What do you think?
Rate this book
A Prisoner in the Asylum
Abigail Brandt teaches English at her alma mater in a small New England town, but in her spare time, she's an urban explorer. Cameras in hand, she and her closest friend, Luke Sullivan, explore abandoned buildings like the Westwood Asylum in Stone Gorge. There Abigail discovers a patient file taped underneath a filing cabinet, hidden from vandals and other explorers. The file of Isabella Monteforte is dreadfully incomplete. She was committed to Westwood in 1940, then seems to disappear in 1945. Abigail convinces Luke, a Department of Mental Health worker, to track down Isabella's complete file where she makes a shocking discovery- Isabella has been missing, from a secure mental facility, since 1945.
Embarking on a search that leads them through the tunnels, wards, and darkened corners of Westwood Asylum, Abigail and Luke chase the ghost of a schizophrenic woman who has been missing for more than 50 years, uncovering secrets hidden for just as long, including secrets within Abigail's own family. As they spiral deeper into the asylum, Abigail fears they may never get out, but where they find Isabella will be the biggest surprise of all.
Embarking on a search that leads them through the tunnels, wards, and darkened corners of Westwood Asylum, Abigail and Luke chase the ghost of a schizophrenic woman who has been missing for more than 50 years, uncovering secrets hidden for just as long, including secrets within Abigail's own family. As they spiral deeper into the asylum, Abigail fears they may never get out, but where they find Isabella will be the biggest surprise of all.
95 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2012
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Anderson
9 books119 followersKate Anderson is a special education teacher and professional photographer. She has taught in institutions for less than pleasant children for nearly twenty years and has written two nonfiction volumes on the history of insane asylums in New England, having visited and photographed more than forty such institutions.
She lives in Feeding Hills with her boyfriend, two beagles, and an overweight cat who figures heavily on both her blog and her Instagram feed.
She lives in Feeding Hills with her boyfriend, two beagles, and an overweight cat who figures heavily on both her blog and her Instagram feed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 30, 2015
I wrote it therefor I love it. However, enjoying reviews that provide lots of constructive criticism! I encourage readers to get in touch with me!
March 21, 2017
I enjoyed this book. The main character, Abbey, is involved in Urban Exploration as a hobby. More than a hobby actually; it is a passion. Abbey got into Urban Exploration through her grandmother. She is accompanied on her adventures is her friend Luke.
The book spans two different time periods, World War II and the present. Ms. Anderson does a wonderful job of creating a parallel between World War II and the war in the mind of a mentally ill person. The mood setting in both time periods is great. For example, one phrase really illustrates the panic and claustrophobia of the time, “Trapped in a basement with a group of mental patients while bombs rained down aboveground”.
The story that takes place during World War II is about a young woman named Isabella. She is committed by her father when she is twenty-five years old. She suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, possibly inherited from her mother. It ties to the modern story when Abbey finds Isabella’s records during an exploration of Westwood Asylum for the Insane which has been abandoned for decades. What catches Abbey’s attention is that Isabella’s records stop very suddenly. As Abbey and her exploration partner Luke continue their exploration of the Asylum and investigation into Isabella’s history, Isabella emerges, moving through a layer separating this plane from the next.
The book is well researched. In chapter six, there is a discussion of Walter Freeman that is fascinating and one of the most horrifying things I have ever read. That paragraph is equal to anything Stephen King has ever gotten me with. There are no words implying horror, no monsters jumping at you, no specific words that do it but arranging into those sentences in that paragraph is one of the most terrifying and unforgettable images I have ever encountered. And the author just slips it in there. No warning. Genius, just glorious genius. Thinking about it still gives me the creeps months later.
As I states earlier, Ms. Anderson has a wonderful gift in setting the mood. When talking about the morgue in the asylum she describes it as “the morgue, alongside the physically dead, not just the psychologically dead.”, evokes an emotion, a sense of dread, a feeling of those poor souls trapped in their own minds and in the asylum.
I previously enjoyed Ms. Anderson’s Hospital Hill. I am looking forward to reviewing more of her work.
The book spans two different time periods, World War II and the present. Ms. Anderson does a wonderful job of creating a parallel between World War II and the war in the mind of a mentally ill person. The mood setting in both time periods is great. For example, one phrase really illustrates the panic and claustrophobia of the time, “Trapped in a basement with a group of mental patients while bombs rained down aboveground”.
The story that takes place during World War II is about a young woman named Isabella. She is committed by her father when she is twenty-five years old. She suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, possibly inherited from her mother. It ties to the modern story when Abbey finds Isabella’s records during an exploration of Westwood Asylum for the Insane which has been abandoned for decades. What catches Abbey’s attention is that Isabella’s records stop very suddenly. As Abbey and her exploration partner Luke continue their exploration of the Asylum and investigation into Isabella’s history, Isabella emerges, moving through a layer separating this plane from the next.
The book is well researched. In chapter six, there is a discussion of Walter Freeman that is fascinating and one of the most horrifying things I have ever read. That paragraph is equal to anything Stephen King has ever gotten me with. There are no words implying horror, no monsters jumping at you, no specific words that do it but arranging into those sentences in that paragraph is one of the most terrifying and unforgettable images I have ever encountered. And the author just slips it in there. No warning. Genius, just glorious genius. Thinking about it still gives me the creeps months later.
As I states earlier, Ms. Anderson has a wonderful gift in setting the mood. When talking about the morgue in the asylum she describes it as “the morgue, alongside the physically dead, not just the psychologically dead.”, evokes an emotion, a sense of dread, a feeling of those poor souls trapped in their own minds and in the asylum.
I previously enjoyed Ms. Anderson’s Hospital Hill. I am looking forward to reviewing more of her work.
August 23, 2017
A wonderful little read. I was quickly drawn into Abigail's search for the truth about Isabella and enjoyed all of the many plot twists therein.
October 13, 2014
Solid meh
First off, I really dislike first person narrative, so that was strike one. I found the story itself to require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I had expected, and wondered why the main character didn't automatically call the cops when her apartment is apparently broken into twice. The ending was not as much of a twist as a "where the heck did that come from?" with an only mediocre explanation.
I really wanted to be interested in this story, based on the description, but ended up struggling through a very short read and have no desire to get my hands on more.
First off, I really dislike first person narrative, so that was strike one. I found the story itself to require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I had expected, and wondered why the main character didn't automatically call the cops when her apartment is apparently broken into twice. The ending was not as much of a twist as a "where the heck did that come from?" with an only mediocre explanation.
I really wanted to be interested in this story, based on the description, but ended up struggling through a very short read and have no desire to get my hands on more.
December 31, 2014
This was a very quick read. It took me a day, but that's not the problem I have with it. Some of the dialogue is straind and it's not something natural that someone would say. Keep in mind that this is a ghost story and hardly believable in the first place, but the ease that the main character has despite what's happening around her is the least believable part of the story.
May 9, 2013
This novella was straightforward and fun to read. It's a basic ghost story but it entertained me to the end.
February 27, 2016
What a quick read. I read this in a couple of hours. It is a good first novel by the author. I liked the subject material alot.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews