What is it like to be confined to a psychiatric ward against your will? love lay down beside me and we wept is a memoir of the part of my life when I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. It is dark, raw, and sometimes funny. It was originally published in hardback by Unbound in April 2025 in UK and released in US and Canada in July, but unfortunately the publisher went bankrupt shortly afterwards. However, I am delighted that it has been picked up by Wilton Square Books. The hardback is still available and the paperback is coming out in June 2026, and is available to pre-order now.
‘Uplifting, never maudlin, and written with real kick. Helen comes across as the heroic survivor she is — often wry, and a brilliant anatomist of her own turbulent struggle’
Alan Warner, author of Morven Callar
‘Leaves us with renewed faith in the strength of the human spirit. A highly courageous and intelligent book, I heartily recommend it’
Elissa Soave, author of Ginger and Me
‘Rich with incredible psychological and emotional veracity, this book is a compelling case for the redemptive possibilities of writing’
Andy West, author of The Life Inside
My debut novel The Backstreets of Purgatory was published by Unbound in 2018. Caravaggio pitches up in modern day Glasgow and all hell breaks loose.
Unbound, 12 July 2018, ISBN 978-1-78352-555-3, Hardback.
Helen Murray Taylor 