The Sleep Room
A Novel
Published on 11. October 2013
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-1-60598-476-6 (ISBN)
Description
When promising young psychiatrist James Richardson is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime by the charismatic Dr. Hugh Maitland, he is thrilled. Setting off to take up his post at Wyldehope Hall in deepest Suffolk, Richardson doesn't look back. One of his tasks is to manage Maitland's most controversial project-a pioneering therapy in which extremely disturbed patients are kept asleep for months. If this radical and potentially dangerous procedure is successful, it could mean professional glory for both doctors.
As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients-six women, forsaken by society. Why is Maitland unwilling to discuss their past lives? Why is the trainee nurse so on edge when she spends nights alone with them? And what can it mean when all the sleepers start dreaming at the same time? In this atmospheric reinvention of the ghost story, Richardson finds himself questioning everything he knows about the human mind, as he attempts to uncover the shocking secrets of The Sleep Room . . .
As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients-six women, forsaken by society. Why is Maitland unwilling to discuss their past lives? Why is the trainee nurse so on edge when she spends nights alone with them? And what can it mean when all the sleepers start dreaming at the same time? In this atmospheric reinvention of the ghost story, Richardson finds himself questioning everything he knows about the human mind, as he attempts to uncover the shocking secrets of The Sleep Room . . .
Reviews / Votes
"Cleve and spooky. For Tallis, the darker recesses of the mind hold monsters enough. The novel is an elegantly constructed psychiatric Gothic, all spires and gargoyles and ghostly echoes - the sort of vast, dread edifice we sometimes build around ourselves when the lights go out." -- The New York Times Book Review "Engrossing. Immensely satisfying." -- The Boston Globe "Praise for the Max Liebermann mystery series:" "A captivating historical series." -- The New York Times Book Review "If you're looking for the best in popular fiction, Tallis is well worth seeking out." -- The Washington Post "Tallis neatly blends mystery and history. Fans of Caleb Carr will feel right at home." -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW "A murder mystery of great intelligence. A fascinating portrait of one of the most vibrant yet sinister series of fin-de-siecle Europe." -- The Times (London)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
468 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-60598-476-6 (9781605984766)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Person
F. R. Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. Between 1999 and 2012, he received or was nominated for numerous awards, including the New London Writers' Award, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Elle Prix de Letrice, the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award, and two Edgar Allan Poe Awards. He is the author of The Sleep Room, The Forbidden, The Voices, and The Passenger, all available from Pegasus Crime. He lives in London.