Umbrella (Umbrella #1)
Will Self, John Lee
Rated: 3.14 of 5 stars
3.14
· 14 ratings · 417 pages · Published: 01 Jan 2012
Radical and uncompromising, Umbrella is a tour de force from one of England’s most acclaimed contemporary writers, and Self’s most ambitious novel to date. Moving between Edwardian London and a suburban mental hospital in 1971, Umbrella exposes the 20th century’s technological searchlight as refracted through the dark glass of a long-term mental institution. While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audrey’s memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busner’s attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world. Busner’s investigations into Audrey’s illness lead to discoveries about her family that are shocking and tragic.
Tagged as:
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- literary fiction 3
- world war I 2
- war/big battles 2
- funny 2
- psychological 2
- 20th century 1
- military, war & conflict 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1
- content warnings
- mental illness 2
romance tags
crime tags
literary-fiction tags
historical-fiction tags
fantasy tags
sci-fi tags
action-adventure tags
thriller tags
horror tags
Collections/Custom tags
The 'Umbrella' series
3.14 · 14 ratings
violent-conflict · historical · adult · audiobook · ww1 · 21st-century · historical-fiction · 20th-century · humor · dark-humor · fiction · book · literary-fiction · psychological · war · mental-illness
Umbrella reading order and complete book list ❯