Memoirs of a psychiatric patient

Peter Mackie is a WN subscriber who has self-published a particularly unusual short novel, The Madhouse of Love, based on his experiences in a psychiatric institution where he was kept against his will during his early teens.

‘It appears to be forgotten by most people that until not very long ago, anyone could be taken away from their surroundings and kept in a psychiatric institution for an indefinite period of time, perhaps even for the rest of their lives, on the decision of only one doctor and one social worker.’

He wrote the book in 1974 when he was just seventeen, and the memory was still fresh in his mind. It is written almost as a stream of consciousness and focuses on the protagonist Tony and his love interest Vivian.

The text is also interspersed with artistic sketches (with labels such as ‘Human Fruit’ and ‘The Dark Between the Stars’) and some unusual poems which suit its original style and subject matter.
Peter approached several mainstream publishers with his manuscript but unfortunately had no success.

In 1993 he finally decided to go the self-publishing route and left his job to focus fully on the project,
‘Due to my determination to publish this book, I left my job in Holland and later got into debt and other difficulties through taking out loans for advertising.

‘So, while I still feel I was right to publish it, I would advise anyone to think twice before disrupting their lives and/or spending too much money to publish a book.

‘It was because this book seemed to me to be unique and special that I was determined to publish it. As far as I know, no-one so young has ever written a book about the same subject.’

Though the book did not achieve the success Peter had hoped, it has been reprinted several times and received some positive reviews.

Extracts have also been featured in seven magazines including Ambit and Global Tapestry.

He went on to publish a collection of poetry, Epicycles of Sinking Time, in 1997 and an anthology of short stories, The Last Thing Before the Apocalypse, in 2002. His other interests are photography and music and samples of his work can be found at www.mixoci.com.

The Madhouse of Love is still available and can be found on Amazon and other online retailers.
Details: The Madhouse of Love, by Peter Mackie (£4.74, Tetrahedron Books) is available now.