Saving Thornwood

 

Saving Thornwood is the new novel from the writing team of David Surface and Julia Rust. It uses the same template as their first novel, Angel Falls, featuring as it does teenagers as protagonists and telling the story via their alternating points of view. Having teenagers as the main characters goes some way to placing the novel in the category of YA fiction but, as someone who hasn’t qualified to be called young for a very long time, and who is still trying to work out exactly what being an adult actually entails, I can confirm that this book can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

In contrast to Angel Falls, the teenagers in this book exist in different time periods; the sections set in 2022 feature Annie Blake whilst those from 1856 have Mary Donovan as their protagonist. What links them is their connection to Thornwood, a mental care facility in the present day that began life as a full blown “lunatic asylum” back in Mary’s time.

Annie’s father is an activist, working to save Thornwood from closure and redevelopment but whose psychotic break results in him actually becoming a patient there. In 1856, it’s Mary herself who is sent there, along with her brother, abandoned by an uncaring aunt in whose care they resided.

By setting the novel in two different time periods, the authors can present a picture of how mental healthcare has been viewed, and managed, throughout the years. The historic use of asylums as dumping grounds for those whom society can’t be bothered to deal with is a feature shared by facilities both here in the UK and the US. Perhaps the most notorious British asylum was Bethlem Hospital, which opened in the thirteenth century and whose name gave rise to the term bedlam whilst the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded (a name which displays the general attitude of the time to those with mental health problems it has to be said) which opened in 1910, has earned its own place in the dark history of the US for its practice of sterilising the woman patients there as a form of treatment; eugenics in action. The colony remained open until 2020 despite being the subject of numerous investigations – one as recently as 2008 – and is currently awaiting redevelopment.

A fate of course which Thornwood itself shares, not because of any mistreatment of patients or problems with the quality of care it provides but rather because its real estate value is more attractive than its contribution to the community to those with money, an allusion to the general lack of importance given to mental health issues which unfortunately seems to becoming ever more prevalent these days.

The Thornwood of the 1800s is run by Dr Jonathan Blackwell. Whilst nowhere near as bad as Albert Priddy who destroyed the lives of hundreds of women in Virginia, he’s still a far from ethical practitioner, using Mary’s brother as a bargaining chip in order to force her into becoming a “success story” for the institution whom he can put on public display, an example of how his practices can transform even the most unruly of his patients into a paragon of virtue, all in order to further his own reputation. Mary is certainly feisty and doesn’t hold back on expressing her displeasure. If I have one criticism of the book it’s that I felt that some of Mary’s lines felt a little anachronistic in their delivery but that’s a minor quibble.

With Mary desperate to save her brother, and Annie desperate to help her father (and tacitly prevent another psychotic break) – two young women taking care of their male relatives – the two stories intersect when the two girls meet in the cemetery at Thornwood.

It’s to the book’s credit that no explanation is given as to how this happens. (Although teenage hormones are undoubtedly strong enough to break through the space/time continuum). As a result of the meeting, Annie and Mary find a connection and a friendship is born, one which results in a realisation that they can each help the other with the problems they are facing.

I have to admit that the nerd in me which arises every time I come across a time travel story made their presence known reading these sections of the book. Ever vigilant for the appearance of a paradox, I thought I’d spotted one before realising (with a little help) that this wasn’t really a time travel story at all. Neither of the protagonists travels anywhere (other than, perhaps, to the special place where they meet each other), although they can influence what happens in each other’s timelines. It’s actually more akin to a multiverse/parallel universe/many worlds trope wherein an act or decision made by an individual splits reality into divergent pathways in order that every outcome of that decision van play out.

Probably.

Suffice to say that the altered realities the two girls bring about in each other’s worlds leads to resolutions which uncover a few surprises and secrets along the way.

There’s a lot to like and admire in Saving Thornwood. First and foremost it’s an entertaining read with engaging characters and a plot that has a few surprises along the way. It manages to make many points too without being detrimental to the plot. There’s the aforementioned commentary on the state of mental health provision – past and present – and its concomitant threat of capitalism placing profit before people but it’s about friendships too, and the trust required to build them. Perhaps its most important message though is to highlight the strength and power of the individual. Small acts can have major and lasting consequences; things can be changed, all that’s required is the will to try – and in the current political climate that’s an important thing to remember.