolis, Anne (October 2, 2005). "Goldberg reaches for 'Remedy' -- and overreaches". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Ryan, Valerie (September 30, 2005). "“Wickett’s Remedy”: Finding purpose in midst of 1918 flu epidemic". Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
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