The Price of Madness

By Kevin Barnett

In 1859, a single act of violence stunned Washington and changed American legal history forever.

Teresa Bagioli Sickles marries rising political star Daniel Sickles believing love can steady ambition and devotion can tame restlessness. But Washington society thrives on appearances, and beneath the elegance of drawing rooms and diplomatic dinners, loneliness grows quietly.

When Teresa finds in Philip Barton Key a companion who truly listens, emotional intimacy deepens into dangerous secrecy. What begins as solace becomes scandal. What feels like understanding becomes betrayal. And when suspicion hardens into certainty, honor demands a price.

The result is one of the most infamous crimes of the nineteenth century - a public killing that would lead to the first successful use of the temporary insanity defense in American courts.

Based on true events, The Price of Madness is a gripping historical drama of marriage, desire, political ambition, and the devastating cost of possession disguised as love.

For readers of literary historical fiction, courtroom drama, and morally complex tragedy, this is the story of how private longing became public catastrophe - and how madness can be claimed in the name of honor.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GQPWDQJY
• ISBN13: 9798250237710
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.4" x 5.5"