Blue Asylum: A Novel

Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is convicted of madness and sent to Sanibel Asylum on a remote Florida island. She believes her husband is the true criminal, as her only offense was disagreeing with him about justice, cruelty, and property. At the asylum, Iris encounters a varied group of residents—some appearing sane, others wrongly convinced of their own insanity, and some genuinely unstable. Among them is Ambrose Weller, a haunted Confederate soldier whose traumatic memories trigger violent episodes that only the color blue can calm. Despite her uncertainty about him, Iris finds herself drawn to his gentleness and dark eyes. The novel weaves together past and present as it examines the struggles of its characters within the constraints of traditional Southern society and the devastation of war, exploring themes of love, pride, and the boundary between sanity and madness.