The story was set in the late 1800’s in San Francisco. A woman named Phoebe from a wealthy family is sent to a mental asylum for women who were ‘mad’ (as they described them), were nuisances to their husbands and families or just didn’t conform to the standards of what a woman should be. Her 20 year old sister Charlotte, betrothed to a wealthy man she didn’t love, creates a plan so that she could also be admitted to the women’s asylum – her aim, to get her sister out. She became labeled woman 99.

The operation of the mental asylum were well researched and while the story was fictional, the ‘treatments’ were actually used in female asylums in that period. The characters drove this story and I really enjoyed it!

Greer is a local author to me. I loved all of her books prior to this. I didn't know much about the era and women she was writing about and I love historical fiction that teaches me things!

Having read Greer Macallister’s Girl in Disguise and having enjoyed the story, I looked forward to reading Woman 99. Like many young women, especially those from wealthy families in the 1880s, Charlotte discovers she must marry a man she does not love. Her parents wish the marriage to take place. Macallister gives readers glimpses into the full story through flashbacks in order to keep suspense high. To add to Charlotte’s trouble, Phoebe, her sister, is in a mental institution for the “curably insane.”
Readers soon learn Charlotte has a crush on Henry Sidwell who works for her father. Naturally, that relationship would be unacceptable to her parents.
Woman 99 does exhibit inconsistencies. While Charlotte’s parents hover over her life in many aspects, they allow her to take a trip unchaperoned. Woman 99 does not deliver on its promise as I had hoped. Still, I am glad I read the whole story.

*2.5 stars

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. It started off well. Late 1800's, where woman can be sent to an asylum simply for not complying with 'normal' conventions. You blink wrong and you can be sent away! Well, Phoebe has sad days and days where she's flying high, so her wealthy parents send her away. That leaves us with her sister Charlotte, who is engaged to be married to man she doesn't love & missing a sister she believes doesn't belong in an asylum. So she concocts a plan to get herself admitted so she can break Phoebe out. Once she's in the asylum she gets to experience some horrific experiments that they did back then. I thought there would be more trouble than what Charlotte actually experiments though. I know some of the things were really horrible but I also felt they weren't really explored. To be honest, I felt that Charlotte had it easy. I expected this horrible, painful, awful asylum, but it just didn't feel that way. They talked about the bad food, the cold scrubbing showers, and the hours of either sitting quietly or working themselves to the bone but I didn't feeeeeel it. Does that make sense? Things just came too easily for Charlotte in this book. We also got flashbacks to Charlotte's life before she came to the asylum, which I don't think added anything to the story. Towards the end I thought things would get harder but, once again, everything was just too easy. I suppose I expected more hardship and that's not what I read. At times I was bored, sometimes interested, and other times I just wanted the book to be over.


**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. A unique storyline of family, sisterhood and sacrifice.

Charlotte and Phoebe Smith are sisters and best friends. Growing up on their wealthy family estate, they share many childhood secrets and memories. After one too many socially unacceptable incidents, their parents send Phoebe to the local woman’s asylum, where they can ‘cure’ her unpredictable and unmanageable moods. Shocked and furious about the separation, Charlotte leaves her family to secretly register herself as an inmate at the asylum to find and rescue her sister.

I love the premise of this novel as I am fascinated and intrigued by stories about asylums. This novel was well written and highly atmospheric. The rich and shocking detail surrounding the happenings within the asylum was unnerving and eerie. I felt for the inmates and was rooting for a positive outcome for all.

I was enthralled for the first ¾ of the book, engrossed within the details and trying to figure out what would happen to Charlotte and Phoebe. I’m not sure if I built up my expectations too high or just expected something completely different, but the ending didn’t work for me. I was waiting for ‘something’ to happen that never quite did. The story concluded neatly and tied up all the loose ends, but it was lacking something. I was hoping for a shock, twist or ‘a-ha’ moment that never did happen.

While the ending fell short of what I had hoped for, the buildup and presentation of the storyline was excellent. I was drawn into the characters’ lives – my curiosity piqued from the start. There are several characters throughout this novel and they were all memorable and impactful. Overall, this was an enjoyable and unique novel.

This was a Traveling Friends read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to read and review!

Woman 99 is a terrifying book even if you were already familiar with how women's health was treated back in that time. You can tell the author did an extensive amount of research, and it helped drive home how terrible and hopeless all those women must have felt being trapped in these institutions until someone deemed them "sane" enough to leave...if they ever left. The relationships between not only Charlotte and Phoebe, but all the women imprisoned there, is the heart of the book and made it worth reading. Definitely recommended.

I have been looking for a great book that explores the mental institutions and the women that would be admitted there without having anything to say about it, and found it! Greer Macallister masters the feelings of the women in a fictional mental institution she named Goldengrove but was based on real mental institutions in the late 1800's. The author did an amazing research for a reader to feel exactly how the characters in the book are feeling. Charlotte admits herself to a mental asylum because her sister, Phoebe, was sent there by her parents. She goes there to rescue her sister as she believes Phoebe was sent to the institution because of her as she stood up for her sister when her parents wanted to marry her off to the man she did not want. The book takes readers on a journey of how strong female relationships can be, especially sister relationships. How women would stand up for each other and themselves back in the day but were still condemn to act without a voice. It also shows how a family in the late 1800's would react to mental illness and how protecting your name and estate was very important. I absolutely loved the writing style and this novel had me rooting for the characters and made me upset when things weren't going the right way. This novel would be fantastic for a book club read as it explores many interesting and important subjects. I can't wait for the author's next works and will be checking out her back-listed books.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. At times, the mystery seemed slightly predictable but the creepy atmosphere and well developed characters kept me interested. MacAllister is an excellent author and I look forward to reading more of her other works. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This was a good premise, and I was interested in the story for about 60% of the book. But then the mystery became a bit dull, and I thought it took a bit longer to get to the sister than necessary.

The writing was strong and I love this author's work. I was just a little disappointed in the momentum.

Charlotte Smith decides to do something drastic to rescue her sister Phoebe after she is admitted to a nearby mental institution that their neighbors own. She gets admitted herself and tries to save her sister, the problem is finding her and figuring out how to get back out. Turns out, it's not as easy as it is to get in.

This is such an eloquently written novel that is impossible to put down. The beginning takes a bit to get into but once the story gets rolling. you won't want to put down the book either. One of the best parts of this novel was watching Charlotte gain her confidence in herself and learn how to stand up for herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Greer Macallister did it again. With Woman 99, she wrote another book I couldn’t stop listening to and reading. Macallister has a way with her portrayals of strong, but flawed, women. In Woman 99, she gives us several who fit that mold.

Her chief protagonist is Charlotte Smith, whose family is up-and-coming in 1888 San Francisco’s tony Nob Hill. One of four siblings, Charlotte is admittedly pampered. She attended finishing school, and now her parents want her to marry the son of their much-wealthier neighbors.

But complications ensue, since Charlotte’s sister Phoebe has mental health issues. In keeping with the times, Macallister never names the diagnosis but the descriptions match bipolar disorder. The Smith parents decide that a high-end institution called Goldengrove, located in the Napa Valley, is the best place for Phoebe.

But Charlotte can’t just stand by and watch this happen. So she dives right in—literally jumping into San Francisco Bay—in order to get herself anonymously committed to the same institution. Pretty naïve choice, if you ask me. Charlotte has no particular plan. In fact, she thinks all she’ll have to do is tell the administrators that she’s not insane and Phoebe shouldn’t be there either. And voilà, home they go.

Of course, it’s infinitely more complex than that. And Charlotte must take a deep breath and really figure out her options and allies. Along the way, she meets some admirable women from many stations in life. Some have mental illness, but many are just deemed to be “problems.” She also finds out that the institution’s staff and treatments aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

My conclusions
I enjoyed this just as much as Macallister’s Girl in Disguise. Although the stories were entirely different, Charlotte is a woman who disguises herself as something she’s not. I did my share of eye rolls at her naïveté, but also appreciated her sisterly devotion. Her mother’s social climbing is cringe-worthy, considering she uses her daughters as pawns in the game. Phoebe is self-aware enough to continue her big sister role, but is much more a realist. That’s ironic considering she also has a serious disorder.

As you can see, Macallister balances complexity with the character types of the era. She also takes on the 19th-century practice of “erasing” difficult women by locking them away. Other history books cover the practice of diagnosing women with unfounded mental and physical illness. For example, Unmentionable, which I read earlier this year. But Macallister brings this horrible practice to life with her sympathetic characters and unique plot.

The other book I’m reading this week, called Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, even referenced this behavior. “The dismissal of the victims of misogynistic violence may take epistemic forms: where, typically, they are held to be lying—but alternatively, they may be dismissed as stupid, crazy, or hysterical.” (p. 217) In 1888, those women would end up in a place like Woman 99’s Goldengrove.

The way Macallister and Charlotte resolve the situation is unexpected and well done. The bulk of the book is in the asylum, but the ending has enough focus and neatly ties up the most significant story lines. Like I said, once I hit 50% I was positively itching to see what happened.

Charlotte, Phoebe, and the other women in their world are well worth meeting, if you like historical fiction with relevant feminist themes.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This was an interesting historical thriller. It was fairly predictable, but the story line kept me turning the pages. The setting was dark and creepy, and the first person voice reminded me of Jane Eyre. I love the growth of the main character. She went from a sheltered rich girl to a strong capable heroine. Highly recommended.



I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Great book. I think I found a favorite new author. I have already purchased Greer's other titles. Love it!

A vivid historical thriller about a woman locked up in an insane asylum in the late 1800s. This story had a vivid background and wonderful writing!

“Woman 99” by Greer Macallister was a quality read for me. It firmly delivered on its premise and then some!

This was a really intriguing story. With many twists and turns, it gave a real insight into the days when lunatics and the mentally insane were institutionalised. Often they were simply left there for the rest of their lives, dumped by families who didn’t want the responsibility of having to deal with them.

Dark and disturbing in parts, I really enjoyed this book and I would love to read more by this author. Rating: 5 Stars

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my own request from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This book was interesting. I ended up listening to the audiobook since I wasn’t able to get to the eARC prior to publishing. The voice actress was good and kept me interesting, but the story overall wasn’t what I was expecting.
When I first requested this eARC I had expected something along the lines of A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis. This was not the case. The only similarities between the two was the setting, an asylum. This story has Charlotte willingly committed to an asylum to rescue her sister. This asylum, we learn, has started to become more of a business and less concerned with helping the inmates. They even provide numbers to them, hence the name, instead of using their real names. This all women asylum has different sections depending the “diagnosis” – some are not illnesses, which was normal for that era (being an adulteress or a sex worker was cause for commitment; or if the husband wanted to be with another – just send the wife to the asylum to get her out of the way). We follow Charlotte as she traverses through the different sections, sometimes by being transferred and other times through exploring.
I didn’t feel suspenseful during this story – whether that was because I fully expected the sisters to meet and escape or just because of the writing itself. I have seen others categorize it as a mystery, but I believe that is simply because Charlotte needs to locate her sister within the asylum and free her. We meet many characters within the asylum, mostly inmates.
Some were interesting, but others fell into the background. I didn’t feel a large connection with any of the characters, even Charlotte. I didn’t fear for her or learn anything new about the institute. Maybe the problem was more me since I have a background in psychology and because I had expected something different. Overall, the book was fine. If you like historical fiction and curious about past conditions of a women’s asylum then this book may be what you are looking for. I’m curious to read more from Greer Macallister though.

Woman 99 is an engaging story based on true events of the abuse patients experienced at mental asylums in the late 1800s. I found that this book was entertaining but some of it didn't seem plausible. If you are looking for a page turner this is definitely it but I had a harder time connecting with the main characters because of the believability factor.

I do appreciate that Macallister took on such an important and challenging part of US History because this helps promote awareness of the awful treatment that went on for more than a century for so many people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My attention was kept from page one, until the last page. What happens in the asylum read true, with moment of fiction to keep the story moving. I enjoyed this book and the ending was both unexpected and satisfying.

How sad the history is of these old asylum's. Women treated for the slightest conditions. Patients at that time were treated for their problems in ways that seem cruel and unbelievable today.

This would make for a good book club selection.

Review posted to Goodreads

This is an incredible story of sacrifice and love that emphasizes the bond between sisters. The story takes place in the late 1800's. The life of an 'insane asylum' inmate during this time period was at times shocking and descritptively depicted in this novel. Charlotte Smith and her sister Phoebe have lived the sheltered and pampered lives as daughters of a well-to-do family. Phoebe has had some problems and their parents don't quite know what to do with her. They have arranged for a betrothal and are planning a wedding for Charlotte and the easy way out for dealing with Phoebe is to commit her. Willing to always be compliant despite her own wants and desires Charlotte can not stand to see this happen to her sister. She bravely sets out to get herself committed and sent to the same establishment. She enters the world of nightmares. There are terrible people who find pleasure or status in abusing others in different ways and they aren't even the inmates. I've read a couple fictionalized accounts of life in an asylum and have also been interested in Dorothea Dix. This book presents information that is heart rending when life is described in one of these cruel places. It is eye-opening to read of the terrible excuses for sending a female family member away because she is an inconvenience or roadblock. There are some special characters in this story along with Phoebe. The suffering Charlotte endures to find and 'save' her sister is so sad and made me angry at times. This type of story certainly can be a reminder of how far we have come in mental health care along with the rights of women. It can also remind us that we have farther to go too.

I received this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks and I want to thank them for the interesting read. This review is entirely my own opinion. I found it to be an interesting and emotional story to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and SourceBooks for this free e-galley in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, I really disliked this book and would not have finished it had I not been hosting a buddy read for it on Instagram. The first half of the book was so slow and boring that I set this book aside many times throughout the month to read other books instead and had to force myself to keep picking this one back up. I just felt zero connection to any of these characters because none of them were very fleshed out, yet there was so much unnecessary detail given to everything else in the book. This one was a miss for me.