The Soul Asylums
by Sheridan Hough
A mystery virus is sweeping mainland Britain…
A man on the run from his former life haunted since surviving the Institutions is seeking recovery by the ocean shores…
Can he find redemption in love waiting beyond the shadows of the Soul Asylums?
As the virus and heatwaves sweep across the Island, renewed by the solitude, rehabilitated by the natural world, the man finds himself searching for his true calling in this short, honest and raw memoir of a journey of recovery.
Following a spell in the Trenches, he awakens in the early days of the Lockdowns. The mystery of his vanishing act from a London flat thirteen years before begins to reveal itself through flashbacks following the mysterious shattering of a wedding photo during a storm.
This triggers a tidal wave of memories of the fall from freedom found in the pursuit of love, downward into a shadowy, unforgiving underworld of violence, incarceration, and legal trials under a psychiatric magnifying glass.
As the summer of social isolation rolls on, so the missing fragments from a culmination of past events destined for a heartbreaking mercy mission to a seaside B&B are revealed piece by piece, as hidden truths continue to unfold in the furious heat of the pandemic spreading across the Island.
In this rarely chartered, road less travelled account of the transformative power of awakened mindful recovery, The Soul Asylums is a journey to rediscovering love, hope, and meaning in the darkest of places.
About the Author
Sheridan Hough is a writer and mental health campaigner with a passion for storytelling and connection through the power of words. His debut publication, ‘The Soul Asylums’, is a personal memoir of recovery during the UK Lockdowns of 2020 following his breakdown, arrest, and imprisonment thirteen years earlier.
Moving from his Midlands home in the 1990’s to study in Brighton, Sheridan immersed himself in the homegrown DIY media of the time, from freelancing on Big Brother surveillance in ‘The Big Issue’ to launching a magazine with the young jobless and anti-social elements of the city. While youth working in the East End in the 2000’s, writing his doomed debut novel ‘Luther’s Dream’, Sheridan found himself on the verge of a self-identity breakdown, which eventually became the subject matter for ‘The Soul Asylums’.
Relocating to Shoreham-by-Sea with his young family eventually led to recovery and a rediscovery of a love of writing, followed by a calling to mental health campaigning. Today, Sheridan spends his free time with family, beachcombing by the ocean, and a simpler, low-key lifestyle, occasionally revisiting former halcyon days of chasing free party sound-systems and headline indie rock and roll stories round the UK.
