Erie Reader Book Club: November 2025

Vine Leaves Press

SUNDAY, NOV. 30

The Erie Reader Book Club will be reading and discussing the novel Home for the Bewildered by local author Michelle Tobin in correspondence with the Shop Local Erie Reader issue.

Our city is incredibly lucky to be home to many talented writers who offer unique perspectives and narratives. In choosing a book to correspond with the Shop Local issue, Michelle Tobin's novel stood out as a clear winner, as voted upon by members in attendance at our last meeting.

Taking place in 1974, amidst changing public attitudes about caring for those with mental illness which results in the closure of asylums nationwide, Dr. Dorothy Morrissey becomes the first female psychologist at St. Lawrence Asylum in Lansing, Michigan.

Dorothy finds that her patients mirror her emotional issues as she's drawn into their lives – from a man with bipolar disorder that leads to impulsiveness and attention-seeking behavior to a woman's postpartum psychiatric break to those suffering other traumas, Dorothy focuses on helping her patients to avoid her own past traumas. A competent and thoughtful doctor, Dorothy has no issues addressing her patients' traumas – but will she be able to face her own?

"As a mental health professional, I know the world doesn't need yet another novel about mental illness that portrays therapists as ineffective or out of touch," says Tobin, who has practiced as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for more than 20 years. "That's why I felt the need to write about a flawed yet effective therapist – therapy is complex, which is exactly what you'll see in Home for the Bewildered." 

1 p.m. // Werner Books and Coffee, 2608 Liberty St. // Free to join, cost of book not included // For more info: wernerbooks.com