Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton

4.35 AVERAGE

courtneysbookss's profile picture

courtneysbookss's review

4.0
Antonia Hylton’s Madness is a powerful and deeply researched exploration of Crownsville State Hospital, a segregated asylum in Maryland that became a site of immense suffering and racial injustice. Blending investigative journalism with personal narratives, Hylton unearths the horrifying conditions that Black patients endured under the guise of psychiatric care, exposing a history of medical neglect, forced labor, and systemic racism.

What makes Madness especially compelling is Hylton’s ability to humanize history—she gives voice to the patients and their families, uncovering the lasting impact of racialized psychiatry in America. The book is both harrowing and necessary, shedding light on a largely forgotten chapter of history while raising crucial questions about mental health, race, and institutional power. 

samantha_45's review against another edition

3.5
medium-paced

eternallywrite's review

4.25
informative reflective sad medium-paced
Truly could not put the book down at times. Incredibly informative with so much of the story coming as directly from those that lived it as much as possible.
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_jukeim's review

4.25
dark emotional informative sad medium-paced
lyellboi's profile picture

lyellboi's review

4.0
dark informative sad medium-paced
lindsloveslit's profile picture

lindsloveslit's review

4.0
dark informative sad slow-paced
Antonia Hylton did a great job with her research in this book. There were many missing and intentionally incomplete records of Crownsville State Hospital - which was the first and only Black impatient paychiarric ward in Maryland for years - that Hylton was able to piece together with the help of former staff. In doing so, she was able to make the story come alive. The part of this book that most drew me in was the weaving of our historical past and her own personal familial narrative. 

This is a must read for those who work in mental health. And if you've read and loved Nickelboys by Colson Whitehead - this is a good point to pair with that! 

 

pgaye's review

4.0
informative sad medium-paced
It is a travesty that we have to read about such abuse and mistreatment. 

jdgerlach's review

4.25
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

agrzadzi's review

5.0
emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

finkse's review

4.0
emotional informative medium-paced