Fiction Works

 

Historical fiction author Anne Echols’ recently published novel, “Roland’s Labyrinth,” tells the tale of a young, idealistic doctor in late 15th-century Southern France who falls in love with his mentally ill patient. “In a time period when there’s a lot of misinformation about the body and medicine, [the doctor] is really wanting to learn accurate cures,” Echols says about her character, adding that as a writer it was “quite a journey to understand what the mindset [about mental illness] was.” Each chapter of the book begins with a quote from a contemporary person of the period, such as doctors and those who lived with mental illness – a condition referred to in France at the time as “maladie de l’esprit” (illness of the spirit). “I’m really fascinated by the history of medicine,” Echols says. “It’s one of those nerdy topics that just really appeals to me.”