Umbrella. # 1

Weaving together a dense tapestry of consciousness and a century of lived life, Will Self sets out to understand the nature of the modern world.In 1918, Audrey Death, a munitions worker, succumbs to the new encephalitis lethargica epidemic, which kills a third of its victims and condemns a further third to living death. Fifty-three years later, Audrey lies supine under the curious gaze of Dr Busner in Friern Mental Hospital, her home for half a century. In 2010, the now-retired doctor scours north London in search of the truth about that tumultuous summer - when he woke his post-encephalitic patients using a new and powerful drug."Will Self's latest novel, the Booker-shortlisted Umbrella, is a strange and sprawling modernist experiment that takes the human mind as its subject and, like the human mind, is infinitely capacious, wretchedly petty and ultimately magnificent, even in its defects." - Annalisa Quinn, NPR"Warning: “Umbrella” is what’s known as a “difficult” novel. If that sounds as appealing as a difficult pregnancy, stop reading now. But if you enjoy challenges, in literature as well as life, read on because “Umbrella,” which was a finalist for this year’s Booker Prize, is a virtuosic performance." - Steven Moore, The Washington PostWill Self is an English novelist, journalist, political commentator and television personality. He is the author of ten novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas, and five collections of non-fiction writing. " A brother is as easily forgotten as an umbrella."James Joyce, *Ulysses * Radical and uncompromising, Umbrella is a tour de force from one of Englands most acclaimed contemporary writers, and Selfs most ambitious novel to date. Moving between Edwardian London and a suburban mental hospital in 1971, Umbrella exposes the twentieth centurys technological searchlight as refracted through the dark glass of a long term mental institution. While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audreys memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busners attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world. Busners investigations into Audreys illness lead to discoveries about her family that are shocking and tragic. A brother is as easily forgotten as an umbrella. James Joyce, Ulysses Recently having abandoned his RD Laing-influenced experiment in running a therapeutic community - the so-called Concept House in Willesden - maverick psychiatrist Zack Busner arrives at Friern Hospital, a vast Victorian mental asylum in North London, under a professional and a marital cloud. He has every intention of avoiding controversy, but then he encounters Audrey Dearth, a working-class girl from Fulham born in 1890 who has been immured in Friern for decades. A socialist, a feminist and a munitions worker at the Woolwich Arsenal, Audrey fell victim to the encephalitis lethargica sleeping sickness epidemic at the end of the First World War and, like one of the subjects in Oliver Sacks' Awakenings, has been in a coma ever since. Realising that Audrey is just one of a number of post-encephalitics scattered throughout the asylum, Busner becomes involved in an attempt to bring them back to life - with wholly unforeseen consequences Shortlisted For The Man Booker Prize 2012 For Half A Century Audrey Death Has Been In A State Of Semi-consciousness. Severed From The World Of The Living After Falling Victim To Encephalitis Lethargica, She Has Languished In Friern Barnet Mental Hospital. Then, In 1971, Maverick Psychiatrist Dr Zack Busner Arrives. Audrey's Experiences Of A Bygone Edwardian London: Her Socialist Lover, Her Involvement With The Suffragists, And Her Work In A Munitions Factory During The First World War, Alternate With Dr Busner's Attempts To Bring Her Back To Life With A New And Powerful Drug. His Investigations Lead To Revelations That Are Both Shocking And Tragic, And Which Will Return To Haunt Him Decades Later.