Inside The Madhouse gives a bitterly honest account of life on a modern psychiatric unit including the incredible camaraderie and the often unintentionally funny day-to-day routines.Hope Daniels became a poster girl for surviving abuse and the care system, thanks to her 2014 Sunday Times bestseller Hackney Child.
Despite everything, Hope grew up determined to have a career and after the release of Hackney Child, she went on to have more successful books, building a loyal fanbase, while also becoming an ambassador and role model for others like her.
However, in Inside The Madhouse, her new and most raw memoir to date, Hope reveals her new life was not quite as rosy as many thought.
In 2022, when a difficult relationship came to a toxic end and her unresolved trauma of being abused as a teenager began to resurface, she tried to take her own life.
It resulted in her being forcibly sectioned and spending three months in two very different psychiatric hospitals - one NHS and one private. Now, against a backdrop of rattling keys, slamming doors, and the shrieks of patients resisting treatment, Hope reveals what life is really like on a psychiatric ward today - celebrating the unexpected camaraderie amongst the patients and the moments of dark humour which helped her through.
She met countless women who, like her, were haunted by the memories and effects of a lifetime of cruelty and neglect. Their stories are rarely told, they are the shadowy figures who often exist in the margins of society - far from family and friends. In this powerful memoir, Hope shares her own lived experience, and that of her fellow patients, and documents their joint journey towards redemption and recovery.
Inside The Madhouse by Hope Daniels with Ann Cusack was published by Mirror Books on 22 October 2026. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours virtual book tour.
Some books can be really uncomfortable reading, and Inside the Madhouse is certainly one of them. It's a very personal, often distressing account of a woman who has already survived more than most people could imagine, and finds herself facing another devastating time in her life.
Hope Daniels is probably best known for Hackney Child, her extraordinary account of growing up in the care system. In Inside The Madhouse she takes us into the frightening and bewildering world of psychiatric hospitals, when a mental health crisis resulted in her being sectioned for three months. She spent time in two different hospitals; one NHS, and one private.
Hope describes the loss of freedom, the constant noise, the restrictions and some quite awful experiences of care. The contrast between the two hospitals raises uncomfortable questions about how people are treated when they're at their most vulnerable.
There is also humour here too, and I think that's one of the book's greatest strengths. Hope has a wonderfully sharp eye for the absurd, and even in the bleakest circumstances she finds moments of dark, sometimes wonderfully inappropriate humour. There is something very human about patients finding things to laugh about when almost everything else is beyond their control. These moments are a reminder that laughter can be an extraordinary means of survival.
The friendships and camaraderie between the women are really emotional, many of them are carrying their own heartbreaking histories. Their stories add another layer to an already fascinating memoir.
Ann Cusack helps bring Hope's distinctive voice to the page, balancing the rawness of her experiences with warmth and honesty. At times I found the relentless suffering overwhelming, and occasionally wished for a little more breathing space.
This isn't an easy book, nor should it be. But alongside the anger, sadness and frustration, there's resilience, compassion and a surprising amount of humour.
A challenging, eye-opening memoir that reminds us that even in the darkest places, people can still find reasons to laugh.
Hope Daniels is one of the UK’s foremost advocates for care leavers and social work.
She has appeared on television and in the press and speaks at universities and other training bodies for social workers.
She is also the author of four books that detail her own experience and those of others in care, the best known of which is ‘Hackney Child’ which was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.
Bestselling author and journalist, Ann Cusack has ghost-written nine memoirs, all of which have been original material self-sourced and developed.
Ann has previously written several bestsellers for Mirror Books including Groomed by a Gang and Abandoned.
Living and working in Manchester, where she was born, she has a long track record of following stories and working with ordinary people who have found themselves thrust into the spotlight by extraordinary even
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