Poppy Shakespeare - Hardcover

Allan, Clare

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747580464 ISBN 13: 9780747580461

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2006

Synopsis

Who is mad? Who is sane? Who decides? Welcome to the Dorothy Fish, a day hospital in North London! N has been a patient here for thirteen years. Day after day she sits smoking in the common room, swapping medication and comparing MAD money rates. Like all the patients at the Dorothy Fish, N's chief ambition is never to get discharged. Each year when her annual assessment comes round, she is relieved to learn that she hasn't got any better. Then in walks Poppy Shakespeare in her six-inch skirt and twelve-inch heels. She is certain she isn't mentally ill and desperate to return to her life outside. Though baffled by Poppy's attitude, N agrees to help. Together they plot to gain Poppy's freedom. But in a world where everything's upside-down, are they crazy enough to upset the system?Funny, brilliant and moving, "Poppy Shakespeare" looks at madness from the inside, questioning our mental health system and the borders we place between sanity and insanity. Written in high-voltage prose, original and troubling, it is a stunning debut.

About this title

Review:

`A serious novel exploring insanity with empathy'
-- Glamour

`Allen has pulled it off beautifully ... outstanding novel,
acknowledging and transcending its many influences to create something all
its own' -- Independent

`Allen's book ... brilliantly traces the fault-lines beneath the
surface of a personality ... Humour pervades this peculiar world' -- Daily Telegraph

`An electrifying debut ... surreal, raucous, infuriating and very
funny' -- Guardian

`Funny, lyrical and deeply affecting ... Seize this passionate,
unsettling, accomplished debut with both hands' -- Spectator

‘A serious novel exploring insanity with empathy’ -- Glamour

‘Deceptively skilful, this is an outstanding novel, acknowledging and transcending its many influences to create something all its own’ -- Independent

‘Funny, lyrical and deeply affecting ... Seize this passionate, unsettling, accomplished debut with both hands’ -- Spectator

About the Author:

Clare Allan was the winner of the first Orange/Harpers short story prize. She lives in London. This is her first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0747580464
• ISBN 13: 9780747580461
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 341