Asylum
Stella Raphael, the bored wife of the deputy superintendent at a 1950s English forensic psychiatric hospital, begins a destructive affair with Edgar Stark, a sculptor patient committed for the violent murder of his first wife. Peter Cleave, the senior psychiatrist on staff, narrates the unraveling of Stella's marriage, her son's drowning, and her flight with Stark across England, gradually revealing his own role as Stark's therapist and Stella's confidant. McGrath, who grew up on the grounds of Broadmoor where his father was medical superintendent, writes the institution from the staff side and asks who in the building is the most dangerous person.
What you might want to know about Asylum
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The wife of a deputy hospital superintendent begins a destructive affair with a violent patient in a 1950s English forensic ward, narrated by the staff psychiatrist who pulls every string.
Multiple novels share this title. The most commonly searched is Asylum by Patrick McGrath (1996), a literary thriller about an obsessive love affair set in a 1950s English psychiatric hospital.
Yes. A 2005 film adaptation directed by David Mackenzie and starring Natasha Richardson, Marton Csokas, and Ian McKellen was released. The film is largely faithful to the novel.
Asylum is 254 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Asylum takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Asylum is a standalone novel by Patrick McGrath, not part of a series.
Asylum is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.