A review by bunnieslikediamonds
The Asylum by John Harwood

2.0

Despite it being one of my least favorite literary plots, I seem to keep reading about people being wrongly submitted to mental asylums. I need to stop. It's too frustrating and claustrophobic for me. Being confined to this particular asylum with the feeble Georgina/Lucy was no fun at all. It could have been, in a frustrating and claustrophobic way, but the story was too predictable and the villains too cartoonish. This annoyed me to the point where I was actually hoping the villains would get away with their evil plan. A big chunk of the novel consists of letters, another literary device I dislike. Nobody writes entire pages of dialogue! Not even in the 19th century!

That said, I'm sure for lovers of Victorian Gothic who don't have a beef with imprisoned heroines this will be a treat. Overall the writing is good and everything (sort of) comes together at the end.