The evolution of psychiatric treatment is explored through the
intertwined lives of two 19th-century men.Faulks's epic is as
daunting as the path of his main characters. Frenchman Jacques
Rebiere, fascinated by science, is brother to Olivier, whose slow
descent into madness from middle childhood drives Jacques's search
for answers. Englishman Thomas Midwinter is desperate to escape the
life planned out for him by his domineering parents. Early in their
period of discovery, the two cross paths in a chance meeting
precipitated by Sonia, Thomas's older sister. The men's
conversation through their language barrier is the start of a long
and productive partnership. Faulks (On Green Dolphin Street, 2002,
etc.) takes great care in constructing his latest work to fit the
narrative style of the period of which he writes. He uses lengthy
scenes and a vast array of characters. Perspective shifts
occasionally seem awkward: third-person narrative, letters, journal
entries, first-person perspective, speeches. The story tracks the
nascent profession across Europe and around the world. Each man is
on an individual search for meaning, and their experiences run the
gamut of dramatic moments. There are loves lost and found, career
successes and failure, times of camaraderie and of estrangement.
Behind the players, Faulks explores the evolution of thought about
. . . thought. The time period covers the shedding of the old ways
of thinking and the shift to a new respect for the power of the
human mind. The change was arduous at times. The central theme for
the author seems to be the delicate balance between the strength of
the human spirit and the frailty of human emotion. Logic and reason
will be challenged by love in all its forms. Though the work is
somewhat confined by the period framework, Faulks paints a tableux
of 19th-century life that is remarkably revealing.Epic in scope,
this is an imaginative look at the rise of medicine for the mind.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Discover the moving powerful prequel to Snow Country 'An
extraordinary novel of magnificent scope' Evening Standard As young
boys both Jacques Rebiere and Thomas Midwinter become fascinated
with trying to understand the human mind. As psychiatrists, their
quest takes them from the squalor of the Victorian lunatic asylum
to the crowded lecture halls of the renowned Professor Charcot in
Paris; from the heights of the Sierra Madre in California to the
plains of unexplored Africa. As the concerns of the old century
fade and the First World War divides Europe, the two men's volatile
relationship develops and changes, but is always tempered by one
exceptional woman; Thomas's sister Sonia. Moving and challenging in
equal measure, Human Traces explores the question of what kind of
beings men and women really are. 'Shocking and
enlightening...touching and affecting' Daily Mail
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