Madness not only gives a direct history of the asylum, but it delves into the history of mental health practices spanning over the operation of Crownsville Hospital. This includes the treatment of the patients, the often extreme treatment trials, the evolution of staff, as well as the admissions mishaps / choices. Madness also allows us to see the practices that showed the correlation of the asylum to incarceration, to include the legacy of slavery in the treatment of Black people’s bodies and mind in our current mental healthcare system. 

The story also goes into racial integration of the hospital, spans through its closure in 2004, and gives a brief details of plans of restoration of the campus and cemetery.
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The stories intertwined within the history shared here offers a personal touch into the lives of both patients, caregivers, and staff. This allows readers to see that even though there were many negatives within the asylum, there were indeed great people around that did the best they could to make Crownsville Hospital a better place. The author also shares her family’s experiences with mental illness and the secrecy and shame it reproduced for generations.

Also family of the familiar Henrietta Lacks, was included in the stories. Definitely an unknown, interesting, yet heartbreaking story for me.