The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The narrative is a first-person account of a woman's descent into madness after being confined to a room with yellow wallpaper by her husband, who prescribes a "rest cure" for her postpartum depression. As she spends her days in forced idleness, she becomes obsessed with the room's ghastly wallpaper. She starts to see patterns and figures within it, particularly a woman trapped behind the paper's chaotic designs. The protagonist's identification with the figure and her growing paranoia culminate in a chilling conclusion, as she succumbs to psychosis, tearing down the wallpaper in a desperate attempt to free the woman she believes is trapped within it. The story is a powerful critique of the 19th-century medical treatment of women and a haunting exploration of the reality of mental illness.

The 1911th greatest book of all time

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Total Points: 198

Since this book was first published in 1892, there is a penalty of 0%. The age adjusted score is 198.0.

This is to prevent newer books from reaching super high on the ranked list of the greatest books of all time. The greatest books should also stand the test of time.