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Madness
Ariel Farjeon has just come home after twelve years in a Victorian madhouse, still haunted by two images--fire and baby. Her brother Nicholas proclaims her a whore and a murderess. The people of the countryside think her chaste. Dr. Simon Desmond, called in as her physician, finds Ariel ravishing, the essence of tenderness. Against all reason, he falls completely in love with her, driven to learn the shocking truth behind her madness.
- GenresGothicGothic Romance
283 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 1984
44 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Hale
14 booksKatherine Hale is the pen name for (Gabrielson) Lamont-Havers. She was four-time published author of gothic romances under the pen-name Katherine Hale. Her first book, "Affinity," was also published in France.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 3, 2025
Review to come. Some initial thoughts: Absolutely speechless. A masterful gothic romance and I am genuinely flummoxed that it has so little ratings! From a pure entertainment level and on a thinking level, it’s an impressive feat! I felt so much and it was deeply scandalous! I did guess the twist but enough red herrings that I doubted myself a few times! Will jot more thoughts down.
~ Some more thoughts
Told primarily from the hero's perspective, Dr. Simon Desmond is a new doctor who, along with his deceased brother's widow, is making one last bet for a better life by establishing a private practice in the countryside. An unacknowledged son of the lower gentry (don't quote me, his father may have been a baron), Desmond worked menial jobs, scrimping and saving until he fell into lucrative gigolo services that allowed him to save enough for his education to become a doctor. With investment from his sister-in-law to set up his practice, they are now trying to find a way to connect with the upper class. Although they work with the poor, they are not able to pay for the doctor's services beyond exchanged goods.
In this situation, Desmond meets with a promising lead, Nicholas, in order to see if he can help his mad sister, Ariel. Nicholas' wife wants Ariel sent back to the madhouse. Nicholas wants to have Ariel in the family estate as the more humane course of action.
Desmond’s task is to help Ariel’s health so she is considered sane and safe enough to be taken care of by her family instead of to put back into the asylum where she was for about 10 years. Nicholas only recently brought her back because she was doing better and there were money issues. Ariel’s madness is considered to run in the family, yet things don't seem quite as they appear.
Desmond, instantly captured by the beautiful Ariel, wonders if he is helping her or helping himself... Is she sane or just manipulating him? Is he taking advantage of her or is he the only one who is trying to save her?
This was my first introduction to Katherine Hale and let me just say that as soon as I finished this, I went and ordered more used copies of her books. The anxiety, the stress, the disturbing atmosphere... I'm a fan of gothic romance now! The way this was written was indulging for the senses. It was sinister and creepy, and a lot of it had to do with the heroine's despair. I had to put it down because I felt too much.
I will not spoil the book beyond providing the set-up. However, I will say that Madness passes the feminist test.
For me, the feminist test considers whether the author is feeding misogynistic stereotypes to the reader, and whether the author has anything to say about that. I thought Desmond and Ariel were great characters of complexity.
Desmond annoyed me in some parts but overall I liked that Katherine Hale showed his POV and how his internal thoughts would waver from wanting to get away with abusing Ariel to believing the best of her, all while believing himself normal and well-adjusted. Such a perfect and natural example of how men don't understand rape or consent; studies show a high proportion of men would rape if there were no consequences, and that most men responded that they would not rape but would force sexual intercourse.
Desmond could have unscrupulous thoughts and it felt tonally right. It felt very real. Although his disillusion in the third part was so annoying and I'm glad it didn't last too long. And it also made this gothic romance feel dirty and taboo. An added bonus.
What really pushed this book to 5-star territory for me was when we began to get more of Ariel's perspective. Ariel, while she may appear to be a fragile damsel, she is anything but that. By dripping her POV, there is so much mystery to unpack about Ariel!
Let me tell you that the final act is superb thanks to the masterful build-up. This feels more genuinely feminist than some of those girlboss romances that were being shoved down our thoughts in the 2010s that pinkwashed feminism into the most obvious opinions and did absolutely nothing.
~ Some more thoughts
Told primarily from the hero's perspective, Dr. Simon Desmond is a new doctor who, along with his deceased brother's widow, is making one last bet for a better life by establishing a private practice in the countryside. An unacknowledged son of the lower gentry (don't quote me, his father may have been a baron), Desmond worked menial jobs, scrimping and saving until he fell into lucrative gigolo services that allowed him to save enough for his education to become a doctor. With investment from his sister-in-law to set up his practice, they are now trying to find a way to connect with the upper class. Although they work with the poor, they are not able to pay for the doctor's services beyond exchanged goods.
In this situation, Desmond meets with a promising lead, Nicholas, in order to see if he can help his mad sister, Ariel. Nicholas' wife wants Ariel sent back to the madhouse. Nicholas wants to have Ariel in the family estate as the more humane course of action.
Desmond’s task is to help Ariel’s health so she is considered sane and safe enough to be taken care of by her family instead of to put back into the asylum where she was for about 10 years. Nicholas only recently brought her back because she was doing better and there were money issues. Ariel’s madness is considered to run in the family, yet things don't seem quite as they appear.
Desmond, instantly captured by the beautiful Ariel, wonders if he is helping her or helping himself... Is she sane or just manipulating him? Is he taking advantage of her or is he the only one who is trying to save her?
This was my first introduction to Katherine Hale and let me just say that as soon as I finished this, I went and ordered more used copies of her books. The anxiety, the stress, the disturbing atmosphere... I'm a fan of gothic romance now! The way this was written was indulging for the senses. It was sinister and creepy, and a lot of it had to do with the heroine's despair. I had to put it down because I felt too much.
I will not spoil the book beyond providing the set-up. However, I will say that Madness passes the feminist test.
For me, the feminist test considers whether the author is feeding misogynistic stereotypes to the reader, and whether the author has anything to say about that. I thought Desmond and Ariel were great characters of complexity.
Desmond annoyed me in some parts but overall I liked that Katherine Hale showed his POV and how his internal thoughts would waver from wanting to get away with abusing Ariel to believing the best of her, all while believing himself normal and well-adjusted. Such a perfect and natural example of how men don't understand rape or consent; studies show a high proportion of men would rape if there were no consequences, and that most men responded that they would not rape but would force sexual intercourse.
Desmond could have unscrupulous thoughts and it felt tonally right. It felt very real. Although his disillusion in the third part was so annoying and I'm glad it didn't last too long. And it also made this gothic romance feel dirty and taboo. An added bonus.
What really pushed this book to 5-star territory for me was when we began to get more of Ariel's perspective. Ariel, while she may appear to be a fragile damsel, she is anything but that. By dripping her POV, there is so much mystery to unpack about Ariel!
Let me tell you that the final act is superb thanks to the masterful build-up. This feels more genuinely feminist than some of those girlboss romances that were being shoved down our thoughts in the 2010s that pinkwashed feminism into the most obvious opinions and did absolutely nothing.
July 9, 2024
unhinged, gothic, twisted, at times nonsensical like her other books but I didn’t put it down
March 31, 2022
Just one word for this book:
SICK!!!
SICK!!!
April 12, 2025
This is NOT an easy read, so be warned: you're dealing with murder, arson, incest, rape, insanity and just how twisted human nature can be. There's also the White Knight who seeks to save the Damsel, in Distress from the Evil Villain. But does she want to be saved? The villain is, after all, her own brother!
Also, the HEA ending after all both the H and h (if you could call them that) went through is way too unrealistic to believe. We're supposed to accept that love almost instantly cured the h of everything, so that after 12 years of horror she'd be a well-adjusted wife and mother as well as working as a nurse for her doctor husband is just too difficult to believe, nice as it would be.
And another thing: how many people would willingly marry someone (from a bat crap family, no less) who confessed to having fun in bed with their sibling? No matter what they went through afterward, would that erase the fact that as a horny teenager they misdirected their orgasms?
Just a thought.
Also, the HEA ending after all both the H and h (if you could call them that) went through is way too unrealistic to believe. We're supposed to accept that love almost instantly cured the h of everything, so that after 12 years of horror she'd be a well-adjusted wife and mother as well as working as a nurse for her doctor husband is just too difficult to believe, nice as it would be.
And another thing: how many people would willingly marry someone (from a bat crap family, no less) who confessed to having fun in bed with their sibling? No matter what they went through afterward, would that erase the fact that as a horny teenager they misdirected their orgasms?
Just a thought.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews