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Trauma

By: Patrick McGrath
Narrated by: Kevin Collins
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Summary

As a psychiatrist, Charlie Weir has seen every kind of trauma New York has to offer. Yet he has never managed to overcome the tragic mistake, seven years earlier that lost him his wife and his daughter, leaving him prone to corrosive loneliness and restless anger.

Then, into his life walks the alluring Nora Chiara, with her inescapable air of sadness and mystery, and Charlie falls for her quickly, hungrily. But he is increasingly haunted by ghastly half-memories from his childhood and as he retreats further and further into the recesses of his mind the delicate fabric of his life ruptures - with horrifying consequences.

©2008 Patrick McGrath (P)2009 Bloomsbury
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Critic reviews

"This masterly specimen of modern gothic delivers the unsettling sting in its tail." (Financial Times)
"A gripping expose of life on the hinterland of sanity ... McGrath is that rare yet essential thing, a writer who can expose our darkest fears without making us run away from them." (New Statesman)
"A bolt of queasily inspiring brilliance." (Eileen Battersby, Irish Times)
"McGrath has the gift, the storyteller's gift, to compel attention, so that you gaze rapt into the fire and listen to the tale unfold." (Sunday Times)

What listeners say about Trauma

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

This book captures the feel of New York in all seasons. The author conveys a sense of the architecture, sights and sounds of the city in his very psychological telling of this story, narrated by his protagonist, a troubled psychiatrist with complex personal relationships. The book is gripping and at times macabre - the overall production and telling of the story by the wonderful Kevin Collins brings you fully into McGrath's world. I recommend it to fans of McGrath's other books and to anyone who likes a good family drama with well drawn characters.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Intense and very enjoyable listen

I didn?t find Patrick McGrath?s latest novel quite as memorable or gripping as his previous ones, ASYLUM and PORT MUNGO, but it is nonetheless a very fine piece of writing. Once again, McGrath delves into the stifling world of psychiatric hospitals and exposes damaged, dysfunctional and painfully lonely characters.
The narrator, Charlie Weir, counsels traumatized war veterans returning from Vietnam. His hold on sanity rapidly weakens and New York becomes an increasingly treacherous place to be as he struggles to cope with the guilt of a failed marriage, the suicide of his brother-in-law and patient and the drama of his own family life.
McGrath is a talented writer; his prose is clear and beautiful. Kevin T. Collins?s deep narrative voice is well suited to the story and TRAUMA is an intense, effective and enjoyable listen.

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2 people found this helpful