{"id":2807,"date":"2021-02-10T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=2807"},"modified":"2021-02-03T22:34:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T21:34:14","slug":"claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &#8220;Staring Night&#8221; by Robert Abrams."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Staring Night:\u00a0 Queen Victoria\u2019s Late-life Depression by Robert C Abrams (New York: International Psychoanalytic Books, 2020. ISBN 978-1-949093-55-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>by Claire Hilton MD PhD FRCPsych, Historian in Residence, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 21 Prescot St, London E1 8BB, UK\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"mailto:historian@rcpsych.ac.uk\">historian@rcpsych.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-2808\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of the book &quot;Staring Night&quot; (shows a portrait of an elderly Queen Victoria)\" width=\"389\" height=\"570\" \/>In the last few months of her life, Queen Victoria was solemn, sad, and fearful, yet remained dignified and desirous of accomplishing whatever she could. In 1900, the last full year of her life, she suffered bereavements of two close family members, her son Alfie and her grandson Christle. Her eldest daughter, Vicky, was suffering from cancer at the same time, although the Queen appeared hopeful about its outcome. The Queen\u2019s close friend, Lady Jane Churchill, who had accompanied her to Osborne House, the royal residence on the Isle of Wight, died unexpectedly on Christmas morning 1900, just four weeks before the Queen\u2019s own death on 22<sup>nd<\/sup> January 1901.<\/p>\n<p>In Staring Nights, Robert Abrams vividly describes the Queen\u2019s final months, based on entries in her diaries. These diaries spanned most of her life, from her teenage years until a week before she died. In later life and with poor vision, she usually dictated her words to trusted family members, and after her death, most volumes were edited by her daughter Beatrice. Of the edited volumes, the Queen\u2019s originals sadly do not survive. As Abrams acknowledges, we cannot rule out that the editing may also have interpreted some of the content. Nevertheless, the diaries are an invaluable resource, now digitised, transcribed, freely available and readily searchable (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.queenvictoriasjournals.org\/home.do\">http:\/\/www.queenvictoriasjournals.org\/home.do<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Abrams also gives insights into the professional and family life of Sir James Reid, the Queen\u2019s physician who attended her in her final months. Except in childbirth, Queen Victoria did not permit any doctor to examine her physically, although she allowed an ophthalmologist to dilate her pupils with belladonna to examine her retina, peering around the edge of her cataracts. Faithful to this lifelong reticence, and with Sir James confident that she died from cerebrovascular disease, no post-mortem was performed.<\/p>\n<p>The absence of a physical examination is one factor which brings into doubt Abrams\u2019 assertion that Queen Victoria experienced a new episode of severe depression in her final months. Abrams can only cite her diary: \u2018My appetite is completely gone and I have great difficulty eating anything\u2019; but without further clarification, these symptoms could have been associated with psychiatric disorder, malignancy or some other physical cause.<\/p>\n<p>Diurnal mood variation (worse in the morning) and early morning wakening, characteristic symptoms of depression, were not themes in the Queen\u2019s diary. She tended to refer to pain disturbing her sleep. Ideas of self-blame and guilt were not evident in the diary passages cited and health worries may have been reality rather than hypochondriasis. She seemed able to take pleasure in some things and to appreciate kindness from others even at the very end. Despite her infirmities and bereavements, she appeared hopeful about the future. In November 1900 she wanted to \u2018live and do what I can for my country and those I love\u2019, and ill in bed, just three days before her death, she told Sir James that she wanted to live a little longer.\u00a0 Her positive statements about living seem to contrast with those about wanting to die after the death of her husband, Prince Albert, many years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Abrams referred to many primary and secondary sources to contextualise the Queen\u2019s life, but medical texts of the period were not among them. Reference to such sources may have altered his views on her state of mind. We have the Queen\u2019s own words, and when the Queen\u2019s diary recorded \u2018I was very depressed\u2019, Abrams comments that \u2018it is fair to say that \u201cdepression\u201d denotes in her mind serious levels of apathy and sadness.\u2019\u00a0 There are historical divergences, however. Although Abrams\u2019 definition of \u2018depression\u2019 may be current today, 120 years ago \u2018depression\u2019 could have other meanings. Dr Daniel Hack Tuke in his Dictionary of Psychological Medicine (1892: available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.archive.org\">www.archive.org<\/a>) gave three uses of the word: mental depression or melancholia; nervous depression, \u2018a morbid fancy or melancholy of temporary duration\u2019; and vital depression, \u2018fatal or very serious depression of the powers of life produced by a sudden shock, physical or mental\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>There are some additional unsupported assumptions and occasional errors in Staring Night. For instance, Abrams remarks on the possibility that Reid prescribed \u2018chlorodyne, the latter a vestigial form of the sedative-hypnotic drug chloral hydrate.\u2019 Chloral hydrate was a widely used sedative, but chlorodyne was a mixture of laudanum (opium), tincture of cannabis, and chloroform, a popular cure-all with multiple side effects. If Reid suspected mental depression as her primary diagnosis, it would have been more usual to prescribe a tonic, as recommended in Tuke\u2019s Dictionary, \u2018such as iron, quinine, arsenic, and strychnine, which tend to simulate the processes of digestion and of nutrition generally.\u2019\u00a0 Abrams does not discuss the implications of the lack of reference to tonics in relationship to the assumed mood disorder.<\/p>\n<p>Abrams tends to interpret the concept of health through modern eyes when he considers the Queen\u2019s over-eating and lack of exercise as health indicators. We must remember that the link between exercise and health was not established until much later, in the bus driver (sedentary) and bus conductor (on the go continually) study, which identified different rates of cardiovascular disease depending upon amount of exercise (Morris et al, 1953. Lancet\u00a0262\u00a0(6795): 1053\u20137). The significance of obesity also varied over time and cannot be judged by today\u2019s western understanding. Obesity could be viewed as a sign of wealth and good health whereas thinness could be associated with the scourge of tuberculosis and the deprivation of urban poverty. Thinness rather than obesity was a public health issue. Victoria could not, therefore, be thought to have \u2018neglected her health\u2019 concerning weight and exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, Staring Night is an absorbing account of the last few months of Queen Victoria\u2019s life, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The illustrations are excellent, and the appendices of places and personal names are thoughtful additions. The book would have been even better had the author concentrated less on modern interpretations of her health and situated it more within the life, death, medical and psychiatric culture of her time.\u00a0 Read the book, then delve into the diaries online and add to the debate!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staring Night:\u00a0 Queen Victoria\u2019s Late-life Depression by Robert C Abrams (New York: International Psychoanalytic Books, 2020. ISBN 978-1-949093-55-1) by Claire Hilton MD PhD FRCPsych, Historian in Residence, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 21 Prescot St, London E1 8BB, UK\u00a0\u00a0 historian@rcpsych.ac.uk In the last few months of her life, Queen Victoria was solemn, sad, and fearful, yet [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":422,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2965],"tags":[15166,15206,15208,15205,15207],"class_list":["post-2807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-book-review","tag-claire-hilton","tag-queen-victoria","tag-robert-abrams","tag-staring-night"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Book Review: Claire Hilton on &quot;Staring Night&quot; by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Claire Hilton reviews &quot;Staring Night&quot; by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria&#039;s late-life depression.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &quot;Staring Night&quot; by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Claire Hilton reviews &quot;Staring Night&quot; by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria&#039;s late-life depression.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@crisoi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7e03d91a7ed43f7a6ef2747b0d1fbf8\"},\"headline\":\"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &#8220;Staring Night&#8221; by Robert Abrams.\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1078,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"book review\",\"Claire Hilton\",\"Queen Victoria\",\"Robert Abrams\",\"Staring Night\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Book Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Book Review: Claire Hilton on \\\"Staring Night\\\" by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Claire Hilton reviews \\\"Staring Night\\\" by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria's late-life depression.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg\",\"width\":432,\"height\":648,\"caption\":\"Cover of the book \\\"Staring Night\\\" (shows a portrait of an elderly Queen Victoria)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &#8220;Staring Night&#8221; by Robert Abrams.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Medical Humanities\",\"description\":\"Providing a space for scholarly intervention into the conversation around medicine, as practice and philosophy, as it engages with humanities and arts.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Medical Humanities\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-mh.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-mh.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"Medical Humanities\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7e03d91a7ed43f7a6ef2747b0d1fbf8\",\"name\":\"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hanganubresch.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/crisoi\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/author\\\/changanubresch\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities","description":"Claire Hilton reviews \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria's late-life depression.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities","og_description":"Claire Hilton reviews \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria's late-life depression.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/","og_site_name":"Medical Humanities","article_published_time":"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@crisoi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/"},"author":{"name":"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/person\/b7e03d91a7ed43f7a6ef2747b0d1fbf8"},"headline":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &#8220;Staring Night&#8221; by Robert Abrams.","datePublished":"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/"},"wordCount":1078,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg","keywords":["book review","Claire Hilton","Queen Victoria","Robert Abrams","Staring Night"],"articleSection":["Book Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/","name":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams. - Medical Humanities","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-10T08:00:16+00:00","description":"Claire Hilton reviews \"Staring Night\" by Robert Abrams for Medical Humanities-BMJ blog--a book about Queen Victoria's late-life depression.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2021\/02\/Abrams-Staring-Night-cover-01.jpg","width":432,"height":648,"caption":"Cover of the book \"Staring Night\" (shows a portrait of an elderly Queen Victoria)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/02\/10\/claire-hilton-reviews-staring-night-by-robert-abrams-for-medical-humanities-bmj-blog\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Book Review: Claire Hilton on &#8220;Staring Night&#8221; by Robert Abrams."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/","name":"Medical Humanities","description":"Providing a space for scholarly intervention into the conversation around medicine, as practice and philosophy, as it engages with humanities and arts.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization","name":"Medical Humanities","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-mh.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-mh.png","width":300,"height":34,"caption":"Medical Humanities"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/person\/b7e03d91a7ed43f7a6ef2747b0d1fbf8","name":"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8911a1b5c2f3106e0eaa44481fa0cf8095b3d1c0861a5f3980e98fc8aba087b1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cristina Hanganu-Bresch"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hanganubresch.com","https:\/\/x.com\/crisoi"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/author\/changanubresch\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/422"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}