QUICKENING MAZE, THE - Penguin USA

Based on real events, The Quickening Maze tells the deeply moving story of the great nature poet John Clare and his vertiginous fall into madness.

In 1837, after years of struggling with alcoholism, critical neglect, and depression, John Clare finds himself in High Beach ? a mental instruction located in Epping Forest on the outskirts of London. At the same time, another poet, the young Alfred Tennyson, moves nearby and becomes entangled in the catastrophic schemes of the asylum's owner, the peculiar, charismatic Dr. Matthew Allen, as well as with his lonely, adolescent daughter and a coterie of mysterious local characters.

Historically accurate yet radiantly imagined, the closed world of High Beach and its various residents are brought richly to life in this intensely atmospheric exploration of creativity, identity, and passion.