The Asylum by Karen Coles

The Asylum by Karen Coles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Welbeck

Source - Bought/gift

Blurb from Goodreads

1906: Being a woman is dangerous, being different is deadly.

Maud Lovell has been at Angelton Lunatic Asylum for five years. She is not sure how she came to be there and knows nothing beyond its four walls. She is hysterical, distressed, untrustworthy. Badly unstable and prone to violence. Or so she has been told.

When a new doctor arrives, keen to experiment with the revolutionary practice of medical hypnosis, Maud's lack of history makes her the perfect case study. But as Doctor Dimmond delves deeper into the past, it becomes clear that confinement and high doses are there to keep her silent.

When Maud finally remembers what has been done to her, and by whom, her mind turns to her past and to revenge.


My Review

Check your triggers, set in the early 1900s's Maud is in an Asylum, not a good place for anyone and the time for a woman, absolutely not. There is a new doctor in and Maud is the perfect candidate for his research. As he tries to get Maud to open up and trust he takes her back to her past and we flip between the two. As He digs deeper and Maud starts to remember it is clear there is someone who doesn't want her to and Maud's safety is at risk.

The before and memories are a bit slow burn to get to what we want, whatever caused Maud to block our her memories. The treatment she gets in the asylum, I use the word treatment loosely absolutely diabolical, brutal, evil and really unsettling. What she endures, how she is treated and the fact she is in a medical establishment, it is nothing short of abuse and I always think when it is vulnerable people it is even more horrific and by people who are meant to care for them and in a position of power. Absolutely enraging and upsetting and really brutal at points because historically we know things like that happened, I know this is fiction but still.

The book teases out the story, who is Maud, why is she there and why does it seem like she is being deliberately given the short end of the straw every single time. I can't give much in the way of triggers and themes because we don't do spoilers. I would say go into this with open eyes and prepare for themes that centre around abuse types that have been historically documented in asylums. 3/5 for me this time, I felt it slow at times, shocking at others but I was kept interested and wanting to see what was in Maud's past and what future, if any was ahead for her. I would read this author again.

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The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 329

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…



My Review

I feel like I am the last one to the party and everyone and their granny has read this book. Millie didn't think for a second she would actually land the job as live in nanny et al for the Winchesters, the house is dripping money/class and Millie is living in her car with all kinds of baggage following her around. Get the job she does and she is determined to keep it, even if the wife blows hot and cold and seems off the scale at times. Seriously the more you read the more unhinged you see just how bad the wife is. Her kid is a brat and her husband is not only attractive but super nice and Millie can't help but find herself wondering how his wife bagged him and just how nice he is. Millie find that not is all it seems in the Winchester house but then nor is Millie dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

I read this in under a day, like maybe 7 or 8 hours, had to stop for food and an appointment but immediately picked it back up. The majority of the book we hear from Millie and maybe the last quarter we hear from the perspective of Nina (the wife).

It is shocking - an absolute page turner, normally I give themes in our reviews but to do so would give spoilers this time so apologies I cannot. If you are triggered by certain topics I would maybe check out some other reviews to prepare yourself.

I couldn't predict where it was going and felt the rug pulled a few times which is always a good thing in a book, for sure. 4.5/5 this was my first dance with McFadden and I have just bought book two!

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