This is the second closure of a school for owner Donna Woods, a resident of Portland. In 1989, another property owned by Woods, a “wilderness therapy” boarding school located in Utah, was forced to close after the deaths of two students and a staff member in an electrical fire. It was discovered afterward that the building housing the students was not up to code in terms of fire exits and alarms.
Redwood Trails School had received a number of complaints from both town residents and parents since its opening in 1997, due to excessive discipline, numerous runaways, and uncertified staff.
Despite these issues, the school provided much-needed jobs for local residents of the nearby town of Redwood Trails, a former logging town that has been hit by hard times. Parents of former students also stated that the school “helped and healed” their troubled children.
Donna Woods was not available for comment.
A LETTER FROM THE NOW
Sometimes I will catch myself while driving, doing errands, sitting at this desk, and in those moments, I have been taken over by something. I know because I am suddenly thinner, slighter, less lined, less lived. I want to say: Farewell, homicidal teenage maniac. I want to say: May she rest in peace.
* * *
—
But I am still haunted by her.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you first and foremost to Scott McClanahan for all the love and support, and for tolerating me while I obsessed about the same things over and over.
Thank you to Monika Woods for being my fighter, advocate, and writing-related therapist. You are a true gift and I couldn’t have done this without you.
Thank you to Taylor Sperry for helping me turn this book into a better version of itself, and for allowing me to keep the pictures and the wildness.
Thank you to the whole team at Melville, especially Michael Barron, Michael Seidlinger, and Sherry Virtz at PRH.
Thank you for the early reads, advice, support, and listening to me complain: Chris Oxley, Anna Prushinskaya, Elizabeth Ellen, Chelsea Martin, Elle Nash, Amanda McNeil, Bud Smith, Joseph Grantham, Megan Boyle, Mesha Maren, Randall O’Wain, Nico Walker, Katherine Faw, Carabella Sands, and Meghan Lamb.
Gigantic huge thank-yous to my wonderful parents, without whom I would likely not be alive and definitely not have written this book. I hope to write you a nice happy book someday.
And to so many other people who made this book happen. You know who you are. Thank you.
Also big ups forever to Nicorette Gum, Red Bull, and my tiny desk in the basement.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Escoria is a novelist, short story writer, and poet. In addition to the novel Juliet the Maniac, she is also also the author of the story collection Black Cloud, published in 2014. The collection has since been translated and published in German and Spanish editions. Witch Hunt, a collection of poems, was published in 2016.
Escoria was born in Australia, raised in San Diego, and currently lives in West Virginia with her husband, the writer Scott McClanahan. Juliet the Maniac is her first novel.
READING GROUP GUIDE
Juliet’s voice is unrelenting, raw, and honest. How does the voice drive the narrative? Does her voice change over the course of the novel?
Despite the internal issues regarding the workings of Redwood Trail, do you think it genuinely aided the residents in recovery? Why? If not, do you think it helped them in other ways?
If you were Juliet’s parents, what would you have done? Do you think she needed to be sent to an institution?
Discuss the effect of peer pressure on Juliet and other characters in the novel, and the harmful or helpful role(s) it played in their daily lives and in their recoveries.
Do you think Juliet’s group of friends (especially Holly) before she left for Redwood Trail were good for her? If yes, how so?
How do you feel about the way the novel portrays mental illness? Were there any parts of Juliet’s descriptions of her illness that particularly stood out to you?
Discuss Escoria’s use of short chapters and images. How do you think they extend and balance the narrative?
Throughout Juliet’s journey, was there ever a time where you weren’t concerned? Was there ever a point where you thought things might be getting better?
What did you think of Juliet’s relationship with Luke? Were you surprised that was allowed at Redwood Trail?
How does Juliet utilize confession and honesty: To express her grief, to deflect it, or for another purpose entirely?
What do you think the lambs and the garden represented at the end of the story?
Did the book change your perception of mental illness? If so, how?
Juliet the Maniac Page 23