First published 2013
Norman Zweck sits in a psychiatric hospital, surrounded by apathetic men living like bored children. The respected lawyer and son of a prominent London rabbi has developed an addiction to amphetamine-based medications. His forced hospitalization devastates his father, who cannot reconcile himself with his son's disgrace and downfall. The shock forces Norman's family to remove masks they have worn for years and confront their most painful, carefully hidden secrets. Norman discovers the psychiatric ward operates as a surprisingly agreeable place. An enterprising fellow patient supplies other residents with the substances they crave for the right price. Welsh writer Bernice Rubens crafts a tragicomic tale of the Zweck family with subtle humor and deep compassion for her characters. The story explores uncomfortable family secrets, unmet expectations from an oppressive environment, and the inability to communicate within the closest relationships. This Booker Prize winning novel examines whether we are all slightly mad.
Genres: literary-fiction, addiction, mental-illness, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-dynamics, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London
Period: 20th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Wiatr od morza
Content warnings: addiction, mental-illness