This was rather a convoluted gothic novel about a young woman, Georgina Ferrars, who wakes up in a private asylum in Cornwall, England. She has no memory of her past few weeks and the asylum's doctor, Maynard Straker, tells her that she committed herself to the asylum under the name Lucy Ashton. She then suffered a seizure resulting in her loss of memory. Georgina insists that her name is Georgina Ferrars and provides the doctor with the name and location of her uncle who she lives with in London. But when the doctor sends a telegram to the uncle, the reply states that Georgina is there living with him and that the patient must be an imposter. So what is really happening here? Why is Georgina being held at the asylum under a false name? The novel goes on to tell Georgina's backstory and history through her own memories and a series of letters and entries from her journal.
A few years ago, I read Harwood's novel THE GHOST WRITER and found it to be an enjoyable gothic horror story. However, I was a little disappointed in THE ASYLUM. I thought the plot was very convoluted and quite unbelievable. The protagonist, Georgina, was also easily duped and could have easily avoided what happened to her. I know this was written in the vein of a classic Victorian gothic novel and included many of the plot points of such novels including gloomy locations, women in peril, coincidental occurrences stemming from the past, and mistaken identities. The novel also included some illicit love including a lesbian relationship between two of the protagonists. And then the ending of the novel was very melodramatic with a villain straight out of an old pulp story from the 1920s or 30s. Only a very mild recommendation overall.
A few years ago, I read Harwood's novel THE GHOST WRITER and found it to be an enjoyable gothic horror story. However, I was a little disappointed in THE ASYLUM. I thought the plot was very convoluted and quite unbelievable. The protagonist, Georgina, was also easily duped and could have easily avoided what happened to her. I know this was written in the vein of a classic Victorian gothic novel and included many of the plot points of such novels including gloomy locations, women in peril, coincidental occurrences stemming from the past, and mistaken identities. The novel also included some illicit love including a lesbian relationship between two of the protagonists. And then the ending of the novel was very melodramatic with a villain straight out of an old pulp story from the 1920s or 30s. Only a very mild recommendation overall.
An engaging, well-written story, but with a very weak, anticlimactic ending. Also, the heroine has a habit of fainting dead away at the most convenient moments. At one point, it happens twice in the span of four pages. It made the ending feel excessively contrived. Still, the writing was good enough that I'll be looking for more by Harwood.
