Blue Asylum

Hepinstall, Kathy

ISBN 10: 1611734266 ISBN 13: 9781611734263

Publisher: Center Point Pub, 2012

Synopsis

Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is put on trial and convicted of madness. It is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent away to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good, compliant woman. Iris knows, though, that her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing with him on notions of justice, cruelty, and property.

On this remote Florida island, cut off by swamps, seas and military blockades, Iris meets its wide-ranging collection of residents -- some seem sane, some wrongly convinced they are crazy, some charmingly odd, and some dangerously unstable. Which of these is Ambrose Weller, the war-haunted Confederate soldier whose memories terrorize him into wild fits that can only be calmed by the color blue -- but whose gentleness beckons to Iris?

Blue Asylum is a vibrant, beautifully imagined, absorbing story of the lines we cross between sanity and madness. It is also the tale of a spirited woman, a wounded soldier, their impossible love, and the undeniable call of freedom.

About this title

Review:

A Letter to Readers from Kathy Hepinstall

Dear Amazon Readers,
They say madness is a double-edged sword. It can cause you great misunderstanding, institutionalization, and even physical torture. But it’s so handy when you fall in love. In Blue Asylum, Iris Dunleavy and Ambrose Weller find themselves suffering from each of these effects of madness--misunderstood, sequestered in a sanitarium, and subjected to cruel treatment. And yet they still manage to fall, madly, in love.

Speaking of love, I have to say I love these characters. I want the best for them. I hesitate to cause them pain, even for their own good. I've never had children, but they are like children to me. They are real. They exist despite the fact that they never did, and when I hear their names I feel a chord of recognition.

Iris. I think of a headstrong woman who believes she can control the fate of those she loves.

Ambrose. The name literally feels blue--ironically, the color of the uniform he fought against.

Wendell, the boy who decides to help Ambrose and Iris escape the insane asylum, gives me a worried smile.

And Dr. Cowell's earnest and desolate pomposity makes me want to surrender to him what he can never have, or reach inside him and remove that craving impulse to matter somehow.

I researched and started writing Blue Asylum on the island of Sanibel. It's a strange and largely wild place, pristine and ominous, flat blue-green water and breezes and crocodiles. In 1864, the year Blue Asylum takes place, it must have been even more beautiful, dangerous, unpredictable. It's a good place for a story, I think, and a good place for my characters to grow up.

I hope you enjoy the madness and passion of my characters. Maybe you'll even see--a little, at least--of it in yourself.

Many regards,
Kathy Hepinstall

From the Back Cover:

"A first-rate choice for fans of intelligent historical romances." Library Journal, starred review

Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Iris Dunleavy is put on trial by her husband, convicted of madness, and sent to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a compliant Virginia plantation wife. But her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing on notions of cruelty and property.

On this remote Florida island, Iris meets a wonderful collection of inmates in various states of sanity, including Ambrose Weller, a Confederate soldier haunted by war, whose dark eyes beckon to her. Can love in such a place be real? Can they escape, and will the war have left any way any place for them to make a life together?

"An absorbing story that explores both the rewards and perils of love, pride, and sanity." Publishers Weekly

"With Blue Asylum, Hepinstall presents the reader with the rare and delicious quandary of whether to race through and find out what happens to her characters or to linger over her vivid, beautifully crafted sentences. For me, the only resolution was to read it twice." Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound and When She Woke

"A gripping story of love and madness in the midst of the Civil War I couldn t put it down!" Kathleen Grissom, author of The Kitchen House

KATHY HEPINSTALL is the author of the best-selling The House of Gentle Men and The Absence of Nectar, as well as The Prince of Lost Places. She grew up in Texas.

Author photograph (c) Melinda Kanipe
Look for the Reader s Guide at www.marinerreadersguides.com

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About this edition

• Publisher: Center Point Pub
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1611734266
• ISBN 13: 9781611734263
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 342