The Painted Bridge - Wendy Wallace

I am more sane than I have ever been in my life. And yet, I look like a madwomen. 

Behind a high stone wall on the outskirts of London lies Lake house, a private asylum for women. Tricked by her husband Anna Palmer becomes its newest patient just weeks into her marriage.

Ravaged by the cruel treatments of the time. Anna struggles to prove her sanity, despite some surprising allies: Tabitha Batt, a longtime inhabitant who seems to be as sane as she is; Lucas St Clair, a visiting physician who believes that photography may reveal the state of a patient's mind; and Catherine Abse, the proprietor's highly--strung daughter. Yet the longer Anna remains at Lake House, the more she realises that no one and nothing is quite as it appears. Not her fellow patients, her husband, her family - not even herself. 

Will Anna discover the freedom she seeks, or plunge so far into the recesses of her mind that she might never escape?

Published By: Simon & Schuster UK - Fiction

Year: 2013 - Paperback

Pages: 386

ISBN: 978-0-85720-829-0

Poor Anna Palmer is newly married to a Vincent Palmer a man of the cloth.  She may not have loved him when she married him but at least she felt she could trust him. That is until he tricks her into visiting Lake House, a private asylum for women,  where he has her committed as an inpatient.  Not even her own sister is willing to help her escape her nightmare.  Anna soon discovers that her husband is not all that he seems and realises that he had married her out of convenience to please the church, when she discovers his secret that he already has a wife and child  Her only allies are a fellow inmate, a visiting physician and the proprietor's daughter.  

The Painted Bridge' is number nine from my book shelf challenge.  It is the first novel of Wendy Wallace and is absolutely brilliant. It will send chills down your spine and does make you wonder just what would your husband do in order to cover a secret

Happy reading one and all.

Mx