Everyone in Rowan’s family is aware that his behaviour is strange. On the day the Second World War breaks out, thirteen year old Rowan is overwhelmed by panic and fear. His parents decide he needs help and they arrange for him to be treated at a hospital in Kent where he is provisionally diagnosed as schizophrenic. Unknown to the family, Rowan is enrolled in a controversial and potentially harmful trial of electro-convulsive therapy. The descriptions of the treatment are chilling. But this is also a story about the people Rowan meets on the ward. It is a difficult book which focuses on the way people with mental health problems were labelled and locked away. The main character, Rowan is particularly well drawn, as the story progresses he learns more about himself and the value of friendships.
Sally, LRE
