The author, now viewed as an early feminist, based the plot on her own difficult experience with postpartum depression, which was then diagnosed as a nervous disorder curable only by a long period of bed rest, over-feeding and withdrawal from the world of family and friends. The character in the opera ends up going mad from this treatment, while confined to a room with peeling wallpaper.

You know how sometimes you read about a new opera and you think, boy, this has Francesca Zambello written all over it?

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