Lord of the Sighs

Fiction

Therapist Silas Buttler’s humdrum life in a sleepy seaside Withering is shattered by a bizarre encounter with an elusive and charismatic new client. It triggers a chain of strange incidents that lead him obliquely to a dysfunctional Hungarian family with dark secrets.

Helped and hindered by a motley crew of friends and foes, Buttler is drawn into a world of deceit and vengeance as he investigates his mysterious nemesis while struggling to retain his wits. His redemption requires a torturous trip through the esoteric hinterland of the mental health and Wellness industries where he witnesses more about the varying courses of psychological trauma than his day job ever taught him.

The Lord of the Sighs is the debut novel by British psychotherapist and journalist, Gareth Mason. With shades of Martin Amis, Joseph Heller, and PG Wodehouse, it explores with humour and pathos our blurred and shifting views on sanity and how vulnerable we are to losing it in the wrong circumstances.

Publication is expected for Winter 2026.