‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ by Anne Goodwin

Synopsis

In the dying days of the old asylums, three paths intersect.

Henry was only a boy when he waved goodbye to his glamorous grown-up sister; approaching sixty, his life is still on hold as he awaits her return.

As a high-society hostess renowned for her recitals, Matty’s burden weighs heavily upon her, but she bears it with fortitude and grace.

Janice, a young social worker, wants to set the world to rights, but she needs to tackle challenges closer to home.

A brother and sister separated by decades of deceit. Will truth prevail over bigotry, or will the buried secret keep family apart?

My Review

I have had an interest in the mental health sector for a long time.  Some members of my family worked within the old asylum system whilst other members of my family unfortunately had to reside in an old asylum for one reason and another.  So you can probably understand why the synopsis for ‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ appealed to me so much.  I couldn’t wait to start reading and so without further ado, I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down to read what proved to be one hell of a story.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ but more about that in a bit.

I really, really felt for the character of Matilda.  Back in the day she was admitted to an asylum.  I won’t go too far into details as I would hate to spoil the story for anybody but needless to say that the reason for admission back then wouldn’t be entertained in today’s society.  Matilda stays within the asylum system for that long that she has become institutionalised, which is so sad but unfortunately not uncommon.  Matilda has her quirks but ultimately she is a lovely person, who has ended up in an asylum through no fault of her own.  I kept wanting to jump inside the pages of the book to give Matilda a hug and to remonstrate with those who had treated her like an ‘inconvenience’.  Thankfully not everybody is ready to write Matilda off and she does have people on the outside fighting for her in one way and another.  What happens?  Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.

It took me no time at all to get into ‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’.  In fact by the time I got to the end of the first page, I knew that I would have immense difficult in putting the book to one side for any length of time.  I think part of the reason why I became so addicted to the story was the fact that I have such a fascination for the old asylum system and the history of mental health in general.   In fact I didn’t put this book down at all.  My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me.  I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story.  I developed a need to know how the story turned out for Matilda and whether or not she was reunited with anybody from her past.  I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough as I worked my way through the story.  All too quickly I reached the end of the book and I had to leave Matilda Windsor behind.  I found ‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ to be a gripping and emotional read. 

‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ is superbly written and then some.  The author has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with.  She certainly knows how to grab your attention and draw you into what proves to be one hell of a compelling read.  The fact that the author was formerly a clinical psychologist in a long term psychiatric hospital, lends authenticity to the story.  For me the story hit the ground running and maintains a fairly gentle pace throughout.  Reading this book was a bit like being on an emotional rollercoaster with the ups and downs and frustrating moments.  I would find myself wanting to cry at certain parts of the story and then the next minute I would be chuckling away to myself at certain other moments.  I felt as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Anne’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home’ and I will definitely be recommending this book to other readers.  I will definitely be reading more of Anne’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.