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Published by
Harrington Park Press
in 2004
Now Out of Print

Van Allen's Ecstasy

a novel by jim tushinski


What if you woke up one day and remembered nothing of your past?

How could you rebuild your life if all you knew was what other people told you?

what critics are saying

finalist

Ferro-Grumley Fiction Award
Violet Quill Award

Born into an extraordinarily talented family, 29-year-old Michael Van Allen is the son of a well-known concert pianist and an equally famous painter. All his life, he has yearned for the talent and creativity that should have been his birthright but have somehow been denied him. When he wakes up in a mental hospital, his memory gone, his former life erased, his doctor tells him of his screaming breakdown during one of his father’s performances.

Van Allen's Ecstasy is the story of Michael's journey in search of his former self. As he pieces together his forgotten life, Michael uncovers jealousy, obsession, and secret desires that threaten to destroy his sanity once again.

In Van Allen’s Ecstasy, Michael finds himself precariously balanced, teetering on the thin line between obsession and insanity. Why was he institutionalized? Why can't he remember his life, his family, his identity? Did he go over the edge by himself, or was he manipulated by someone else? And who is "Sasha," the ghostly presence that haunts him with mysterious advice? Exploring the misty remnants of his former life, Michael searches for the answers that will either free him to face reality or send him careening over the brink of insanity.

Returning to the apartment he used to share with Paul, his lover, Michael discovers traces of his former life, including the journal he'd been hiding away from everyone. In its pages, his agonizing journey in search of home, reconnection, and love begins to take shape. But what is the destination: redemption or madness? Van Allen's Ecstasy will keep you wondering until the very last page.