Set in Epping Forest in 1840 this novel centres on the Poet John Clare. Due to struggles with alcohol and depression he ends up in a Private Asylum. At the same time another poet Alfred Tennyson moves nearby and becomes entangled in the life of the Doctor Matthew Allen. This novel follows John Clare through episodes of Insanity towards his final madness.I'm not sure why i picked this up, i recognised the cover and maybe got myself confused with a book of a similar title. I didn't read the blurb on the inner cover because i'm not sure i would have purchased it otherwise. However i felt committed to reading this novel as i had brought it and i promised myself to try to read everything.
Unfortunately i really did not like this book. I could not get into it and i found myself skimming it to see if i could eventually get into it, which i'm sure made it worse. Im not a fan of putting down a book once i've started, i feel committed and compelled to see it to the end. But with this novel i feel i should have gave up with it.
Their were so many different characters you could not always tell how they were linked to one another of follow each of their stories. It felt like nothing was explained. It was written as a tribute to old english poetry and so used a lot of overwrought prose which i did not get along with.
I did not understand this story, get hooked or involved in this story and once i put it down i could not tell you what happened or what it was about. I found it dull, un-insightful and just plain boring. What a shame.
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