Review: Sweet Madness

Sweet Madness by Heather Snow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gabriel has always admired Penelope from a distance. She was married to his cousin Michael. Michael ended up committing suicide which led Penelope to devote herself to helping soldiers dealing with combat fatigue from the war. Her cousin, Liliana (from the first book), is married to an ex-soldier (and an Earl) Geoffrey. Together the 3 of them, have been helping ex-soldiers with jobs, housing, and therapy. Gabriel had severe (mental) trauma in the war and had PTSD from his experiences in the war. His family committed him to an asylum. His mother asks Penelope to see him to see if she can help him. Gabriel's brother was in the process of declaring him insane so the title and money would go to him.
I thought this was thoughtful when dealing with the subject of mental illness; whether it was combat fatigue, PTSD, or bipolar (from the descriptions, Michael was bipolar). Both Gabriel and Penelope were well done characters and I could relate to them both.
Mental illness still has a stigma now, but it was so much worse in the 1800s.
(view spoiler)[ Gabriel was the only survivor and was trapped under his dead horse for 3 days (with everyone deceased and decomposing around him) before he was found. (hide spoiler)]

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