by Susanne Paola Antonetta
Counterpoint, LLC
9/23/2025, hardcover
SKU: 9781640094024
The Devil's Castle delves into the forgotten history of eugenics and links it to present-day psychiatry to explain how we as a culture continue to get mind care so wrong
In The Devil's Castle, Susanne Paola Antonetta weaves a haunting narrative that confronts the darkest chapters of psychiatric history while offering a bold vision for the future of mental health care. In 1939, the eugenics movement growing throughout the West did its worst in Nazi Germany. Through the Aktion T4 euthanasia program, five asylums and an abandoned jail were transformed into gas chambers. Tens of thousands of lives--predominantly adults with neuropsychiatric conditions--were extinguished in those structures, ultimately paving the way for the horrors of the Holocaust.
Interlacing her experiences of psychosis with the complex history of psychiatry, Antonetta sheds light on the intersections of madness and societal perceptions of mental difference. She brings to life the stories of Paul Schreber and Dorothea Buck, two historical figures who act as models for mind care and acceptance.
This gripping exploration traverses the spectrum of neurodiversity, from the devastating consequences of dehumanization to the transformative potential of understanding and acceptance. With The Devil's Castle, Antonetta not only unearths the failures of our past, but also envisions a more compassionate, enlightened approach to consciousness and mental health care. This is a story of tragedy, resilience, and hope--a rallying cry for change that dares to challenge the limits of how we define and support the human mind.
Reviews:
"The Devil's Castle is a sobering and disheartening--yet important--text. It shines a light onto a neglected history of World War II and onto a population that, too, has been neglected and mistreated." --Benjamin Selesnick, Jewish Book Council
"Poet and memoirist Antonetta offers a striking study of the evolution of modern psychiatry . . . Unique in its tone and its passion, this is an arresting and deeply resonant book." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Poetic, shocking, darkly illuminating and deeply optimistic-- The Devil's Castle offers a powerful rallying cry for us to cherish the diversity of minds that enrich our societies and our worlds. An important and timely book." --Anil Seth, author of the international bestseller Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
"Susanne Antonetta draws memories from histories of oppression, violence and brutality in past psychiatry in Europe. And she connects these to the contemporary state of American psychiatry in a personally driven narrative. In a compelling style, she maintains the precarious balance between substantive engagement and anger, and ironic distance. This is an obligatory page-turner for anyone interested in the downside of the smug success stories of medical science." --Wouter Kusters, author of A Philosophy of Madness: The Experience of Psychotic Thinking
About the Author:
Susanne Paola Antonetta is the author of The Terrible Unlikelihood of Our Being Here and numerous other works of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Her accolades include a New York Times Notable Book, an American Book Award, a Library Journal Best Science book, and others. She writes for Psychology Today, The New York Times, Ms., The Huffington Post, The UK Independent, The Hill, Orion, and The New Republic and has been featured on CNN. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.