Bedlam: A Novel of Love and Madness
Description
An extraordinary novel of three people caught up in the turmoil of the late eighteenth century, their lives intertwined in an age of war and revolution Bedlam's eighteenth-century London is a city teetering between darkness and light, struggling to find its way to a more just and humane future. But in its darkest corners, where noblemen, pickpockets, royalists, and republicans jostle one another for power and where corruption is all in a day's work, Greg Hollingshead finds humanity, truth, decency, and forgiveness. Conspiracies, plots, and paranoia sweep across England in the aftermath of the French Revolution, landing James Tilly Matthews in Bethlem Hospital, a notorious, crumbling home for the insane. Although he is clearly delusional, Matthews appears to be incarcerated for political reasons. Margaret, his beloved wife, spends years trying to free her often lucid husband, but she is repeatedly blocked by her chief adversary, John Haslam, Bethlem's apothecary and chief administrator. Haslam, torn between his conscience and a desire to further his career through studying his increasingly famous patient, becomes another puppet in a game governed by shifting rules and shadowy players. Enlivened with wit and intellectual daring and written in prose that resonates with time and place, Bedlam sweeps the reader into a strange yet somehow recognizable world. From the enduring love of Matthews and his wife, to the despair of Bethlem's inmates, to the moral agonies of John Haslam, Greg Hollingshead's eye for rendering the human condition has never been finer. This is a novel that pulses with insight and compassion, in which imagination bridges the chasms between fantasy and reality, love and hate, and loss and reconciliation.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Earthly Pleasures: A Novel
By Karen NechesRyan's photograph had been replaced with Justin Timberlake's. "Get in Synch with Justin on Earthly Pleasures," read the caption. “What are you gaping at?
-
Serial Killer in Paris
By Thomas Donahue, Karen DonahueJust like I know Justin Timberlake. I met him once. But I don't know him.” He nodded. “He's in the business. Geez, you people. So now the police are going ...
-
Balancing Act
By Jonathan Plummer, Karen HunterThere was one sexy Maxwell hit after the next, a few Lionel Richie classics, some— thing by India.Arie and Justin Timberlake, and, of course, John Legend.
-
Truly, Madly, Deeply: A Novel
By Karen KingsburyA few years ago the department hosted a lip-sync challenge to a Justin Timberlake song, and nearly a hundred community members took part in the video.
-
Dads in Progress Collection: An Anthology
By Karen Rose Smith... Timberlake's cat and how she climbs up the curtains,” Corrie offered. Kyle looked entranced by that idea. Sam had just reached the doorway when Kyle ...
-
The Daddy Plan
By Karen Rose Smith“I'll tell him all about Mrs. Timberlake's cat and how she climbs up the curtains,” Corrie offered. Kyle looked entranced by that idea.
-
Two Become One
By Karen MasonBefore Farrah could even agree, Justin Timberlake was blaring at her down the phone. Farrah wasn't sure if she liked the thought of strange organisations ...
-
The Casual Vacancy
By J. K. RowlingWho will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.
-
L'amore che non c'è
By Karen LojeloLa magia vera c'era stata. ... Se conoscete la canzone Timbaland, Nelly Furtado ft Justine Timberlake capirete la natura del ballo e che il seguito furono ...
-
Un dangereux pari - Un si séduisant célibataire
By Karen Booth, Katherine GarberaSoudain la musique changea, passant sur Can't Stop the Feeling ! de Justin Timberlake. ... C'est la chanson du film Les Trolls, crut-elle bon de préciser.