A Particular Madness

2023 Longlist

Growing up in the rural impoverishment of post-Depression Oklahoma, and surrounded by feuding family factions, free-spirited Jacob Roland hungers for knowledge and a world beyond his reach. But dark forces are growing in Jacob, twisting with the same ruthless, relentless power of a tornado across the Oklahoma prairies. Jacob battles against these aberrant forces, but, trapped by poverty and a growing mental illness, he is thwarted at every turn. For every light—a chance at college, the love of a poised, sophisticated woman—there is a greater darkness within him. Failed by circumstance, community, and his own mental health, is there an escape for Jacob’s bright, wounded spirit, or will he forever be a prisoner of a particular madness?

About the Author:

Sheldon Russell is the author of thirteen books and is perhaps best known for his Hook Runyon Mystery Series. His work has won the Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction (twice), the Langum Prize for Historical Literature, and the Spur Award. Growing up on a cattle ranch in the Gloss Mountains of Oklahoma has given Russell insight into the power of place and man’s capacity for good and evil. Russell and his wife, Nancy, a sculptor, currently reside on the home ranch in Waynoka, Oklahoma. Hobbies and interests include reading, collecting books, and gardening.

Nominating Library’s Comments:

In his novel, Russell explores mental illness through the experience of the main character: Jacob Roland. Set in Oklahoma, the novel showcases the reality of rural America at a time when mental illness was often misunderstood and mistreated, as it still is today. –  Oklahoma Department of Libraries, USA