'In an ideal world you would stand at a crossroads, one big white sign
pointing to SANITY, and the other to MADNESS, and in the broad light of
day, with the sun on your back, you would make the only possible choice
you could, and trot down the hill towards safety. Why make any other
choice? The trouble is that when you personally get to that crossroads
it's nearly always midnight, you haven't slept for a while, and some
kids have been messing with the sign.' - from Needleham
Needleham by Terry Simpson is a multi-faceted novel, full of fascinating
detail and emotional depth. The writing is lucid and imaginative
throughout. I was captivated from the start with the powerful
descriptions of setting, and the characters.
Well-meaning Luke steals the show in parts as a simple but complex
character with a rich, inner life. I could feel for him as he is drawn
deeper into the world inside Needleham and faces challenges he could
never have envisioned when he took up his post as an advocate.
Simpson is not afraid to delve into dark and disturbing issues related
to attitudes towards psychiatric inmates, both past and present.
Historical ideas are cleverly woven into the text, illuminating current
thinking and broadening the context. Reality and fantasy, sanity and
insanity, are skillfully called into question. The story becomes both
incredibly sad and laugh-out-loud funny by twists and turns. The use of
humour, often subtle and sardonic, works well.
A sinister undertone adds to the atmospheric quality and increases as
the story develops, leading to the immensely satisfying, though
thought-provoking, denouement. Needleham is a story that will linger
with me long after finishing reading it. - Jean Davidson
'Through the eyes of Luke, the new Patients' Advocate at Needleham, we
are treated to a detailed filleting of the mental health system of the
all too recent past, written with keen attention to the shabby, bleak
aspects of the hospital itself, where 'coffee-coloured' drinks are
swallowed down and 'carpeted areas of deserted arm chairs' abound. Along
the way, Terry Simpson breathes new life into comedy staples. Dark,
sharp and laugh out loud funny - I loved it.' - Mandy Sutter
'Kafka's The Castle meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in Terry
Simpson's debut novel, Needleham. Based on the writer's experience as
patient adviser in a Yorkshire psychiatric hospital not unlike
'Needleham', one hopes this comic nightmare belongs in the past. Hope
again! Needleham builds its world in unsettling and convincing
detail.' - Peter Spafford, Chapel FM
"At last! I've been waiting a long time for a book like this. A witty,
astute and poignant satire on the mental health system. Highly
recommended". Professor Helen Spandler, Editor of Asylum: the radical
mental health magazine
