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In and Out of Madness

N.L. Snowden
Sneakaboard Press (2009)
ISBN 9780977476770
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (8/09)

“In and Out of Madness” is touted to be “a fictionalized account of a true experience.”  This simple fact alone makes the book a disturbing one.  Once I started reading the book I just had to keep reading.  Learning about the main character’s past and current struggles reminded me of when you drive by a horrific accident and you want to turn away but you are unable to fight the urge to look one more time.  Knowing that this story was based on a true experience made me feel exactly that way.  I felt as if I was reading something that was private and was something that wasn’t meant for my eyes. 

The story begins with bi-polar Lee Thames escaping from a mental hospital where she is being admitted after a failed attempt at suicide.  She runs back to her home, picks up her gun along the way, and plans out the murder of her ex-husband, Joe.  In the process, she runs through a number of painful and unpleasant memories in her mind such as being abused as a child and being encouraged by her doctor and her first husband to sleep with other men.  In all of the darkness, there is one shining star that brings happiness to Lee’s life and that is her daughter Jolly.  Without Jolly in the picture I would truly hate to see what would have happened.

Snowden quickly grabs the reader’s attention in the beginning with the suicide attempt and mental hospital escape and then holds it firmly while revealing the frantic deluge of memories.  “In and Out of Madness” is a gripping and chilling debut novel.  If you want to see the personal side of a mental illness then this is definitely the book to read!

 


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