Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 6 November 2008.
Alastair Campbell's first novel looks at mental illness in a sensitive and very insightful way. Having drawn from his own experiences he makes the characters and their problems wholly believable. This is a story, set over just four days, told with compassion and sensitivity as well as humour. Perhaps not what you might be expecting from this former spin doctor it is definitely worth taking a look. A great first novel, lets hope a second is on the way.
Martin Sturrock desperately needs a psychiatrist. The problem? He is one. Emily is a traumatised burns victim, Arta a Kosovan refugee recovering from a rape. David Temple is a longterm depressive, while the Rt Hon Ralph Hall MP lives in terror of his drink problem being exposed. Very different Londoners, but they share one thing: every week they spend an hour at the Prince Regent hospital, revealing the secrets of their psyche to Professor Martin Sturrock. Little do they know that Sturrock's own mind is not the reassuring place they believe it to be. For years he has hidden in his work, ignoring his demons. But now his life is falling apart, and as his ghosts come back to haunt him, the only person he can turn to is a patient. Set over a life-changing weekend, Alastair Campbell's astonishing first novel delves deep into the human mind to create a gripping portrait of the strange dependency between patient and doctor. Both a comedy and tragedy of ordinary lives, it is rich in compassion for those whose days are spent on the edge of the abyss.
