This is a novel about the insidious trauma of post-traumatic stress disorder and the debilitating effects it has on a mother and a daughter, both trapped in crippling relationships. Different generations, different wars. Relationships where both husbands have returned broken and damaged mentally.
Kitty meets George in 1940, five weeks before he would ship out for World War II. In times of war, love moves fast, couples try to compress a lifetime into weeks, only to separate and never see each other ever again. Then in 1941 George turns up at the hospital Kitty is working at as a nurse and they are married. George has brought the war home with him. At night he screams through constant nightmares. His return takes a terrible toll on Kitty.
1973, Eleanor, Kitty’s daughter, is leaving her husband, Leon, unable to take his violence anymore. Leon tried to commit suicide while serving in Vietnam. However, Leon was a monster before Vietnam. Since returning, his violent outbursts and abuse have only strengthened. Eleanor fears for her life, and the life of their daughter.
The narrative flips back and forth in time between the women and we can see how this horrible condition trickles down to the next generation, the source of all the problems. Eleanor is terrified of turning into her mother, determined not to treat her daughter the way she was treated.
Schmidt has written some sublime characters here. Characters that drip with realism. The way she captures the devastating loss of a son, a mother’s despair bordering on madness, is unbelievably sad and yet so beautifully written.
A brilliant literary novel, with an ending that will leave you stunned.
Reviewed by Neale Lucas
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