The Redemption of Morgan Bright by Chris Panatier

Arina reviews The Redemption of Morgan Bright, a standalone horror and mystery thriller novel by Chris Panatier.

An ARC was provided by Angry Robot via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Possible fit for The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge 2024 prompts:

Joker prompt that goes with anything: Now We Are Free

What would guilt make you do?

Hadleigh Keene died on the road leading away from Hollyhock Asylum. The reasons are unknown. Her sister Morgan blames herself. A year later with the case still unsolved, Morgan creates a false identity, that of a troubled housewife named Charlotte Turner, and goes inside.

Morgan quickly discovers that Hollyhock is… not right. She is shaken by the hospital’s peculiar routines and is soon beset by strange episodes. All the while, the persona of Charlotte takes on a life of its own, becoming stronger with each passing day. As her identity begins unraveling, Morgan finds herself tracing Hadleigh’s footsteps and peering into the places they lead.

“The sickening mind is a master of deception.”

The Redemption of Morgan Bright was my first foray into Chris Panatier. The Phlebotomist was highly lauded by other book reviewers, and it piqued my interest in the author’s work. I decided to start with this horror mystery, and what better place to review an asylum story than the Asylum?

Visceral and often quite disturbing, The Redemption of Morgan Bright is a dissection of mental health institutions and their historical intersection with women’s rights.

Gripping and poignant, it delves deep into the horrors of forced hospitalization and the painful fight for women’s autonomy, depicting the harrowing experiences of real women through the eyes of fictional Morgan Bright, a woman who develops DID after intense trauma suffered at an asylum, to which she commits herself in order to find the truth about her sister’s murder.

Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, Panatier’s well-researched narrative brings to life the horrific realities experienced, particularly by women, in past and present. Using real-life treatments and devices, the author brings a nauseating authenticity to his story, providing a terrifying lens through which to view history.

In vivid brushstrokes, The Redemption of Morgan Bright paints a morally gray character surviving a very dark setting. It aligns the reader with Morgan’s own experience of wondering what’s real and what’s imagined, keeping them on edge.

As the story progresses, perhaps due to this oneiric effect, it sometimes loses its thread, particularly towards the end. It begins to feel a bit dragged out, slightly detracting from the overall impact.

Even so, The Redemption of Morgan Bright is a compelling and well-crafted blend of fantasy and grim reality. Its detailed and horrifically fascinating examination of mental illness and women’s rights, combined with its unique blend of horror and fantasy and Panatier’s ability to surprise you until the very end, makes it a chilling read.