Items related to A Secret Madness: The Story of a Marriage
In post-war London two girls are relieved to find husbands. One lands the 1950s dream of wealth and security. The other, Elaine, endures fourteen years married to a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At first Elaine finds Gerald's activities curious but manageable. But he grows increasingly withdrawn, sometimes violent. The birth of their daughter heralds a complete breakdown and five years of silence, fear and despair. With startling honesty and great eloquence, Bass describes their poverty, her loneliness, her fears for her child, finding comfort in an affair with the village doctor and how the relationship finally ends. A Secret Madness is a remarkable personal evocation of an era.
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About the Author:
Elaine Bass is 84 years old. She has two children and lives with her second husband in Norfolk. This is her first book.
Review:
"It's a harrowing and thought-provoking book, and should cure any nostalgia for the way we lived in the fifties. The reader feels the author's lonely plight acutely. And one must admire a woman, isolated and unsupported, who uses her own intelligence to construct sense in the strange and frightening world into which her marriage took her. And one who has such emotional stamina."--Hilary Mantel
"The writing is brilliantly evocative of an era when the effects of rationing were commonplace, when there was still National Service and BBC radio plays were an evening's entertainment." - Daily Express
"What's she's achieved is quite remarkable... no ordinary book."- Woman's Weekly
"This is a study in saintly forbearance, but also in the innocence of a time that knew little of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, was shocked by sexual deviance, and when the Freudian precepts we take for granted were not yet in place."- Sunday Times Culture
"The writing is brilliantly evocative of an era when the effects of rationing were commonplace, when there was still National Service and BBC radio plays were an evening's entertainment." - Daily Express
"What's she's achieved is quite remarkable... no ordinary book."- Woman's Weekly
"This is a study in saintly forbearance, but also in the innocence of a time that knew little of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, was shocked by sexual deviance, and when the Freudian precepts we take for granted were not yet in place."- Sunday Times Culture
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- PublisherIPS - Profile Books
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 1861979290
- ISBN 13 9781861979292
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages272
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. In post-war London two girls are relieved to find husbands. One lands the 1950s dream of wealth and security. The other, Elaine, endures 14 years married to a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At first Elaine finds Gerald's activities curious but manageable. But he grows increasingly withdrawn, his mania grows and his actions obscure, he even becomes violent. The birth of their daughter heralds a complete breakdown and five years of silence, fear and despair. Elaine Bass's true story reads like a novel: with startling honesty she describes their poverty, her loneliness, her fears for her child, finding comfort in an affair with the village doctor and how the relationship finally ends. A Secret Madness is a remarkable personal evocation of an era. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781861979292
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A Secret Madness: The Story of a Marriage
Published by
IPS - Profile Books
(2009)
ISBN 10: 1861979290
ISBN 13: 9781861979292
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Softcover
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Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # V9781861979292
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A Secret Madness: The Story of a Marriage
Published by
IPS - Profile Books
(2009)
ISBN 10: 1861979290
ISBN 13: 9781861979292
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Softcover
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A Secret Madness: The Story of a Marriage (Hardcover)
Published by
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(2009)
ISBN 10: 1861979290
ISBN 13: 9781861979292
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. In post-war London two girls are relieved to find husbands. One lands the 1950s dream of wealth and security. The other, Elaine, endures 14 years married to a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At first Elaine finds Gerald's activities curious but manageable. But he grows increasingly withdrawn, his mania grows and his actions obscure, he even becomes violent. The birth of their daughter heralds a complete breakdown and five years of silence, fear and despair. Elaine Bass's true story reads like a novel: with startling honesty she describes their poverty, her loneliness, her fears for her child, finding comfort in an affair with the village doctor and how the relationship finally ends. A Secret Madness is a remarkable personal evocation of an era. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781861979292
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A Secret Madness: The Story of a Marriage (Hardcover)
Published by
Profile Books(GB), London
(2009)
ISBN 10: 1861979290
ISBN 13: 9781861979292
New
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. In post-war London two girls are relieved to find husbands. One lands the 1950s dream of wealth and security. The other, Elaine, endures 14 years married to a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At first Elaine finds Gerald's activities curious but manageable. But he grows increasingly withdrawn, his mania grows and his actions obscure, he even becomes violent. The birth of their daughter heralds a complete breakdown and five years of silence, fear and despair. Elaine Bass's true story reads like a novel: with startling honesty she describes their poverty, her loneliness, her fears for her child, finding comfort in an affair with the village doctor and how the relationship finally ends. A Secret Madness is a remarkable personal evocation of an era. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781861979292
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