My first novel back in 2002, Nothing Purple, Nothing Black opened at Temple Meads and I am delighted that after many years of writing non-fiction and research papers, my second novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent, launches from this city of stories.

It is also a city with a bridge that I once stood on contemplating suicide while a student at Bristol University before I learned how to survive.

I came to study in Bristol, in the early 1980s, living at Clifton Hill House and enjoying all the resources of the locality, not least The Albion! I met one of my lifelong friends here and began to recover my mental health. I had started writing fiction and the world of books became a lifeline and a passion. One of my fellow students was a descendant of the brother of Samuel Johnson’s biographer, James Boswell, and I asked to change my course to English. I was excited at the prospect but the university refused the switch because I had not studied French. This did not make sense to me at all and my unexplained mental fragility at that time took me to stand alone for a long, long time on the otherwise beautiful suspension bridge.

It was only much later that the black box in my brain revealed the devastating abuse in my childhood. The reader will understand that I need to cloak the details of this wound that can never heal. Instead, I am convinced a life of books (reading and writing them) saved me.

Paul Crawford, author of The Wonders of Doctor Bent

Despite the university’s decision, perhaps even propelled by it, I went on to gain a first in English elsewhere and a rare British Academy funded scholarship to complete my PhD on the work of William Golding, before I settled to an interdisciplinary career leading research at the Institute of Mental Health. Curiously, this brought me back to Bristol, where I led a wonderful project with Aardman to support young people’s minds during the pandemic through new animations called What’s Up With Everyone!

In my novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent, the worlds of Jason Hemp, an English lecturer, and Dr Bent, the unlikely Medical Director of high-security psychiatric hospital Foston Hall, come together in a dark tale of murder, revenge and abandonment. Attempting to track down his twin brother’s killer, Jason finds his life unravelling in unexpected and frightening ways, whilst visionary Dr Bent attempts to reform Foston Hall into a place of comfort, all while facing his own mental health challenges. It asks, when everything is falling apart, whom do you trust?

As much as books have played their part in my recovery, I am enormously grateful to my readers and their feedback down the years. Already, I have been fortunate to receive so many mood-busting early comments:

“I loved the book! The Wonders of Doctor Bent is an engaging and entertaining novel. Readers who enjoy the way in which crime writers such as John Harvey and David Belbin have explored the seamier side of the city of Nottingham will very much appreciate Paul Crawford’s work, as will readers who enjoy the social observations of a novelist like Stanley Middleton. The Wonders of Doctor Bent begins like a whodunnit, but soon starts exploring more profound themes about family, companionship, revenge, incarceration, and mental health. Paul Crawford has created two memorable central characters, and draws on his own real-life experience of health humanities and creative practice to draw us into his vividly realised version of life in the contemporary English midlands.”

The Wonders of Doctor Bent by Paul Crawford

Professor James Moran, Professor of Modern England and Drama, The University of Nottingham

"A beautifully written and engaging psychological thriller that will keep you thinking long after the final page. Paul Crawford’s The Wonders of Doctor Bent is a gripping exploration of mental health, morality, and the human psyche. With impeccable prose and a thought-provoking plot, this dark literary thriller not only captivates fans of the genre but also offers profound value to those with lived experience of or an interest in mental health, shedding light on the complexities of compassion and accountability."

Dr David Crepaz-Keay, Mental Health Foundation

"A brilliantly written thriller which draws us into the dire consequences of adverse childhood experiences. It poignantly reveals the potential for recovery."

Gene Beresin MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

“A moving tale of loss and love. Jason Hemp breaks down after his perfect brother is murdered and Dr Bent, an imperfect, thrill-seeking, motorcycle-riding healer, fights to transform the humiliating state of the public services. His revolutionary changes are undermined, and he is left wondering what it is all for, and resolves to repair his own dark wounds...”

Kam Bhui CBE, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Another reader, Dave Chawner, author of Weight Expectations, Stand-Up Comedian and Mental Health Campaigner gave the kind of one-liner that you dream about as a writer!

"Brooding, brilliant and beautiful."

To all my readers past and future, thank you! To those who have suffered mentally from trauma in their lives, particularly university students, I wish you the comfort of books and the friendships and belonging they can inspire. If you see me in Clifton or elsewhere in Bristol, you can talk to me. Just say “Hi …”

Remember, books really can save lives. They saved mine.

The Wonders of Doctor Bent is out 25th February 2025 and is available at Amazon, WHSmith, Waterstones, and all major retailers.

From Bristol, to books, with love. Paul Crawford tells us how Bristol inspired his first novel and brought him back to live in Clifton for his second, The Wonders of Doctor Bent