Patrick McGrath

Asylum

  • Asylum

  • A story of self-obsession narrated by the point of view of a psychiatrist, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.

    As a psychiatrist in a top-security mental hospital in the 1950s, Peter Cleave has made a study of what he calls 'the catastrophic love affair characterized by sexual obsession.' His experience is extensive, and he is never surprised. Until, that is, he comes reluctantly to accept that the wife of one of his colleagues has embarked on such an affair...

Penguin Essentials

96 Books

Patrick McGrath is the author of two story collections and eight novels, including Asylum, which was an international bestseller. His novels have been widely translated, and he is also the author of Ghost Town: Tales of Manhattan Then and Now, a collection of novellas. Trauma was shortlisted in the UK for the Costa Novel Award. Spider was filmed by David Cronenberg from McGrath's adaptation. Constance, his most recent novel, was published in 2013. He coedited an influential anthology of short fiction, The New Gothic, and recent nonfiction includes introductions to The Monk, Moby Dick and Barnaby Rudge. Patrick McGrath lives in Manhattan and London.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience. For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.