REVIEW: ASYLUM by John Harwood

  Weary, windswept, and wet, a young woman arrives outside Tregannon House, an estate-turned-asylum in somewhere near Cornwall in England.  She awakens with little memory of how she got there, or why. She is convinced, however, of her identity as Georgina Ferrars.  The only problem is the kind staff at the asylum assure her she…

REVIEW: THE OTHER WOMAN’S HOUSE by Sophie Hannah

In the last couple of years I’ve become a fan of Sophie Hannah’s writing.  She writes fast-paced, gritty police procedurals with dark psychological undertones.  In some ways, she reminds me of a British Kathy Reichs.  This installment of Zailer and Waterhouse’s casebook takes them to Cambridge. The book’s main heroine, Connie, is suffering from a…

REVIEW: MRS. ROBINSON’S DISGRACE by Kate Summerscale

Kate Summerscale has once again uncovered a fascinating story from the ever contradictory Victorian era.  Not so very long ago, divorce was nearly impossible (unless you were King Henry VIII, of course).  Until 1858, “marriage could only be dissolved by an individual Act of Parliament, at a cost prohibitive to almost all of the population.…

REVIEW: THE QUICKENING MAZE by Adam Foulds

I always look forward to starting new books — ones to review or otherwise.  When I knew this one was on its way, I watched the mail everyday.  It is by a British author.  It’s about an asylum … and poets … and madness … and takes place in Victorian England. What more could I…