Rowan the Strange
Any book where a thirteen year old boy hears voices and is sent to a lunatic asylum after breaking his sister’s fingers isn’t going to make for easy reading. I began to read the story warily, wondering if I’d be able to handle the subject matter but I soon learned to trust the writer’s voice. I’m glad I did.
The first twist in this riveting story is that for Rowan the asylum proves to be a relief, at least initially, where he gets respite from his sneering sisters, anxious mother and cold, aloof father. Maybe here he’ll be cured of the horrible voices making him do things he doesn’t want to do?
On the ward he meets a girl, Dorothea, whose guardian angel, she informs him pluckily, is Joan of Arc. Despite her constant mockery and barbed comments they become close friends, supporting one another as each undergoes the radical new treatment being pioneered at the hospital.
There is so much going on in this book. Rowan’s crush on one of the nurses and its consequences. The second world war setting. The harshness of the treatment itself and the negative attitude, even by the nurses and doctors, to the mentally ill inmates. Yet in the end it’s a simple rite of passage story, with Rowan finding out who he is and where he fits in the world and discovering that he is not so strange after all.
Julie Hearn avoids sensationalising parts that would have been easy to sensationalise. She doesn’t dwell on the medical treatment that now seems so barbaric. Instead she weaves the plot skilfully so that as the characters develop, the reader flinches on their behalf. The ending is tragic and bittersweet.
Recommended for: Ages 12+ /fans of historical fiction
Rowan the Strange is the third book in the saga of the Mull Dare family with Ivy being the first and Hazel being the second. All published by OUP.