MORAL TREATMENT by Stephanie Carpenter: Excerpt

MORAL TREATMENT 

a novel 

By Stephanie Carpenter 

In 1889, seventeen-year-old Amy Underwood is committed to a psychiatric hospital in northern Michigan. Feeling abandoned by her loved ones, she finds solace in her friendship with a spirited  fellow patient, Letitia. Yet as Amy becomes more comfortable at the hospital, she faces a  troubling reality: not everyone will leave this place. 

The hospital’s aging superintendent, the doctor, believes in the principles of the moral treatment:  that an orderly environment, healthy diet, exercise, and uplifting activities will restore mental  health. But as the hospital’s population swells, the doctor’s control slips—and those closest to  him clamor for change. In this dual coming-of-age story, as Amy grows in self-awareness, the  doctor is forced to reexamine his long-standing professional and personal practices. 

Inaugural winner of the Summit Series Prize from Central Michigan University Press, MORAL  TREATMENT is literary historical fiction at its finest: elegantly written, moving, relevant, and  unforgettable.

EXCERPT

Prologue 

Dr. Foley drives his cart along the bluff road. He’s been called out to the Underwood place. It’s a warm September evening; what trees haven’t been felled by the lumber company blush red and orange. On autumn nights in past years, young men drove this road with their sweethearts and Foley had hoped one day to do the same. Now it seems that the hardwoods will all be harvested before he manages to court anyone. He’s gained another ten pounds since last September, piled another year of timidity atop the rest. He’s arrived at another autumn alone behind Dobbins, whose dun rump undulates before him, whose blond tail lifts as if in contempt. 

At least the view to the west is compelling. The bluff drops down to Lake Michigan and the sun fades far out over the still, silver water. Perhaps in another year he will have someone to admire this with him. For the present, there is his work—and just ahead, set against a lingering stand of trees, there is the lumber agent’s rambling new Queen Anne. Dr. Foley has come to see the Underwood girl. He has been called to determine whether or not she is insane.  

Copyright © 2025 Stephanie Carpenter

INAUGURAL WINNER of the SUMMIT SERIES PRIZE 

from CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY PRESS 

“By showing us the same hospital through the eyes of its superintendent and a  young patient, this novel powerfully demonstrates the vast distance between  

theory and reality: yet I also felt moved by these two characters’ similar searching  

for true understanding of the world. A marvelous achievement.” 

—CLARE BEAMS, author of The Garden and The Illness Lesson 

“…[a story] as relevant today as in the 19th century…clear-eyed yet  

compassionate.” 

—ERIC TORGERSEN, contest judge and author of In Which We See Our Selves:  

American Ghazals 

“…brilliant….so fully realized that the reader forgets both ‘historical’ and ‘fiction’ 

while dwelling in these pages….” 

—LAURA KASISCHKE, author of Eden Springs and Mind of Winter 

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A native of Traverse City, Michigan, STEPHANIE CARPENTER grew up exploring the then-vacant State Hospital that inspired Moral Treatment. She is the author of Missing Persons: Stories, which won the 2017 Press 53 Award in Short Fiction; her work has also appeared in journals including Copper Nickel, Ecotone, The Missouri Review, Big Fiction, and Witness. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Michigan Technological University. Find her online at stephanie-carpenter.com