Emily Bullock
Published
29 October 2020
ISBN
978-1911427193
Format
Dimensions
B-format
Pages
240
When the locks can’t hold James Norris they chain him, and when the chains won’t stay James Norris they fix him to a stake. But they still can’t take the thoughts out of his head. He is a man shackled to his own tragedies: the commission he never took; the family and friends he lost; the lover who betrayed him.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets Mutiny on the Bounty – an exploration of love, sanity, suffering, and compassion. Based on the true story of James Norris, an American marine who was chained to a stake for over ten years in Bethlem, Hospital for the Insane (1800-15).
Will James Norris find what he is hunting for? Can he ever sail free?
Startlingly original and poetic—Bullock combines horror and brutality with unexpected moments of tenderness.
– Observer
The voice she gives to Norris as memories and delusions meld in his disintegrating mind is a haunting one.
– Nick Rennison, Sunday Times, Historical Novels of the Month
Fascinating and compelling–the writing sparked vivid details in my minds eye.
– Lovereading, Book of the Month
It’s 1800. James Norris is imprisoned in Bedlam, physically restrained in the most inhumane way, mentally unstable, taunted by inescapable memories.
– Daily Mail
Madness, freedom, love, rebellion and compassion in C18th Bedlam, post Mutiny on the Bounty. Emily Bullock has dazzling talent.
– Amanda Craig
A turbulent and thrilling voyage on the high seas of madness.
– Ann Morgan (Beside Myself, Crossing Over)
Emily Bullock is a wonderful writer, and in this superbly crafted novel she doesn’t waste a single word as she hurls us headlong through a swirling maze of madness that leads us to the very heart of James Norris.
– Amanda Huggins
A staggering work of fiction: utterly unique, unfathomably powerful, not a word wasted or a sentence spare.
– Elspels
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