Mine Own Executioner (1945)
What is Mine Own Executioner?
It is Nigel Balchin’s sixth novel, and the third of three great novels (the others are Darkness Falls from the Air and The Small Back Room) that he wrote during World War Two. First published on 26 September 1945, in this new edition the novel itself occupies 290 pages and additional content includes an introduction, notes, a glossary of psychiatric terminology and a short account of the film version of the novel.
Synopsis
In this novel we are introduced to Felix Milne, a Cambridge-educated psychiatrist who does not possess a medical degree and is therefore, by his own admission, effectively ‘a quack’. Milne runs a private practice from his own London townhouse but on two afternoons a week he travels to Belgravia to work at the Norris Pile Clinic, an institution that offers free psychotherapy to people who cannot afford to pay for it. Milne’s patients can thus be divided along class lines: at the Clinic he deals with working-class clients such as Charlie Oakes, an introverted child whose hulking navvy of a father beats him if he wets the bed, whereas Milne’s private patients are exemplified by Lady Maresfield, a spoilt, tearful aristocrat whose only real problem is that her husband doesn’t love her any more.
When Adam Lucian steps into Milne’s house for the first time, everything begins to change for the psychiatrist. Lucian is an ex-RAF pilot who was shot down over Burma during the war and captured and tortured by the Japanese. Back in England in peacetime, he makes two attempts to murder his pretty young wife. Reluctantly, Milne agrees to treat Lucian, only to realize too late that his new patient’s problems run far deeper than he first thought. Now read on…
(Covers of all editions)
Click here for a more detailed synopsis but please beware of plot spoilers!
Praise for Mine Own Executioner
‘the most extraordinary exploration of the human condition’ – Philippa Gregory
‘an exceptionally good novel’ – John Betjeman
‘admirably written’ – Elizabeth Bowen
‘a triumphant success—the kind of success that makes one want to clap’ – L. P. Hartley
Why Should I Read This Book?
Because it’s one of the finest novels ever written about psychiatry but also because it’s one of Balchin’s best achievements in fiction, a book that contains vivid characters, superb set pieces and a winning blend of humour, drama and pathos.
How Can I Buy Mine Own Executioner?
Mine Own Executioner is now available to purchase in print (£9.99) and ebook (£3.99) versions from Amazon via these links:
Mine Own Executioner: Amazon.co.uk: Balchin, Mr Nigel Marlin, Collett, Mr Derek Michael: 9781914076411: Books
Mine Own Executioner eBook : Balchin, Nigel, Collett, Derek: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
You can also obtain the book from the websites of Foyles, Waterstones or Blackwell’s or by placing an order with any UK bookshop.
In the event of any problems with obtaining the book, please contact the curator of the Nigel Balchin Collection, Derek Collett, at this email address: derekcollett1965@gmail.com |
