For half a century Audrey Death has been in a state of semi-consciousness. Sever
ed from the world of the living after falling victim to Encephalitis lethargica,
she has languished in Friern Barnet Mental Hospital. Then, in 1971, maverick ps
ychiatrist 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 a
ttempts to bring her back to life with a new and powerful drug. His investigatio
ns lead to revelations that are both shocking and tragic, and which will return
to haunt him decades later.
