The Girl in the Castle

This was a very suspenseful book. The story lent itself to both contemporary fiction or possibly Scifi/Fantasy and for the majority of the book I wasn’t sure which genre the story would be. On the one hand, the book could be a contemporary fiction about Hannah Doe, who is suffering from a mental illness loosely diagnosed as Schizophrenia. In that version of the book when we get to the segments on her life as a peasant in England in the 1300s, that is her mind’s protection mechanism to escape trauma with which she isn’t ready to cope. However, since this is a novel, I did wonder if it was going to end up as Sci-fi/fantasy where she really was time traveling and no one believed her. The fact that her life in the 1300s was well fleshed out compared to her gray existence in modern times where she is barely holding on to her sanity definitely made it seem possible. Either direction the story took would have been an interesting read and it went back and forth on which theory would win for a while making it impossible to stop reading.

The story is sometimes told from Jordan’s perspective. He is a young intern trying to learn more about mental illness before he enters medical school. He is young and idealistic and thinks that he especially can help Hannah even though she has been in and out of Belman since she was young and the staff knows virtually nothing about her past. The description of him resonated with me because he isn’t jaded by the system and college students often seem ready to tackle all the world’s problems and make a difference. His character’s decisions raise some ethical and moral concerns. His intentions start out wonderful. Hannah is charismatic and a fascinating subject for someone trying to understand mental illness. He takes time to listen to her and takes a special protective interest in her. When Hannah is in the present, she is lucid and so normal that he can’t quite get over that she is fighting mental illness and isn’t just a girl about his age. They both fight the urge to get closer and his presence is a catalyst for her desire to leave the castle for good as well as a bomb waiting to go off on her stability. His passion to fight for her recovery leads him to dig up her past and finally answer the question of what is going on with her. This is arguably a good thing but leads him to many regrets over his actions and the real-life consequences for Hannah’s health.

The ending was a bit rushed after we became invested in uncovering the truth. For those who love potentially happy endings that wrap up neatly this is a good book to choose. Jordan’s character gave statistics throughout on the frequency of mental illness in the population and how few people get adequate treatment. The other patients are suffering and sometimes losing their battle with mental illness. I am not sure if this is a book that would resonate and empower others suffering with their mental health to seek help or if it could potentially make their own personal fights worse. I guess my best advice is to say to tread lightly with this book if reading about mental illness could destabilize your own well-being. As a book, it was fast-paced, intense, and suspenseful making it the perfect read for someone wanting to get sucked into a great story.

THE GIRL IN THE CASTLE is an intriguing suspense read that follows Hannah and Jordan. The reader first meets Hannah while she is having a breakdown in a store, accosted by the police, and then taken to a mental institution. She has been in and out of there for years, and they do not really know how to treat her. She has some features of schizophrenia but does not quite look like the textbook. Hannah experiences a life in the 1300s where she was a peasant, and she frequently escapes there mentally.

Jordan is a college student who wants to learn more about mental health facilities. On his first day of shadowing, Hannah is brought in, and he feels a connection with her, wanting to help her. As he talks with her, he begins to consider what could have caused the psychosis and how it might be treated.

What I loved: The story was intriguing with the 2 timelines, primarily the historical timeline seems to be stronger as Hannah is living a full life surrounded by death there. The timelines are interspersed with documents from the mental health facility and police, primarily regarding Hannah, but sometimes about other residents as well. It certainly created an intriguing mystery that readers will be eager to see played out.

What left me wanting more: I struggle with the representation of mental illness here, as the therapeutic approach versus Jordan's were a bit of a mess. Other residents seemed superfluous and it was tough to get to know and care about them. I think it could have been a stronger story if we had focused more on the present Hannah and her time in the institution as well as seen some of the benefits (maybe for other residents) of treatment. The resolution provided at the end did not feel like enough given all the build up, in terms of how the timeline skips at the end (being vague so as not to give spoilers). I also struggled with some of the personality flips/rapid changes and evolving power dynamics, though I suppose this was also representative of the way things begin to unravel.

Final verdict: Overall, THE GIRL IN THE CASTLE is an intriguing suspense read, but I would have liked a stronger impact of the mental illness themes and a more focused story overall.