Sybil/Sybil Exposed

by Dee Ernst

Sybil, by Flora Rheta Schreiber, was another one of those books I remember as completely capturing my imagination. Published in 1973, it sold millions of copies, spawned a mini-series that starred Joanne Woodward and transformed Sally Field from Gidget into A Serious Actress. I read it over and over. I couldn’t help it. It was such a compelling story – a poor, tortured artist, trying to find herself in the Big Bad City, carefully and lovingly put back together by a dedicated doctor. I loved that book. And now, it looks like it was all a great big pile of hooey.

Debbie Mason’s Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case, published last fall, is yet another face of the woman known as Sybil. From the actual notes and therapy records, given to Schreiber by Dr. Cornelia Wilbur and Shirley Mason, Sybil herself, Nathan has put together quite a different story of Sybil, young woman who came to a therapist for help, and ended up creating an entirely new psychiatric phenomenon, Multiple Personality Disorder.

Schreiber’s records, stashed in the basement of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice have since been gone over by researchers and doctors. Although it’s clear that Mason was in fact treated by Dr. Wilbur for years, what her actual issues were remains a mystery. In the process of writing the book, something that all three women wanted desperately for three very different reasons, the truth was not always a prime consideration. Schreiber was very influenced by Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which he called a non-fiction novel . Schreiber wanted the same thing – a true story that read like fiction. And she was not at all against writing whatever it took to create a bestseller.

There are so many things in Nathan’s book – Wilbur’s story, of a bright, ambitious woman trying to make it in what was a man’s world, and craving the respect and admiration of her peers. Schreiber wanted to be a famous writer – her career was a series of ups and downs that did nothing to achieve what she thought was her full potential. And Shirley Mason – she was surely a victim, but of what?

Nathan recounts that the therapies Wilbur used, particularly the drugs that she gave Mason, were later found to be addictive and, more importantly, caused patients to hallucinate. Probably not the best course when you’re trying to recall the truth. The therapy took years and years – Wilbur crossed all sorts of ethical boundaries in her relationship with Mason, including paying her rent and allowing her to live with her on and off during treatment. Mason was obviously craving Wilbur’s love and attention, and it’s possible she took Wilbur’s ‘suggestions’ and turned them into what she thought Wilbur wanted to hear. And Schreiber was there at the right time and with the right pitch to pull it all together.

Nathan does a great job, I think, in trying to remain objective throughout a very long and emotional story. And it’s a story with very broad implications. As a result of Sybil being published, hundreds of women can forward with similar stories – of abuse, buried memories, splintered personalities. And many those stories were later found to be false. And Wilbur, after pioneering the therapy for finding and ‘curing’ Multiple Personality Disorder, may have been doing everything wrong.

As for Mason, she finally settled down as an Art Instructor at a small college in West Virginia, but her normal life was shattered when a reporter, following the trail left by Wilbur, tracked down not only Mason. He not only found her, he found her home town, visited places where incidents recounted in the book took place and tried to verify some of the allegations made in the book. He couldn’t.

This is a great book for fans of the original Sybil, because it makes you sit back and shake your head in complete amazement. (Really. All that horrific abuse? Maybe it didn’t happen at all. Multiple personalities? Never witnessed by anyone but Wilbur and Mason’s roommate, who may have had her own agenda.) But even if you don’t know who I’m talking about here, it’s still a fascinating look at the changing roles of women in America during the forties and fifties and on into the age of ‘Woman’s Lib’. And it’s a real eye-opener as an examination of mental illness and it’s treatment, and how the conventional wisdom of psychiatrists could turn with the changing attitudes of society.

Better Off Without Him – by Dee Ernst

This book got me through the worst case of jet-lag I have ever experienced – or it may have just been a handy excuse for lying abed much longer than normal.

I like to mix up my reading and having just finished one literary novel followed by an action/adventure/suspense story, I thought perhaps this confection would be just what I needed. Dee Ernst is a fellow author on Boomers and Books and I knew from reading her blogs over the past year that she has a style which appeals to me.

My instincts were right. How could one not love a book when it begins with a view of the April version of winter that is so in tune with my own.

Touted as a romantic comedy, Better Off Without Him was just that. The characters were varied and zany in a normal kind of way, and their nicknames laugh-out-loud funny. Mona, the hero, is a romance writer in her mid-forties who thinks her marriage is perfect – until the day Mr Right comes home and tells her he is in love with a woman fifteen years younger and thirty pounds lighter. A few months later she takes her three teenage daughters to her place on the Jersey shore for the summer. One rainy day they come at her as a group and tell her she should start `practice’ dating. They even have a man in mind, a neighbor and friend from across the street. Thus starts the round of dating `safe’ men recommended by friends, most of whom are anything but.

Ms Ernst has impeccable timing, both with comedy and plot. Her writing is smart and crisp. We are not absolutely certain who she will end up with – or even if she will end up with anyone at all. It is a fun and lighthearted read, but not at all written to formula.

There were a couple of minor flaws. The book had a few more typos than I would have liked for one of its quality and did not translate well to Kindle, where I read it.

Good romantic comedies are hard to come by (even more so ones with mature protagonists) and we need more from this author. Move over, Jennifer Crusie…

This book has coarse language and sex scenes and is recommended for mature audiences.

More About Us

After a year of blogging, our group has settled down into a comfortable, dynamic flow with its own quirky rhythm. But we’re also moving forward, looking for ways to improve and expand what we’re doing.  So the time seems right to share a little more personal information about what books we read, what activities we enjoy doing, and what writing projects we’re working on.  We’ll be adding a summarized version of the following to the “Our Books” page on our website.

There are now five of us in our core group.  Our similarities have helped us bond together, while our differences have promoted a nice diversity in the books we review and the topics we blog about.  We are all writers, readers, and boomers.  But we live in different areas, write and read different types of books, and enjoy different activities and interests.  By sharing this information about ourselves, we hope it makes it easier for you to connect with us, both as a group and as individuals, and encourages you to join us in our journey as we continue toward our goal of an even better future.

About Dee Ernst
Author of Better Off Without Him
Location:  U.S. —  Mid-Atlantic Region

Dee reads pretty much everything except genre romance, which is odd considering that the main character in her book is a genre romance writer.  She particularly enjoys well-written popular fiction, fantasies, and mysteries.  Although she has started reading more nonfiction, Dee doesn’t read much self-help.  It’s not because there’s no room for improvement, but rather that she finds too much self-examination depressing.

The geographic area she lives in is a great place for one of her favorite activities—gardening.  Her yard is stone-wall-to-stone-wall perennials.  Dee also has a small rose garden her husband put together for her 4oth birthday.  She loves to cook, too, especially for large groups of friends and family.  Any excuse for a party!

Dee is working on two different writing projects with protagonists that are decades apart in age.  One is a “second act” romantic comedy about a widow in her 50’s who’s starting a new phase in her life.  The other is a young adult novel with a supernatural twist about two sisters in high school.

About Sandra Nachlinger
Co-author (with Sandra Allen) of I.O.U. Sex
Location:  U.S. — Pacific Northwest

Sandy generally reads women’s fiction such as Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler, Maeve Binchy, and Anita Shreve.  She also enjoys popular fiction authors like Ken Follett, Larry McMurtry, and Barbara Kingsolver.  Besides well-known authors like these, Sandy loves to discover new Indie authors.  She rarely reads nonfiction.

Like Dee, Sandy enjoys gardening but admits that her real addiction is quilting.  Although she has embraced her new home in the Pacific Northwest, Sandy maintains her connection to her Southwestern roots through her accent and her lifelong friendship with her co-author, Sandra Allen.  One of her favorite ways to spend time is grandmothering. 

She is currently untangling, enhancing, and just generally tweaking one of her NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) romances with the goal of completing the work by this summer.

About Lynn Schneider
Author of Second Stories and Whatever Happened to Lily?
Location:  U.S. — Great Lakes Region

Lynn reads women’s fiction and mainstream fiction.  She never reads sci-fi or fantasy.  No vampires, ever.  She’s interested in getting into biography, especially Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Ben Franklin.  Occasionally, you can catch her reading romances, but of course that’s only for educational purposes.

She would like to claim she gardens, but she’s really bad at it.  Although Lynn may have written gardening off, one of her future goals is becoming a better cook.  She also loves knitting.  Other important interests in her life include photography and issues that affect people of our generation.

Lynn is putting the finishing touches on her third women’s fiction novel, Perigee Moon, which follows the life of a man who gets caught up in the corporate world, only to find he really desires a different kind of life.  She hopes to have it ready for publishing by late Spring.

About Lee Sinclair
Author of Book of Blognots, Not Blogs
Location:  U.S. — Pacific Northwest

Lee has gradually switched to reading mostly nonfiction, especially ones related to personal growth.  When she reads fiction, she likes humorous books or ones with an intriguing story idea.  She also enjoys historical fiction and prefers those set in the 1800’s. 

Besides reading about history, Lee likes historical museums and old buildings.  She loves taking pictures, though she’s not particularly knowledgeable about it.  Listening to music has always been an important part of her life, and she enjoys a variety—from rock ‘n’ roll to classical, from folk songs to instrumentals.

She’s making frustratingly slow progress on the sequel to her first book, which will take her eccentric, reborn spinster character into the complicated world of relationships.  Lee is also sporadically working on a humorous Regency romance and several related short stories.

About Sharon Tillotson
Author of The Storyteller
Location:  Canada — Pacific Coast

Sharon reads broadly, including romantic comedy, light fantasy, as well as classics and nonfiction.  She savors books and their words, and when she has time, tends to dig into “literary” books.  Since receiving a Kindle as a gift last year, she has been enjoying mostly Indie books.

Golf is one of Sharon’s passions, and she does it whenever she can.  Roaming near and far is another—walking, hiking, road trips, by air—in parks and gardens, at outdoor markets, on beaches, wherever her inclination might take her, whether in her hometown or in other countries.  She also loves playing board and parlor games with friends.

Sharon has two completely different projects she plans on working on this year.  The first is a novel with a protagonist from her book, The Storyteller, and the second is a series of illustrated children’s books.