DR. ZASTRO'S SANITARIUM—For the Ailments of Women

A Gypsy woman's search for healing leads to a passionate affair with a New York doctor in Bollow's uneven but spirited first novel. Yana Kejako, a volatile artist, checks into the eponymous sanitarium sometime in the 1880s after traditional medicine fails to heal a debilitating arm injury. Her initial skepticism about Zastro seems justified: despite the doctor's impressive track record, his methods (bizarre machines, magnetic alignments and metallic-threaded clothing designed to cure all female "ailments—physical, mental, and sexual") are decidedly odd. But he's a powerful figure, and Yana soon joins with a group of women who venerate Zastro despite—or in some cases because of—his bizarre but precise dedication to the healing power of electrical currents. Though the controlled environment stifles her so much she contemplates leaving, her plans change when sparks fly between her and Zastro. Yana uses her stereotyped Gypsy wiles to seduce the repressed but deeply passionate doctor. Bollow's descriptions of Zastrow's oddball methods are entertaining, and she sets up an intriguing triangle between Zastro, Yana and a fellow patient, a jealous nymphomaniac. Ecstatic sex scenes are overwritten, however, while the second half of the story rushes along as Zastro's assistant commits suicide after raping a patient, and Zastro ends up going to prison. Yana and Zastro's eventual reunion is tepid, but Bollow shows promise. (Nov.)