A Lost Enemy

**A Lost Enemy** was a novel released in 2023.

## Summary

Edney Willis, an undergraduate at MIT and an aspiring computer scientist, was expelled in 1973 for academic neglect, just as his mental health began to deteriorate. Soon after his house was foreclosed, he was taken by Richard Terrell and placed under his legal guardianship a year later. For twenty-six years, Willis was kept secluded inside Terrell's home and suffered prolonged mental and emotional abuse from Terrell. Willis escaped in 2000 to Long Island and lived homeless for two years until he began dating Isabel Wilson, whom he married in 2004 and adopted three children with.

Edney Willis, now in his seventies, is giving his attorney information to provide testimony to his case against his former psychologist, Richard Terrell, who had been appointed as a guardian for Willis in 1974 and had secluded him from the outside world in his house for twenty-six years.

an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an aspiring computer scientist, was expelled from the university at the age of 22 in 1973 (before completing his computer science program there) for academic neglect (as a result of mental deterioration). Soon after his house was foreclosed and his

## Plot

We enter a courtroom in 2024 in which an old, mentally insane man, Edney Willis, and his conservator, are testifying against MIT for

## Structure

A Lost Enemy is divided into two parts and consists of

### Parts

* Part 1 - Flashback to Edney Willis' life
* Part 2 - Legal battles against Richard Terrell, Willis' former psychologist

### Chapters

* Prologue - Edney Willis meets with his attorney to discuss his testimony and the information he was to provide for it

#### Part One

* Chapter 1 - Edney Willis' early childhood and his experiences in elementary and junior high school (ages 0-14)
* Chapter 2 - Edney Willis' high school experiences and his academic success (ages 14-16)
* Chapter 3 - Edney Willis' SAT test experience, first signs of mental deterioration, continued academic success, and rise of 1960s counterculture (ages 16-18)
* Chapter 4 - Edney Willis' graduation of high school and move to MIT (age 18)
* Chapter 5 - Edney Willis' first year at MIT and adjustment to a heightened academic rigor (ages 18-19)
* Chapter 6 - Edney Willis' new side-job, continued career at MIT, and further signs of mental deterioration (ages 19-21)
* Chapter 7 - Edney Willis' new single-family house, financial and academic success, and continued mental deterioration (ages 21-22)
* Chapter 8 - Edney Willis' academic neglect, mental deterioration, and expulsion from MIT (age 22)
* Chapter 9 - Foreclosure of Edney Willis' house, encounter with Richard Terrell, (ages 22-23)
* Chapter 10 - Twenty-six years of Edney Willis as a patient for Richard Terrell (ages 23-49)
* Chapter 11 - Twenty-six years of Edney Willis as a patient for Richard Terrell (ages 23-49)
* Chapter 12 - Edney Willis' escape from Richard Terrell and his arrival on Long Island (age 49)
* Chapter 13 (ages 49-51)
* Chapter 14 (ages 51-53)
* Chapter 15 (ages 53-54)
* Chapter 16 (ages 54-59)
* Chapter 17 (age 59)
* Chapter 18 (ages 59-71)

#### Part Two

* Chapter 1
* Chapter 2
* Chapter 3
* Chapter 4