I couldn't stop reading this bitter sweet book. David, a psychiatrist,
and one of his patients, Elizabeth, an attempted suicide, each have
baggage. For her, it's the meeting of, and the loosing, of her
soulmate; and for him, the loss of his brother in early childhood. For
several sessions, Elizabeth is unable to talk abot her attempted
suicide (which was not a cry for help, but very much meant), until
discussing an Italian painting with her doctor, she suddenly decides
that it's worth telling her story. In doing so, she becomes the
catalyst for David to think again about his brother, how he died, and
how his whole life has been affected by that.
I
wonder how most of us would feel, meeting that soulmate and then
loosing him the very next day; the anguish that would go with that
loss, the steps taken to fill the hole left by that loss, and the sudden
re-meeting by chance, of that very person, so many years later? I
wonder how many of us have family history that we don't doubt?
It
is a dark book - we know almost immediately that Elizabeth attempted
suicide, but not why. We also know that she is David's patient, and
that it is his job to "heal" his patient. It takes a while for us to
realise the facts behind the attempt. It takes us a while, too, to
understand that sometimes David gets too close to his patients. His own
personal life is in turmoil, something he slowly comes to acknowledge
when Elizabeth is telling her story. Dark it may be, but with
redemption. It is the story of love but not between the doctor and the
patient in the accepted sense of the word love. It is so beautifully
written that it's a master class in the description of feelings - If you
haven't caught up with this one yet I recommend it.
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