Blue Asylum: Summary and book reviews of Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall, plus links to an excerpt from Blue Asylum and a biography of Kathy Hepinstall.
Blue Asylum A Novel
by Kathy Hepinstall
Hardcover: Apr 2012,
288 pages.
Paperback: Apr 2013,
288 pages.
Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is put on trial and convicted of madness. It is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent away to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good, compliant woman. Iris knows, though, that her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing with him on notions of justice, cruelty, and property.
On this remote Florida island, cut off by swamps and seas and military blockades, Iris meets a wonderful collection of residents - some seemingly sane, some wrongly convinced they are crazy, some charmingly odd, some dangerously unstable. Which of these is Ambrose Weller, the war-haunted Confederate soldier whose memories terrorize him into wild fits that can only be calmed by the color blue, but whose gentleness and dark eyes beckon to Iris.
The institution calls itself modern, but Iris is skeptical of its methods, particularly the dreaded "water treatment." She must escape, but she has found new hope and love with Ambrose. Can she take him with her? If they make it out, will the war have left anything for them to make a life from, back home?
Blue Asylum is a vibrant, beautifully-imagined, absorbing story of the lines we all cross between sanity and madness. It is also the tale of a spirited woman, a wounded soldier, their impossible love, and the undeniable call of freedom.
Juxtaposing the Civil War with Iris's struggles as a woman in the South invites comparison of the two. Battle lines are clearly drawn in Blue Asylum - blue versus gray/men versus women - but Hepinstall is careful not to render judgment of guilt or innocence for any of the characters. Instead she reveals their personalities slowly in a series of flashbacks, and leaves the readers to judge for themselves. The result is not the grist of fairy tale love stories but rather the portrayal of a complex relationship. (Reviewed by Mark James).
Publishers Weekly
Deftly interweaving past and present, Hepinstall sets the struggles of her characters against the rigidity of a traditional Southern society and the brutality of war in an absorbing story that explores both the rewards and perils of love, pride, and sanity itself.
Booklist
A deep sense of the natural world, often-lyrical prose, and some touches of southern Gothic help carry along this tale of obsession and redemption.
Library Journal
Starred Review. Features excellent pacing and strong character development... A first-rate choice for fans of intelligent historical romances.
Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound and When She Woke
With Blue Asylum, Kathy Hepinstall presents the reader with the rare and delicious quandary of whether to race through and find out what happens to her characters or to linger over her vivid, beautifully crafted sentences. For me, the only resolution was to read it twice.
Kathleen Grissom, author of The Kitchen House Blue Asylum is a gripping story of love and madness in the midst of the Civil War - I couldn't put it down!
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of the beloved bestseller A Woman of Independent Means Blue Asylum casts a spell that keeps the reader turning pages as if in a trance. The language is lyrical but the plot is taut and compelling. The horrors of the Civil War are made real and specific in the story of the wounded soldier and the persecuted wife who find love and hope in the unlikely setting of a supposedly enlightened insane asylum on an isolated island in the Deep South. Kathy Hepinstall is a master storyteller in full command of her craft.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by pbs Don't miss reading this book. An eloquent book about choices we make in life by both men and women and the affects of the Civil War. The setting is beautiful and the characters come alive and will stay with you long after you have closed the book.
Rated of 5
by Sunny Mesmerizing! One of the best books I have ever read! It is gentle yet powerful, speaking to the heart as well as to the imagination. A tragedy that is lined with hope, and injustices followed by redemption. I loved the character development and the ability to... Read More
Rated of 5
by Diane S. Blue Asylum Set during the civil war, the wife of a slave owning plantation, is sentenced to the lunatic asylum on Sibella Island. There she meets many different characters, some sane some not, and Ambrose who is scarred by his own actions in the war. This... Read More
In Kathy Hepinstall's Civil War-era novel, Blue Asylum, Iris Dunleavy is sent to live in the Sanibel Asylum for Lunatics on Sanibel Island, Florida for the "act of defying [her] husband." Though the area is now considered a mecca for lovers of sea shells (SanibelHistory.org estimates that the resident population of about 6000 swells by 20,000 - 30,000 people per week during peak shelling season), it wasn't always such a relaxed place.
It is said that Sanibel Island formed about six thousand years ago. According to the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce, the process was the result of sediment rising from the sea "after being shaped by centuries of storm activity."
Dating back 2,500 years, the main inhabitats of the island were the Calusa Indians who "skillfully transformed the waterways around the island into abundant riches of food and tools....
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Dating back 2,500 years, the main inhabitats of the island were the Calusa Indians who "skillfully transformed the waterways around the island into abundant riches of food and tools....
