The measure of our greatness is in how we stand up after we fall.
—From The Girl Behind the Gates
The Girl Behind the Gates, a novel by Brenda Davies, is based on a true but fictionalized story that spans from 1939 to 1991. The story takes place in England.
It’s 1939 and Nora Jennings, a typical seventeen-year-old, has a bright, happy future. However, she has a terrible, nagging fear: she might be pregnant. How can that be? After only one night of passion, could it happen? Apparently so. She tries to end the pregnancy with pills someone gave her. That didn’t work, so she clumsily tries to take her own life. When her parents learn of the pregnancy, they call the authorities. According to the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, what Nora has done is illegal: getting pregnant out of wedlock, attempting to take the life of the baby, then attempting to take her own life.
Nora is admitted to Hillinghurst Hospital, a place of fear and shame. Although there are some good people among the staff, many are hardened against the needs of patients; some are actually cruel. Nora, labeled a moral defective, is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty by the very people who are supposed to care for her.
It’s 1981 and Dr. Janet Humphreys, a psychiatrist, reviews the records of Hillinghurst Hospital patients. As she studies Nora’s file, she realizes the woman has been there forty years, longer than Janet has been alive. The 1913 Mental Deficiency Act was abolished in 1959, but by this time Nora suffers from being in an institution too long. Although many institutions, including Hillinghurst, are being shut down, the thought of leaving is frightening to Nora—she knows no other life. All those years of no hope, no responsibility, no choices for themselves has taken its toll for many, if not most, of those institutionalized.
As Dr. Humphreys and Nora work toward her freedom, it becomes clear how much of Nora’s life has been denied her, and how difficult the path ahead will be.
The Girl Behind the Gates is a heart-wrenching story written by a consulting psychiatrist who has worked with patients with tragic stories like Nora’s. The story goes into some detail of the horrors that many patients endured. It’s not always easy reading, but it is informative and full of heart when people of influence step up to attempt to right what is obviously so wrong. I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I’m glad I read it. The Girl Behind the Gates opened my eyes to the harm correctional institutions can do, but also how kindness among the staff can make lasting changes to those lives entrusted to their care. It is a story of perseverance, and strength of the human spirit.