Back to the Asylum

It’s not all that often that a book takes hold of me, crawls beneath my skin, lingers long after I’ve finished the reading. I suppose it’s a measure of an author’s ability to create intriguing characters, memorable situations, an evocative landscape and the talent of, say, Graham Greene to get the words on the page. One such book that embodies all these qualities is ‘ASYLUM’ by Patrick McGrath. Its dark milieu haunts me to this day even though it must be all of ten years since I first read it. It’s a gothic, psycholgical thriller, set in a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane, located in the countryside near London. The narrator is a senior psychiatrist whose speciality is – the catastrophic love affairs characterized by sexual obsession. There, that should give you some idea of where the book is headed.

The subject of the catastrophic love affair in this instance focuses on Stella Raphael, the beautiful but frustrated wife of Max Raphael, a resident psychiatrist who has been appointed deputy superintendent of the asylum. Stella becomes infatuated with a patient, Edgar Stark, a brilliant and alluring sculptor who has murdered his wife in a psychotic fit and has a record of destroying the things he loves. When Stark is assigned to restore the glasshouse in the Raphaels’ garden he cunningly charms Stella and before too long the two indulge in a wild, reckless and passionate liaison that leads inexorably to destruction. That’s where things really kick off but I don’t want to give any more of the plot away in case someone out there might wish to get hold of the book and read it. Suffice it to say what follows is unforgettable: the gloomy architecture of the asylum; a ravaged human head with the eyes gouged out, but above all else, we witness Stella’s destruction and the havoc she inflicts on those around her.

I’ve been on something of a self-imposed mission to have my friends read this book … with mixed results. They all admit it’s an engaging piece of writing, a well-crafted plot, but a few thought it a bit on the depressive side. So, yes, my recommendation comes with a health warning: if you’re looking for a bright and breezy read, something to cheer you up, well, maybe this one is not for you. But if, like me, you like to walk on the dark side, then this one is for you.

KT McCaffrey (KT’s next book, ‘The Tara Bones’ will be published July 2012)