Asylum by Patrick McGrath: book review

Asylum (1996) is set in England in 1959, in a hospital asylum for the criminally insane.

Stella Raphael is married to forensic psychiatrist Max, and they have a 10-year-old son Charlie. In 1959 she moves to her husband’s new posting – a house next to the walled city of the maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. Prisoner Edgar Stark has the job of renovating the conservatory in Max and Stella’s run-down house.

Edgar Stark is a psychopathic murderer on parole. He beat his wife to death with a hammer, then beheaded her. Peter, his psychiatrist for the past four years, would never let Edgar walk free, if it were his decision.

Narrated by Edgar’s and Stella’s psychiatrist, Peter describes how, slowly and inevitably, Stella befriended Edgar and eventually became his lover.

Stella ‘translated her experience with Edgar Stark into the stuff of melodrama; she made of it a tale of outcast lovers braving the world’s contempt for the sake of a great passion.’ She failed to comprehend how dangerous Edgar was – and still is.

The obsession between them spirals out of control as Edgar secretly plans his next strategy. Not even Stella knows what Edgar is planning.

Peter, on the other hand, is not surprised – after the event, and too late to prevent it.

This is a masterful psychological, suspenseful tale of a dangerous liaison and a journey into the mind of a psychopathic killer, liar, and skilful manipulator – and a bored housewife. Riveting to midway, it loses ground for the next quarter, until it winds up again, and delivers a grand punch at the end.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Apes go to the movies - and remember the scenes

Apes remember major events in movies, even after a single viewing. That’s the findings of primate research in Japan (New Scientist, September 17, 2015). Researchers at the Kyoto University in Japan conducted experiments with two species of apes – chimpanzees and bonobo primates – to test their memory and recall. Instead of using food to test memory, they used films. The researchers made two short movies to show to the apes. Fumihiro Kano and his colleague, Satoshi Hirata, starred in the films with another person dressed as an ape. They wanted to have strong dramatic scenes to see if the apes remembered them. In the first 30-second movie the character ape bursts through a door on the right hand side (there is also a door on the left hand side) and attacks the two researchers (characters) 18 seconds after the start. After 24 seconds a human character choses one of two weapons next to each other and launched a revenge attack on the ape. In the second 30-second movie t...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog