Nights in the Asylum

by Carol Lefevre (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $6.11

  Written in spare yet sensuous prose, Nights in the Asylum is the story of three people seeking shelter; it is also a story of home, of belonging, of leaving one home and trying to make another, where-ever and how-ever you can.

  Stricken with grief and guilt following the death of her daughter, Miri flees the city for the quiet calm of Havana Gardens, a once fine but now dilapidated mansion built for her grandmother. On the road she rescues Aziz, an Afghan refugee on the run from detention; then, in the attic of the old house, Miri discovers Suzette Moran and her baby daughter hiding, and grants them refuge.

  Slowly, in the hot confined spaces of the house, the three runaways unravel their stories, but when Suzette's policeman husband comes looking for her, it sparks a chain of events that will disrupt their already fragile peace.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.24

  Miri's daughter is dead and her husband has been unfaithful to her. Lost in her grief, she flees to her Cuban grandmother's old house in a town where outsiders and any hint of eccentricity are viewed with suspicion. Miri is not the only one running away, however. Zett Moran, their baby daughter in tow, is running from her husband, while Aziz, an illegal Afghan immigrant, is on the run from the authorities; when their paths cross, Miri grants them refuge, but the three adults move uneasily around each other in the hot, confined spaces of the house.

  They have reasons to be wary, but it's impossible to live under one roof and remain completely isolated, and Miri soon finds herself caught up in events and relationships beyond her control: she's searching for some kind of equilibrium, but every action has a consequence, and the townspeople's reactions to Miri's charity are not necessarily all positive, predictable - or balanced.

  Written in spare, taut prose, Nights in the Asylum is Miri's story; it is also a story of home, of belonging, of leaving one home and trying to make another, where-ever and how-ever you can.