International Health Humanities Network: Blog Entries by Keyword
The Wonders of Doctor Bent - a novel about humane, creative mental health care
Blog Entry
The Wonders of Doctor Bent
by Paul Crawford
Available at: Amazon, WHSmith, Foyles, Waterstones, Cranthorpe Millner, and all good bookshops.
When everything is falling apart, who do you trust?
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.
Will both men survive the death of trust?
Review
"A moving tale of loss and love..." - Kamaldeep Bhui CBE, Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Oxford
"A brilliantly written thriller..." -Gene Beresin MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
"A gripping exploration of mental health, morality, and the human psyche." -Dr David Crepaz-Keay FRSPH, Mental Health Foundation
"Brooding, brilliant and beautiful." - Dave Chawner, author of Weight Expectations, stand-up comedian and mental health campaigner
About the Author
Paul Crawford is an award-winning author and a leading figure in mental health, with Fellowships of the Royal Society of Arts, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society for Public Health. The world's first professor of Health Humanities, which seeks to enhance people's well-being through creative practices, he directs the Centre for Social Futures at the Institute of Mental Health, based at The University of Nottingham, UK. His recent non-fiction work, Florence Nightingale at Home, won Best Achievement in The People's Book Prize 2022. He also led the recent animated series with Aardman, What's Up With Everyone, supporting young people's mental health, which won Best Design and Content in the 2021 Design Week Awards, multiple categories in the 2021 PR Week Pride Awards and reached over 17m people within four months of launch alone. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief for The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Health Humanities and Commissioning Editor for two book series, Arts for Health (Emerald), and Routledge Studies in Literature and Health Humanities.