Trauma (novel)
| Author | Patrick McGrath |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 210 pp |
| ISBN | 9780747596646 |
| Preceded by | Port Mungo |
Trauma is a 2008 novel by British author Patrick McGrath, centered on post-traumatic stress disorder cases as narrated by an American psychiatrist.
Plot summary
The story is narrated by Dr Charlie Weir, who lives and works in New York City as a psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Eight years ago he has to treat his brother-in-law Danny who was traumatized by the death of his war buddy during the Vietnam War. Charlie's indirect responsibility culminating in Danny's suicide led to his wife Agnes and daughter Cass walking out of his life.
Eight years later he encounters Nora Chiara, an alluring woman with a past she is trying to deny. He starts sleeping with Agnes again although the latter is now remarried. Charlie soon learns that he too is not exempt from the repressed trauma he once experienced as a boy.