'Books really can save lives, they saved mine'

"The West Midlands and broader ‘middle earth’ of the country is at the heart of The Wonders of Doctor Bent for several reasons. I grew up, went to school and prospered there a mile from Spaghetti Junction, completing my PhD at Birmingham University. Yet this and subsequent success came out of a childhood of sexual abuse. 

"The reader will understand that I need to cloak the details of this particular family nightmare. Instead, I will reflect on the aftermath of this deep betrayal of trust, and how writing became key to my recovery and resilience. In essence, The Wonders of Doctor Bent is about creative survival in spite of mental collapse.

"In the novel, I portray the devastating impact of abuse and other trauma but also how a creative life with books can help the healing process. The fiction delves into criminal accountability, mental health and the power of the arts to save individuals from mental decline. 

"The worlds of Jason Hemp, an English lecturer, and Dr Bent, the unlikely Medical Director of high-security psychiatric hospital Foston Hall, come together in this dark tale of murder, revenge and abandonment. Attempting to track down his twin brother’s killer, Jason finds his life unravelling in unexpected and frightening ways, whilst visionary Dr Bent attempts to reform Foston Hall into a place of comfort, all while facing his own mental health challenges. 

"In the novel, the power of stories, of books, becomes increasingly clear and reflects the central part they have played and continue to play in my life. A fascination with stories, reading and writing really started for me on the first day I started St Philip’s Grammar School on the Hagley Road, Edgbaston.

"Back in 1974, our form teacher plonked new books on the desks of every new pupil. The book that gained my imagination straight away was a copy of The Hobbit (paperback with J. R. R. Tolkien’s sketch of the dragon flying through the air). 

"I read The Hobbit very quickly, delighting in the fact that its author had attended my school and in his writing drew on many Birmingham locations and architecture such as Perrott's Folly and Edgbaston waterworks tower (around the corner from St Philip’s). This cutting of real West Midland places into fiction features in my own writing, not least The Wonders of Doctor Bent.

"My joy in books stayed with me through my professional work in mental health following training as a mental health nurse at All Saints Hospital, Winson Green. It continued in an academic career that started with a first class Honours degree in English Literature and Language and a British Academy-funded PhD on William Golding (Lord of the Flies etc.) at The University of Birmingham. Some recollections from that time feature in campus episodes in the new novel. After graduating, I moved on to research mental health at St George’s Hospital in Stafford before joining the University of Nottingham and becoming the world’s first Professor of Health Humanities, spearheading the application of the arts to promote healthy bodies and minds through my work at the Institute of Mental Health.

"Looking back, my writing life has grown out of complex, adverse experiences in childhood. Such experiences bring loss of trust so profound, so immense, that it has been a battle to remain sane. As you may imagine, I battled depression and suicidal thoughts. Books and writing have been my self-prescribed medication. My readers too have kept me going. After all, one writes to be read and you can imagine how these early reviews of the new novel struck home!

"To my readers past and future in the West Midlands, thank you! For anyone struggling out there in ‘middle earth’, I wish you the comfort of books. Books really can save lives. They saved mine."

The Wonders of Doctor Bent is available at Amazon and all good bookshops.