Author Description

Witnessing systemic neglect and ill treatment while working in a mental asylum, a young man struggles with his conscience and is forced to re-evaluate his core beliefs about himself and his perception of others. The story is set in the early 1970s, the era of flower power and free love. It is the time of John Lennon's mantra, 'All you need is Love' and Bob Dylan's, 'The Times They are a Changin'. It follows the journey of Jim, a young and naïve Irishman, to London to start his training as a psychiatric nurse in a large mental asylum. Jim was shocked with what he saw behind the high walls of the institution. The world he had entered seemed frozen in time, bypassed by the major changes taking place outside of the institution. The asylum was an enclave where intimidation, coercion and violence towards inmates were accepted practices. Staff wielded their power indiscriminately and were answerable to nobody. Ironically Jim also experienced another side of this world where there was mateship, laughter and camaraderie and even romance. He felt accepted and valued by his new mates. He was now in danger of becoming one of the boys.