Abigail Brandt teaches English at her alma mater in a small New England town, but in her spare time, she's an urban explorer. Cameras in hand, she and her closest friend, Luke Sullivan, explore abandoned buildings like the Westwood Asylum in Stone Gorge. There Abigail discovers a patient file taped underneath a filing cabinet, hidden from vandals and other explorers. The file of Isabella Monteforte is dreadfully incomplete. She was committed to Westwood in 1940, then seems to disappear in 1945. Abigail convinces Luke, a Department of Mental Health worker, to track down Isabella's complete file where she makes a shocking discovery- Isabella has been missing, from a secure mental facility, since 1945. Embarking on a search that leads them through the tunnels, wards, and darkened corners of Westwood Asylum, Abigail and Luke chase the ghost of a schizophrenic woman who has been missing for more than 50 years, uncovering secrets hidden for just as long, including secrets within Abigail's own family. As they spiral deeper into the asylum, Abigail fears they may never get out, but where they find Isabella will be the biggest surprise of all.
Author
Kate Anderson is a special education teacher and professional photographer. She has taught in institutions for less than pleasant children for nearly twenty years and has written two nonfiction volumes on the history of insane asylums in New England, having visited and photographed more than forty such institutions. She lives in Feeding Hills with her boyfriend, two beagles, and an overweight cat who figures heavily on both her blog and her Instagram feed.
