Poppy Shakespeare | Extract | Inspiration | Bookshop

N has been a patient at the Dorothy Fish day hospital for thirteen years. Like all the patients there, N’s chief ambition is never to get discharged. And each year when her annual assessment comes round, she is relieved to learn that she hasn’t got any better. Then in walks Poppy Shakespeare in her six-inch skirt and twelve-inch heels. She is certain she isn’t mentally ill and desperate to return to life outside. Though baffled by Poppy’s attitude, N agrees to help. Together they plot to gain Poppy’s freedom. But in a world where everything’s upside-down, are they crazy enough to upset the system?