My dear readers,
This book does have a bit of a trigger-warning, but not really.
It takes place in the early 1800s, and some of the characters are born with deformities and disabilities, including chromosome abnormalities.
As you can imagine, people who were born different were sometimes not treated very well in those days. Some of the other characters in this story may say or do things that are historically accurate to the time period.
Please, please know that I am in NO WAY endorsing those feelings or beliefs stated by those characters. I have nothing but love and sympathy for anyone born "different."
In fact, my hope is to give some perspective into just how radically different life was back then.
So as you read this story, please keep that in mind.
I know that many of you probably have close relationships with people who are born with Down Syndrome and other chromosome abnormalities. Several of my adopted siblings have chromosone deletions similar to Down's. You may insist that the Jane in this story does not reflect a real person with these characteristics.
You would be somewhat correct.
The truth is that chromosome abnormalities actually have a very wide range of symptoms. Some are born with strong facial features and no other issues. Others may only have slight exterior characteristics, yet have severe heart deformities or an inability to progress beyond the mental age of two or three.
Some people with chromosome abnormalities have lived full, active lives with jobs and even their own homes, whereas others may never be able to clothe or feed themselves.
The Jane in this story has a chromosome abnormality. And yes, people like her do exist. I've met several of them. As a former public school teacher who worked with grade-level and remedial students, I often came across students with Down Syndrome and similar chromosome abnormalities.
There was one student in particular whom I never would have guessed had Down's, had I not seen it on his IEP.
You may also know people who have some of these physical attributes (like almond eyes and gaps in the toes), yet don't have Down Syndrome or other chromosome abnormalities at all.
Again, it is not my intent to disrespect anyone or any condition. My own experiences with Crohn's (an invisible disease) has shown me time and again that people can have the same disability and yet be radically different in its manifestation.
I'll say that again: people can have the same disability and yet be radically different in its manifestation.
For example, 50% of people born with Down's have a heart condition, which means that half of them will be perfectly healthy (with regards to their hearts).
Quick Google searches will turn up models with Down's that barely have any physical features that reflect their diagnoses. Other people will have very strong features that are impossible to overlook.
So if you know someone with a chromosome abnormality, and my Jane in this story doesn't seem to be like your loved one - that's okay. It doesn't mean that someone like my Jane is impossible - because I've known people with chromosome abnormalities like her. In fact, several of my adopted siblings do.
And just because your loved one is in a much different place along the chromosome abnormality spectrum doesn't mean anything about them, either.
The entire point of this story is to give a glimpse into the world of disabilities in the Regency era. It is a work of fiction, but a lot of research went into it as well.
At that time period, the way of life was changing. While many people were able to care for their loved ones with disabilities, others were abandoned to asylums and the streets. Some were treated "normally," while others were abused and disdained.
Our own Jane Austen had a brother - George - who was born different. George was most likely deaf, dumb, and an epileptic. He did not live in the family home, and was never mentioned in Jane's letters. In Mrs. Austen's will, she left her estate to all of her children except George.
Depending on what historical documents you read, how people with disabilities were treated in the early 1800s varies widely.
So please don't take offense where absolutely none is intended. I do not approach this story light-heartedly or ignorantly.
~ Tiffany Thomas
Recommended reading for research:
The Poor Law Amendment of 1834, which ensured that conditions within the workhouses should always be worse than the worst conditions outside them; and 'the workhouse test' – meaning that relief should only be available to those within the workhouses. This results in more and more disabled people being forced into institutions.
The Alleged Lunatics Friend Society (and books by John Thomas Perceval, born in 1803, and the son of a British prime minister who spent time in an asylum.
Lainston House near Winchester, Hampshire, where private patients resided in the mansion but paupers were kept in converted stables and outbuildings. The home was closed in 1847 for mistreatment of its paupers who had been left chained in cold and filthy conditions.
"George Austen: Jane Austen's almost forgotten, invisible brother" on JaneAusten'sWorld website
"Living With Disability in the Regency" on Life in Words Blog website.
"People with Disabilities in Jane Austen's England, a Guest Post by Elaine Owen" on Regina Jeffers blog