Poems from the Asylum

Download or read book Poems from the Asylum written by Janelle Molony and published by Janelle Molony. This book was released on 2021-11-19 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of the woman who would not eat, drink, or sleep for seven years... After noticing something strange from a secret medical procedure in 1927, St. Paul, Minnesota, Martha Nasch's doctor claimed she just had a "case of nerves." With a signature from her adulterous husband, Martha was committed against her will to the asylum. She spent nearly seven years in the Minnesota hospital during the Great Depression and tried to escape twice. Martha's poems from behind bars include shocking eyewitness accounts of patient treatment and a long-suffering adoration for her only child, now being raised alone by her deceiving spouse. When not a soul believed Martha's story, she sought an explanation for her mysterious condition that led her to a spiritual answer for the mystifying curse. Would her findings make her a metaphysical guru of the Breatharian lifestyle, or would she become the laughingstock of her Depression-era family? The biography includes a full anthology of harrowing and insightful poems written by Martha Hedwig Nasch, patient-inmate #20864 at the St. Peter State Hospital for the Insane. Editing and arrangement by Martha's great-granddaughter, Janelle Molony, with an introduction by Jodi Nasch Decker, granddaughter. More than fifty photographs and illustrations are included with the historical research that accompanies this beautifully preserved collection of poems.