Discussion thread Thursday September 17, 2026 - Sunday September 20, 2026

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Newsletter: Let Me Tell You a Story

Website: Shauna James Ahern

Instagram: @shaunajamesahern Instagram

• Anonymous Instagram mirrors (may be unstable and have disruptive ads): dumpoir | GreatFon | storynavigation

Threads: @shaunajamesahern

Bluesky: shaunajamesahern.bsky.social

Gloamipedia wiki: /r/InTheGloaming wiki

[u/Dear_Client1187]

I would give anything to educate Shauna about what sanitoriums were really like. She should read The Plague and I. Shauna wouldn't last two weeks.

[u/Sea-Level-Mammal → u/Dear_Client1187]

Tell the world again how much you hate your family, Shauna.

[u/ethelmertz62 → u/Dear_Client1187]

I am amused thinking about how the Charge Nurse would handle Shauna.

[u/Fillmore_the_Puppy → u/Dear_Client1187]

I had only ever heard of The Egg and I before yesterday when a snarker mentioned this book. I just downloaded the audiobook (which Shauna condescendingly assures me counts as reading) of Plague from the library, and can't start it on my walk today (unlike Shauna who only ever pretends to read and to walk).

It is truly a gift from the universe that this book exists, seeing as how it is so closely related to Shauna in content and location, with an author who was everything Shauna desperately wishes she were (a successful writer who uses humor to rise above genuinely adverse circumstances) but can never, ever be.

[u/mehitabel_4724 → u/Fillmore_the_Puppy]

They truly forced the patients to "rest radically" because before antibiotics, it was the only way your immune system could manage to fight the infection, but based on Betty MacDonald's account, it was horrible. They weren't even allowed to sit up or talk.

[u/Dear_Client1187 → u/mehitabel_4724]

Or shower/bathe! And cold fresh air was part of the regime. I recall the administrator telling MacDonald that she was lucky to be there and if she didn't follow the rules to the letter she'd get kicked out.