In a prose form as startling as its content, The Shutter of Snow
portrays the post-partum psychosis of Marthe Gail, who after giving
birth to her son, is committed to an insane asylum. Believing herself to
be God, she maneuvers through an institutional world that is both sad
and terrifying, echoing the worlds of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
and The Snake Pit.
Based upon the author's own experience after the birth of her son in
1924, "The Shutter of Snow" retains all the energy it had when first
published in 1930.