I'm delighted to welcome Professor Paul Crawford to the podcast today. We are talking about his novel, The Wonders of Dr Bent, described in the publisher's blurb as "a twisted tale of murder, revenge and abandonment."
It is sort of a crime thriller, but there's so much more to this novel. There are some beautiful characters. There are two main protagonists who skirt on the edges of health and and illness. We see characters who are thriving professionally whilst battling with demons of their own. In the background, we have fabulous supporting cast and a real sense of what could be and what could be better if only our mental health services were not designed with the idea that people are either mad or bad or perhaps both or completely well.
Paul enables us to experience that area in between and the value of allowing people to survive and function within their own lives and be of value. It's a really interesting, gripping, thought-provoking novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Paul about it.
