Bedlam

by Jennifer Higgie

The strange and tortured mind of the Victorian artist and patricide Richard Dadd, a painter of fairies who spent most of his life in psychiatric hospitals

Jennifer Higgie presents a year in the life of Rich­ard Dadd, infamous inmate of one of England’s most notorious sanitariums, London’s Bethlem Hospital, better known as Bedlam.

A young man of great promise, Dadd embarks on a grand tour of Europe and the Middle East with his patron, Sir Thomas Phillips. The two men travel through German forests, Alexan­drian brothels and across the desert to the Nile. By the time they find themselves beneath the unforgiving sun of Syria and Palestine, Dadd’s fraught mind has been taxed to the limit with extraordinary images. He becomes stranger and more violent, changes his companion attributes to sunstroke. But in Dadd’s imagination he has become a devotee of the god Osiris. Shortly after his return to England in 1843, the god directs him to take a life, and Dadd is set on the road to Bedlam.

At once jarringly acute and alarmingly askew, Dadd’s voice is rendered with both empathy and acuity by Higgie. This is a poetic and consid­ered portrait of an artist, as well as an intriguing mystery about how, and why, a mind can go so swiftly and dangerously awry.

Genres: Fiction, Art, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richly-imagined, intense, lyrical recreation of scenes from the life of eccentric, Victorian painter Richard Dadd - inspiration to artists, musicians and writers from Angela Carter to Terry Pratchett. Informed by biographies and letters, art historian Higgie’s novel reconstructs events leading up to Dadd’s brutal murder of his elderly father, and later incarceration in Bedlam, then Broadmoor asylums. But this isn’t conventional historical fiction. Instead Higgie attempts to rebuild Dadd’s complex inner worlds, his growing belief that everyone around him is somehow off-kilter, sinister, increasingly phantasmagorical. Higgie’s vision of Dadd opens up a path towards the eerie, fairy paintings he’s now known for.

Structured like fragments from an unorthodox travel diary, Higgie’s compassionate, arresting narrative follows Dadd as he journeys across Europe and later Syria, Lebanon and Egypt in 1842. Already hailed as a promising young artist, Dadd’s role was to chronicle the trip for benefactor Sir Thomas Phillips. Although Dadd’s deteriorating condition is linked to exposure to blazing suns and settings that overwhelmed his senses, there’s an impression here too that the prejudices of his age played a part in his unravelling. Dadd is steeped in fear of the other, the racism, xenophobia and orientalism that marked the age in which he lived. But Dadd’s terror and suspicion are tempered by his fascination with his changing surroundings, the landscapes, sounds, and wildlife of each new country. Sights that fuel his fevered, internal debates about the nature and purpose of art. Sights that Higgie’s marvellous use of imagery renders vivid and immediate. The result is moving, disturbing and often strangely, hauntingly beautiful.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world must be full of the ghosts of restless, unborn pictures, the ones that lived in dreams and eyes but were never realised in their material form. The very air must be a museum to such frustration. I have tried to grab the invisible shapes that crowd my head and wonder if I could hold in my head and heart the images born of artists long dead? Could my body become the conduit for their aborted visions? And what of such an eventuality in reverse? Could another artist paint the pictures that live on only in my head and not on my canvas?

Superb!

[Mark Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bedlam is a captivating and haunting novel that lingers long after reading, Jennifer Higgie masterfully reimagines the life of Victorian artist Richard Dadd, shifting focus from the notorious murder he committed to the slow unravelling of his troubled and broken mind.

The story takes us on a journey through Europe and the Middle East alongside Dadd and his patron, Sir Thomas Phillips. What starts as an inspiring artistic adventure gradually darkens as Dadd’s mental health falters. Convinced he shares a divine connection with the Egyptian god Osiris, his paranoia intensifies, and reality slips away. This descent culminates in the tragic murder of his father and his subsequent incarceration at Bethlem Hospital, or "Bedlam," where he continues to create astonishing works of art.

What truly sets this novel apart is Higgie’s refusal to reduce Dadd to a mere murderer or a “mad genius.” Instead, she presents him as a gifted yet deeply troubled man, whose illness gradually overtakes his life. The lyrical, dreamlike prose mirrors his fractured state of mind, immersing you in his increasingly unstable perspective. Though at times slow and confusing, this deliberate pacing draws you closer into his inner world.

Bedlam isn’t a conventional or fast-paced historical novel. It’s a profound exploration of creativity, identity, and the terrifying experience of losing touch with reality. If action and straightforward explanations are what you seek, this will not be your book. But for lovers of literary historical fiction, art, and richly drawn characters, it’s a rewarding and thought-provoking journey.

By the end, I was both mesmerised and saddened by Richard Dadd’s story. Higgie approaches this complex subject with sensitivity and depth, making Bedlam an unforgettable novel that stays with you long after the final page.

[claudia r · Rating 5 out of 5]

unbelievably arresting. Like notes from underground took a Grand Tour

[Unmolt · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy shit.

I found this book whilst browsing the newest releases in Lit Fic, only to discover this book is being republished and has been out for over a decade. Then to my horror, I come to goodreads and find it only has 38 reviews! Guys, how the hell did something this good go under the radar for so long?

The book follows the life of young painter, Richard (inspired by real life painter Richard Dadd) and his journey from London to Egypt. Our protagonist starts as a nervous, lost young man and ends this book in a religious psychosis whilst committing murder.

This book does everything right for me, it doesn’t drag, it’s a relatively short book but much more realised in its concepts than 600+ page books I’ve read in the same genre. The author has a very, very lyrical writing style, and chapters are formatted like rushed diary entries. The author also manages to talk about ‘cringe’ and done to death topics like Jesus and the forever betrayed son trope and bring something new and refreshing to the table. I genuinely, hand on heart, believe we have a classic on our hands.

As appropriate of 1800s London, the book is rife with orientalist views but there’s a sobering self awareness in it that I really appreciate.

[KDub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so drawn in by the description of Bedlam and intrigued by its cover. Bedlam is a work of historical fiction about the Victorian artist Richard Dadd. Richard recalls a story about his year of adventure traveling and painting with his patron, Sir Thomas Phillips. Unfortunately, he's telling this story from a psychiatric hospital in London, where he spent most of his life. Over the course of the infamous travel year, Richard slowly (ever so slowly) loses his mind, leading to an incident when he finally returns home.

This book took a trip to Peru with me and made it to Machu Picchu. I think traveling while reading this story was an appropriate experience, and enhanced it for sure. Bedlam had me looking up fascinating info about Richard Dadd himself, his art, and Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital (aka Bedlam). I love when books take me down rabbit holes I was not even aware existed. I do wish more time had been spent with Richard before and especially after his year spent traveling, but it does let you really get inside his tortured mind.

Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the eARC and the #gifted physical copy.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Dadd’s murder was announced in the Kentish Independent in the summer of 1843 along with two portraits, one of the victim and one of the killer, his son Richard. Both portraits were drawn by the son.

The book is an account of the year in Richard Dadd’s life that leads up to the murder and briefly continues into his incarceration at the Bedlam psychiatric hospital.

In 1842, Richard Dadd accompanied Sir Thomas Phillips, a former politician, on a Grand Tour of Europe and the Middle East, acting as his illustrator. He sketched and painted the scenes, people, and landscapes they encountered while Sir Thomas paid for everything. It was a good arrangement for both, Dadd got to travel and vary his art, and Phillips got a set of bespoke postcards to show off once back home in England.

This really was a pleasant surprise. Though fictionalised, Higgie sticks pretty close to actual events. As the reader knows what is going to happen, it is fascinating to examine Dadd’s behaviour for any inkling of insanity. Higgie is Australian, and this is a debut novel, though in 2026 it is a reissue, it just about got a publisher in 2006, and didn’t do well. Her style of writing suits this sort of historic fiction well. She is better known as an art critic, but hopefully with this reissue the book we’ll get the attention it deserves, and thereby Higgie may be encouraged into more.

[Mily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars !!!

Bedlam was so beautifully written, I am thoroughly impressed by Jennifer Higgie's prose. Richard's thoughts were so relatable, and even quite funny at times. She wrote the unraveling of his mind in such a beautiful way.

Highly recommend, especially if you like or have a background in art.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars rounded to 4

I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book quite like this. The writing is hauntingly beautiful and while the tone darkens with each passing page, there is still something akin to comfort, joy, and maybe even hope in the spirit of the book.

The book is made up of short chapters; it’s not a stream of consciousness but a coherently fragmented collection of Dadd’s thoughts that portray his evolution (devolution???) from curious young man to paranoid artist. His struggle with mental illness become more and more obvious through the passage of time; however, there are signs of “something” (using this inadequate word for lack of a better one) brewing in the first few pages. By the end of the book, I both admire and pity Dadd.

(To be clear, I am talking about Richard Dadd the fictional character portrayed by Higgie.)

[Ian, etc. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art undoes us, the world undoes us. Seeing is undoing and picking apart. And all the time we are building an idea, we are losing the real, exchanging the real for the more real, fearfully. And what happens should we dare form an idea of ourselves. Spark of inspiration I have lit and stoked but is outside of me and large and old as the sun.

Really interesting look at father-son relationships — not all resonant, but enough. Reaches too far, maybe, and this is an attending problem through the book. Lots of light packed into the pages, but the effort sometimes splits the seams. Highly compelling, though. I could see this doing very well.

[Rosie Bugz]

i cannot lie, i did so badly wish to love this novel. perhaps when i’m older i’ll pick it up again and realise it wasn’t so bad, however, for now i need to put it away. the prose is lovely, and there are moments where it really touched me, but i can’t say that it’s a very riveting story.

[Freyja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written and concise, it's more of a travel diary so the title can be misleading if you expect more of his years in Bedlam the hospital. The last few chapters are depressing as hell. I think it's a neat little book but i ended up finding it less memorable as i've read Leonora Carrington's Down Below around the same time last year.

[Rancie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the pacing of this book. Even though I knew what was going to happen from the summary, this was a great read exploring Richard's novelized thoughts growing increasingly disturbed.

[Hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I do believe that this is what a painter should be doing, presenting the world back to itself, minutely observed, yet also imagined and so altered.”
many lines were underlined in this book. 4.5 ⭐️

[Stephanie Oldfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the (sad) introduction to Dadd’s work. Despite the limitations in psychiatric care at the time, I’m so glad he was able to continue painting. I’m left thinking about all the art we’ll never get to see because people are prevented from making it.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My head is so full of terrible thoughts that at times I have truly doubted my own reason. I have begun to believe that paintings are not imaginary things, while the world I move through is constructed entirely from shadows."
In 1842 painter Richard Dadd toured Europe and the Middle East. In Egypt he becomes an Osiris worshipper, then returns home to London, stabs his father to death and gets locked up in Bedlam. All true - except maybe the bit about Osiris, but then, this is a novel. And a damn fine one that reads like an extended prose poem at times. Desirable as this hardback is though, with its stark grey boards and silver edge painting, the book deserves a wider audience. Why haven't Dedalus republished this as a paperback? It's got their style all over it. Get to it chaps and chapesses.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hauntingly lyrical fictional biography focusing on one year in the life of the Victorian painter, Richard Dadd.

First, before I started the book I wanted to know a bit about its subject since I had never heard of him. I learned that in his early twenties he showed such promise he was invited to exhibit at the Royal Academy. Then in 1842 through an invitation from Sir Thomas Phillips, a Welsh lawyer, he joined a group doing the Grand Tour of Europe and the Middle East to document its journey. While in Egypt he suffered heatstroke or a mental break down and became a devotee of the god Osiris and upon his return he murdered his father believing he was an imposter - sad tale for sure.

Higgie writes in short pithy sentences, sometimes even using one word or at others in more traditional writing style. I think this contributes greatly to showing how unhinged Dadd’s mind is becoming. It’s around Venice that we start to see a change. The story moves chronologically and the mind grows “so full of terrible thoughts that at times I have truly doubted my own reason. I have begun to believe that paintings are not imaginary things, while the works I move through is constructed entirely from shadows.” Then he learns of Osiris from a book Sir Thomas gave him and Dadd seems in his mind to be better having encountered this god. They journey back home. It’s 1843 and London has become constricting to Dadd, believing he must fight the devil because he’s grown to believe most people in his life are either the devil or imposters. The book ends in 1885 at Broadmoor Hospital with Dadd, now incarcerated as a “criminal lunatic” wondering how he got there.

While strange in a way, the book brilliantly creates the inner workings of a mind in turmoil and descent. The prose-poetry writing I think helps this and I mentioned earlier also contributes well to describing a mind breaking up. Dadd’s comments on his art which he describes in fabulous way is another way Higge captures the mind’s fragility.

For all of the above that I gave this book five stars. I was so interested in the story from the beginning. I was intrigued by the writing style and felt the anguish of a mind disintegrating as I read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Verso Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: The Brilliant, Fractured Mind of Richard Dadd
In her evocative new work, Jennifer Higgie manages a rare feat: she captures the precise moment a brilliant mind begins to fray at the edges. The novel follows Richard Dadd—the Victorian painter now infamous for his intricate, supernatural canvases—during his incarceration at London’s notorious Bethlem Hospital. Through Higgie’s empathetic lens, we are invited to retracing the steps of the journey that broke him: a grand tour of the Middle East that began as an artistic pilgrimage and ended in a divine, or perhaps demonic, obsession with the god Osiris.

A Poetic Descent into Madness
The prose is, in a word, superb. Higgie adopts a voice for Dadd that is the "most literary of literary writing"—a style that is at once jarringly acute and alarmingly askew. The early chapters function as a vivid, poetic travelogue, documenting Dadd’s journey with his patron, Sir Thomas Phillips, across the European continent and into the unforgiving heat of the Levant.

Higgie’s descriptions are wonderfully insightful, often leaning into a certain "unknowing naivety" that makes Dadd’s observations feel both fresh and haunting. Early in the journey, Dadd muses on whether the cows in the fields yearn to read or look at pictures. It is a moment that hints at an autistic temperament—a mind wired differently from the start—and serves as a subtle, chilling omen for the internal collapse to follow.

The Sun and the Shadow
The turning point of the narrative lies in the shift of the atmosphere. As the party moves from the cool German forests to the scorching deserts of Syria and Palestine, the sun becomes a character in its own right. Dadd’s observation that "the Sun cannot be the same sun that we have in England" is a sentiment many travelers will recognize, yet in his case, it takes on a sinister weight.

What Sir Thomas mistakes for simple sunstroke is, in fact, the total transformation of a man. Higgie masterfully navigates this transition, showing how a mind "taxed to the limit" by extraordinary images can swiftly and dangerously go awry.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had all the qualifications to make it an interesting read for me and I was looking forward to it. I first came across the Victorian artist Richard Dadd in David Seabrook’s unclassifiable (and brilliant) All the Devils Are Here, so when I saw that the Royal Academy were hosting the first major exhibition of his work since the 1970s, I booked that and bought this book, which has been re-published from 2006 to coincide with the RA’s exhibition. Higgie’s novel has had very good reviews in all sorts of respected journals (TLS among others) so I thought I was in for a real treat.

Unfortunately, the reality wasn’t like that. I don’t know why this book didn’t come alive for me, but (unlike Dadd’s art), I found it spongey and lifeless. It’s a first-person narrative composed in Dadd’s own words, and having read extracts from his letters, it’s clear that Higgie has accurately mimicked his style, including by taking verbatim from his letters, which should be a good start. But something about the way the narrative is organised, in very short chapters and using repetitive, monotonously structured sentences, meant it reads as puzzlingly amorphous and uninteresting. Despite the colour and variety of Dadds’ tour of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the company of the (very annoying) Sir Thomas Phillips, Higgie’s descriptions are strangely dull and lifeless:

My bed is too hot. The sheets slip off my skin. I am made of eggshell. At night I wake and see small lizards fly through the night heat.

Ok, that is not too bad in isolation, but imagine that short-sentence structure, Subject–Verb–Object, repeated over and over again, with no variation, no subordinate clauses or variety in voice and barely an adverb in sight. It was the sheer lack of linguistic variety that meant it didn’t work for me. Let's just say that Dadds would make a better jigsaw than a novel.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book off the shelf at my public library New Fiction shelf because I was intrigued by the cover. I had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into and had only the smallest, passing knowledge of the artist Richard Dadd. I also found out that this book originally was released in 2006 but was republished this year.

Phew! This was quite the journey, especially considering it is a slim book at less than 250 pages.

Technically, I would place this in the genre Historical Fiction. However, that doesn't feel quite right. Set in Richard's POV, written like a diary. We start with Richard fairly intact with his faculties and slowly we are taken down a twisting journey as he travels from England to Egypt with a wealthy benefactor with the job of capturing their travels with his art. We witness from his perspective how is mind is taken over with delusions and paranoia.

The writing is dreamlike, wispy and ephemeral. Yet I can vividly see the scenes that Higgie presents so beautifully. You really can feel the walls of Richard's mental illness build up around him.

I think this is a lovely piece of work and I would be interested in reading more of her. It also lead me down a rabbit hole about the real life of Richard Dadd which is exceedingly fascinating.

I would recommend!

[coco's reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Already, I can tell Bedlam is a work I'd appreciate better upon reread. Higgie writes about topics such as racism, classism, and colonization without ever naming them, and does so through two particular lenses: that of the artist, and that of the well-to-do, "worldy" traveller embarking on a tour of "exotic" climes. More than anything, what stood out about this novel was the sense of isolation: being in a country where you don't speak the language can lead to feeling unmoored, and the author's iteration of Dadd found himself forced into close quarters with himself, for better or worse. Arguably it was for worse, as we follow his sanity unravel to its bloody conclusion—a shocking murder that takes place not in the supposedly uncivilized countries he's visited, but England. There's much to analyse in the way of art and perception and reality, yet for some reason those observations never quite struck me or left me in awe. However, I can see myself returning to this one day and potentially getting more out of it.

[alex shear’ree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know what made me pick this book up because it isn’t typically something I think I would read. But oh man did I truly love it—the writing was astoundingly beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever recorded so many quotes from one book ever. So many words really struck my mind. Here they are:

I have had to depend on words that reflect nothing of the experience of looking, and so feeling.

He would prefer not to have his experience of reality, which is what is really at stake, even slightly stirred.

…where the colours are built to break hearts and inspire homes for homeless words.

I laugh privately and long at this. At the things we allow ourselves to think and not to think. We are master censors of our own minds.

I would like the noise to be dulled if only for a moment, so I might collect my thoughts and pack them away somewhere safe.

If I avoid myself at all costs, I might, for a few hours, remain calm.



Just beautiful writing. The story was interesting, yes, but I was beyond captivated by the words themselves, plot be damned.

[William Luciani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy, this was a tough read, I really had to force myself to keep reading and get to the end. The only thing reason I kept reading was that I knew that the end was going to be interesting, or rather that something was going to actually happen. Cause that’s the thing, you would expect something to happen also during the book, cause it’s meant to be something like a travel diary of an artist but really we only read his thoughts related to various things, sceneries and people. It’s meant to be from an artist perspective which you’d think would make it more interesting and unique but the writing style didn’t resonate with me at all and there were surely times where I had no idea what he was going on about. Maybe you get more if you always know about the artist this is based on appreciate his art, but who knows…

[g.m.]

I don’t think I have every read something this beautifully written. My own sadness was that the arc I was given didn’t allow for line by line annotations so I couldn’t underline anything.

I didn’t know this was a fictional biography when reading it, however that didn’t remove the sadness I felt for young Dadd. He had all these exceptional ideas about art and perceiving the world but these thoughts had to exist in isolation. He was so lonely. It was as if he was inside a prison even before he ended up in Bedlam.

I do think I might read this again when I can get a physical copy so I can really hone in on the sensory and philosophical discussion but also track the internal turmoil of the narrator.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I’m always gonna eat up some fragmented and poetic prose!

this was a haunting and well crafted account of an artists decent into madness, off the back of a pilgrimage through europe finishing in Egypt.

following a year long journey which allowed richard dadd to experience and absorb a variety of cultures, the first person perspective really lets you witness his increased confusion and anger as schizophrenia started to take over his mind and his agitation towards his travel companion grew. A major point being his obsession with the egyptian god Osiris who’s mythological tale completely takes over his psyche triggering the actions which make him end up in bedlam sanitarium, the worlds oldest psychiatrist institution.

i loved this.

[Andi Gaywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off it is a sad story of Richard Dadd and his mental health condition. The first half of the books I did struggle to appreciate the short chapter bursts and a story that seemed to be going nowhere. However as the pace of the story increases and hear the description in the first person of his journey and thoughts we gradually see some frustration and strange happenings occur. It is a very gradual process but it does build up into a beautifully written crescendo. As the story unfolded I started to enjoy the way it was written and the sparse sentencing. Themes are touched upon such as racism, sexism and imperialism.

Definitely worth a read and look back on the life of a great artist producing much of his great work in an asylum.

[eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the story chooses the man and wraps him in it until he suffocates.
For me, the sun made up my mind, and the sun became my story.
But what of before?

This slim novel is full of the loveliest prose I’ve read in quite some time. I cannot judge it as a depiction of Richard Dadd specifically, but as a portrait of a shy young man slowly falling to madness, it is brilliantly subtle: the slow curving in on himself until he’s the only real thing, the changing relationship to sun and moon. While it was a bit dry in the middle, the dread continued to grow all the way up to the truly heartbreaking end.

[Ellie Duff · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strangle little book. It accomplishes it's goal with surprising technical accuracy. That is, the story is crafted and told from the perspective of a man sinking further and further into madness. The voice of the character is fractured, tangential, and laced with mistrust and suspicion in the exact way one might expect from a person suffering from unmedicated schizophrenia. There is no real unifying narrative and the truncated chapters feeling spastic and disjointed. While this mirrors the internality of the schizophrenic mind, it makes for an unsatisfying story. I'm not upset that I read it, but I don't know to whom I would recommend it.

[FlamingAce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the writing in this book is absolutely mesmerizing. I couldn't put it down. I'm personally not very into visual arts, but the language Richard uses to describe how he sees the world was like a peak into a room I usually walk past. I personally really enjoyed the journal writing style that jumps into Richard's frame of mind, day to day, but I think the author struggled to convey his fall into madness.

Early in the book, I was extremely excited to see how the author would warp his flowery world view into a darkness reflected in his paintings. Overall, I think the book lost its strength and steam as it progressed. His madness felt rushed and hard to empathize with. (And yes, I understand it isn't a logical madness to view everyone as imposters, but the descriptions of his prospective became shorter and shorter). I had hoped there would be more discussion of his obsession with fairies/faes but it wasn't touched on much. Were these common hallucinations of his? Were they part of a religious psychosis? I also wish we would have gotten a peak into how he viewed life in Bedlam itself (as the book's name implies).

All in all, this is a memorable book that raised the bar in terms of what writing can convey and truly changed my perspective in all the details one can observe around them. Richard is a professional people-watcher.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

gorgeous, immediate, bodily prose. lush and tactile, tinged through with darkness and desperation. richly imagined year inside the head of richard dadd. everytime i picked this up i loved it, just somehow had a hard time reading it all the way through, lots of starts and stops. i do wish that the end was given a bit more consideration, as it felt slightly more broad strokes than the previous portion of the book.