Book:  The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson

March 11, 2024

James Patterson delivers a thrilling novel about a teen caught between two worlds and the truths that could set her free—or trap her forever

Hannah is a "frequent flyer" at the Belman Psych ward, suffering from what doctors think are vivid hallucinations and schizophrenia. But Hannah is torn between two worlds -- today's and a village in the early 1300's. 

In Hannah's village, her family and neighbors are starving, dying in the streets, and it is up to her to find a way to save them. But every time she wakes up in today's world, she worries her family in the village won't be able to survive and begs to go back... 

But who can help her when they all think she's dreaming and that her other world doesn't exist? How can she break the time travel cycle? And which world does she really belong to? 

Jordan, a student intern, is captivated by her and wants to help her in any way that he can, but how can he save her from a world he doesn't think really exists?

Mystery?  Thriller?  Time travel?  This is right up my alley!  As I read, I was totally pulled into the description of Hannah's life in the middle ages, with brutal descriptions of the suffering of the poor people at that time.  As she bounced from the present to the past I wondered who she really was.  I wanted, no, I NEEDED, to keep reading to solve the mystery of where Hannah belongs.

At Belman Psych, I am drawn in by the portrayals of the care given to teens with different mental challenges.  The very real depictions of the kids struggling with illness broke my heart at times.  I wondered if Hannah belongs here.  I wanted her to be able to go “home” to the 14th century.  But was that really her home?

“Why is it that hearts know how to beat,

and lungs unfailingly take in oxygen,

while the brain, which is supposedly in charge of everything,

sits up there in its bone case and screws everything up?”

As her friendship with the medical intern, Jordan Hassan, develops, I wonder if he will save her.  I began to question if she did belong in the middle ages or in the present.

Who is Hannah??

If you enjoy solving a mystery and exploring the workings of the human mind, you will be as drawn to this story as I was.  You may not be able to put this one down until you solve it!