Dance in a Madhouse (Paperback or Softback)

The gripping psychological tale of a young doctor who fights to escape an early-1900s Philadelphia asylum―and expose the plot to destroy him.

Philadelphia, 1905. A month ago, Owen Townsend was a medical intern primed for success. Now he is locked in Fairmount Lodge, an asylum where the public is invited to gawk at the patients. His fall was sudden: typhoid fever, delirium, an act of violence. Is Owen sane―a victim of a toxin no longer in his system? Or is he as psychotic as his doctor claims?

There are fires at Fairmount. Attacks that defy logic. Terror instead of treatment. Though others dismiss his concerns as paranoia, Owen soon realizes that someone wants him put away forever―or dead. To survive, he not only must navigate the labyrinth of the madhouse but also must recruit someone on the outside to his cause. Brumbaugh, a shrewd police inspector, is the man for the job―and Celeste, an enigmatic young opera singer who transfixes him after he saves her from suicide, might have the clues they need to solve the mystery. But if Owen is going to find a way to freedom, he’ll first have to decipher riddles from Celeste’s tortured past.

Set at the dawn of modern psychiatric treatment, Dance in a Madhouse is a thrilling testament to courage and resilience. Can Owen and Celeste overcome the odds against them? Are redemption and healing possible? The dances will tell.

Jess Wright is an internationally recognized psychiatrist. The first author of a trilogy of critically acclaimed medical books on cognitive-behavior therapy, his research on therapy for depression has received multiple grant awards from the National Institutes of Health; and he has lectured widely in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. Wright’s debut novel, A Stream to Follow, is an award-winning account of a battlefield surgeon’s recovery from the psychological trauma of warfare. An avid gardener, choral singer, and fly-fisherman, he lives in Louisville, Kentucky.