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The Woman of the Iron Bracelets is a novel written by Frank Barrett. Like many novels of its time, it was published in 1893 as a serial. The novel includes common themes of Victorian literature, including the supernatural and the triumph of good over evil.

Plot synopsis
The book is narrated by Dr. Harvey, a secondary character in the novel. The plot centers on Mr. Lawson, a retired clergyman, who hypnotizes Mrs. St. John—a middle-class widow—and convinces her to marry him. In his scheme to get the money the late Mr. St. John left to Mrs. St. John, Lawson turns his wife and stepdaughter, Olive, against his stepson, Harry. Using hypnotism, Lawson makes Mrs. St. John indite a will to Olive that excludes Harry, while seducing Olive at the same time. He intends to kill Mrs. St. John and marry Olive.

At the same time, Dr. Harvey—physician and friend to the St. Johns/Lawsons—meets a mysterious, handcuffed woman on a train. When the train wrecks, Harvey saves this “Mary Smith;” after a short disappearance, he then takes her on as his assistant and surrogate sister. “Mary”—whose name is actually Veronica Vane—saves the family by charming Lawson out of his scheme. Veronica, unlike Harvey and some of the other men in the story, figures out what Lawson is doing and educates herself on the subject of hypnotism. However, she chooses to use her uniquely feminine wiles to defeat Lawson, rather than engage in hypnotism.

In the end, everything ends happily. Veronica is cleared of the false charges of murder against her, and she marries Harry. Two servants murder Lawson, so he can no longer terrorize innocent widows. The St. Johns are reunited and each child will now get a fair share of their late father’s fortunes.

Characters
Mr. Lawson: A clergyman and skilled hypnotist who preys on a defenseless widow; the clear villain of the novel.

Mrs. St. John: A middle-class widow whose late husband left her all of his money and property for her to divide among their children.

Harry St. John: A respectable young man whose fortune is in danger as his mother succumbs to the powers of a hypnotist.

Olive St. John: A young girl who is powerless to stop the destruction of her own family as she is manipulated by a hypnotist.

Dr. Harvey: The novel’s narrator; a family physician and friend who brings a mysterious woman into the lives of the St. Johns/Lawsons. He means well, but his efforts are often ineffectual.

Veronica Vane/ “Mary Smith”: The titular “woman” who saves the St. Johns/Lawsons from destruction. She is wrongly accused of a crime and ends the novel cleared of all charges and happily married to Harry St. John.

Themes
The major themes of this novel are women’s property rights, hypnotism, and the triumph of good over evil.

The Married Women’s Property Act 1882, passed eleven years before this novel’s publication, can be seen as an influence over Barrett’s depiction of women in relation to property. The New Woman in the Victorian period challenged the traditional idea of a woman’s position in society; this property act was a result of the efforts of the mindset of the new woman. Harvey’s narration paints Veronica as a sort of deviant because she is active, cunning and independent in her efforts to save Harry’s fortune. Without Harvey’s narration, Veronica’s actions and Barrett’s story sound like an argument for the rights of women: she is smart, capable, and authoritative when men in the situation (including Harvey) are fairly useless. Through Harvey’s point of view, Veronica’s actions are not heroic, but disturbing.

Barrett’s plot portrays the negative effects of women’s property rights. Mrs. St. John has control over her finances, but she is unable to properly manage them. And, in the tradition of hypnotism in this time period, Mrs. St. John is much more vulnerable to Lawson’s powers because she is a woman. This weakness of women serves as an argument against the property act; men like Lawson can use women like Mrs. St. John to attack other men. The great drama of the novel concerns the possibility that Harry St. John will not be included in his mother’s will. The fear of the destruction of the family overpowers the fear for Mrs. St. John’s life. Opponents of the act feared that allowing women property rights would destroy the nuclear family, as wives would became more concerned with their own property and be in competition with their husbands.

Through hypnotism, Lawson can command Mrs. St. John very easily. Her vulnerable position as a widow in this society makes her an easy target. She is a sort of worst-case-scenario for the negative effects of women’s property rights. Hypnotism allows Lawson control over the bodies and property of those weaker than himself. This fear of losing control that comes with the upheaval of the status quo in terms of property rights is creatively expressed through hypnotism. Hypnotism as a plot device depends on the connection between a person’s body and material property. The presence of the supernatural is common in Victorian literature, as well as the arc of good triumphing over evil. Veronica Vane is a lowly prisoner a the beginning of the novel, but she rises up and saves a family from the evil clutches of a hypnotist.

Distribution
As a serial, this novel was released in various papers, including The Glasgow Herald and The Press. It was originally published as a book in 1893 by Chatto & Windus.

Film Adaptation
In 1920, director Sidney Morgan adapted the novel to film. The film version stars Eve Balfour, George Keene, and Marguerite Blanche.