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Fractured
A compelling, emotional knockout debut from a brilliant new Australian author.
An unforgettable novel that brings to life a new mother???s worst fears.
Tony is worried. His wife, Anna, isn???t coping with their newborn. Anna had wanted a child so badly and, when Jack was born, they were both so happy. They???d come home from the hospital a family. Was it really only six weeks ago?
But Anna hasn???t been herself since. One moment she???s crying, the next she seems almost too positive. It must be normal with a baby, Tony thought; she???s just adjusting. He had been busy at work. It would sort itself out. But now Anna and Jack are missing. And Tony realises that something is really wrong...
What happens to this family will break your heart and leave you breathless.
Dr Dawn Barker is a Child Psychiatrist who works with families affected by mental illness. She has published non-fiction articles on parenting and child psychology for various websites and magazines. This is her heartbreaking debut novel.
An unforgettable novel that brings to life a new mother???s worst fears.
Tony is worried. His wife, Anna, isn???t coping with their newborn. Anna had wanted a child so badly and, when Jack was born, they were both so happy. They???d come home from the hospital a family. Was it really only six weeks ago?
But Anna hasn???t been herself since. One moment she???s crying, the next she seems almost too positive. It must be normal with a baby, Tony thought; she???s just adjusting. He had been busy at work. It would sort itself out. But now Anna and Jack are missing. And Tony realises that something is really wrong...
What happens to this family will break your heart and leave you breathless.
Dr Dawn Barker is a Child Psychiatrist who works with families affected by mental illness. She has published non-fiction articles on parenting and child psychology for various websites and magazines. This is her heartbreaking debut novel.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2013
11 people are currently reading
1149 people want to read
About the author
Dawn Barker
4 books78 followersDr Dawn Barker is a psychiatrist and author. She grew up in Scotland, then in 2001 she moved to Australia, completed her psychiatric training and began writing.
Her first novel, Fractured, was selected for the 2010 Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre manuscript development programme, was one of Australia's bestselling debut fiction titles for 2013, and was shortlisted for the 2014 WA Premier's Book Awards.
Her second novel is Let Her Go.
Dawn lives in Perth with her husband and three young children.
Her first novel, Fractured, was selected for the 2010 Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre manuscript development programme, was one of Australia's bestselling debut fiction titles for 2013, and was shortlisted for the 2014 WA Premier's Book Awards.
Her second novel is Let Her Go.
Dawn lives in Perth with her husband and three young children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
December 30, 2013
This was a fabulous read from start to finish.
Anna has always wanted to have a baby and experience the joys of being a parent. So when she and husband Tony find out they are expecting their first child they are both thrilled to bits. They end up having a healthy baby boy whom they name Jack. Of course being a first time mum can be overwhelming for any woman which Anna quickly learns.
Tony starts back at work not long after Jack is born which means he is gone all day as he leaves for work early in the morning and doesn't get home until early evening. Whilst Tony's at work Anna is doing her best with caring for Jack. But sleepless nights and having trouble with breast feeding takes it's toll on her. Although she tries to hide all her emotions and worries from Tony he does finally see that something isn't quite right. So he asks he's mother Ursula to pop around one morning to give Anna a helping hand. He reminds Anna before he leaves for work that he's mother will be arriving soon although Anna insists she doesn't need any help. Having only been at work for about an he gets a call from he's mother. She informs Tony that she is at he's house, but Anna and Jack are not at home. Tony thinks this is strange seeing as Anna knew that Tony mother was coming around. Tony feels that something is wrong so he leaves work to return home but he doesn't find Anna or Jack.
So just where have Anna and Jack disappeared to in such a short time. This story was brilliantly written and touched on the subjects of post natal depression and mental health. We get an understanding of the pressures women face being a parent and how hard a struggle it can really be from one day to the next. We also see in this story the strain it puts on fathers as well. I loved this book and at times thought it was quite emotional and it really pulls at the heart strings. Having thoroughly enjoyed this book I have no hesitation in recommending it.
Anna has always wanted to have a baby and experience the joys of being a parent. So when she and husband Tony find out they are expecting their first child they are both thrilled to bits. They end up having a healthy baby boy whom they name Jack. Of course being a first time mum can be overwhelming for any woman which Anna quickly learns.
Tony starts back at work not long after Jack is born which means he is gone all day as he leaves for work early in the morning and doesn't get home until early evening. Whilst Tony's at work Anna is doing her best with caring for Jack. But sleepless nights and having trouble with breast feeding takes it's toll on her. Although she tries to hide all her emotions and worries from Tony he does finally see that something isn't quite right. So he asks he's mother Ursula to pop around one morning to give Anna a helping hand. He reminds Anna before he leaves for work that he's mother will be arriving soon although Anna insists she doesn't need any help. Having only been at work for about an he gets a call from he's mother. She informs Tony that she is at he's house, but Anna and Jack are not at home. Tony thinks this is strange seeing as Anna knew that Tony mother was coming around. Tony feels that something is wrong so he leaves work to return home but he doesn't find Anna or Jack.
So just where have Anna and Jack disappeared to in such a short time. This story was brilliantly written and touched on the subjects of post natal depression and mental health. We get an understanding of the pressures women face being a parent and how hard a struggle it can really be from one day to the next. We also see in this story the strain it puts on fathers as well. I loved this book and at times thought it was quite emotional and it really pulls at the heart strings. Having thoroughly enjoyed this book I have no hesitation in recommending it.
April 7, 2013
I finished reading Dawn Barker’s Fractured last night and I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Yes, it’s a detailed examination of a mental health issue that is common in our disconnected society, but also a full blooded psychological thriller, written with relentless pace.
Fractured should be required reading, not for mothers-to-be, but-fathers-to-be. Fractured made me feel guilty that I didn’t do more when my children were babies, that I was the one who slept through while my wife was awake trying to breastfeed and living on an hour or two of sleep a day. It made me feel guilty that I didn’t understand the pressures, the vulnerability of a new mother’s spirit, or how much our society expects a woman to be a “good mother.” Tony’s self-absorption reminds me of my own. Offering to help, eager to help, but always taking the easy way out in the end.
Fractured is easy to read, with prose like good background music, never intrusive, but with a building power so that some of the killer lines near the end punch you right in the heart. It’s also hard to read on an emotional level, and I guess that this difficulty will vary with the past experiences of the reader. This is core-of-the-being territory, and I suspect some people will not want to go there.
I did find the beginning a tad hysterical, but that, I soon realised, was just the nature of the highly charged situation. I also, though the power of the final pages is undeniable, wanted a little more at the end: maybe some happiness for these tortured souls that the author brought to life in my mind. But then, this isn’t a romantic comedy. It’s a mirror of real life.
There’s a line near the end. It comes from a 1975 journal article on child abuse. “In every nursery there are ghosts …” That’s what this book is about. The ghosts in the nursery. They’re always present to a greater or lesser degree. But some of us don’t know how to keep them away.
Fractured is a great book that deserves a wide readership. Well done Dawn Barker.
Fractured should be required reading, not for mothers-to-be, but-fathers-to-be. Fractured made me feel guilty that I didn’t do more when my children were babies, that I was the one who slept through while my wife was awake trying to breastfeed and living on an hour or two of sleep a day. It made me feel guilty that I didn’t understand the pressures, the vulnerability of a new mother’s spirit, or how much our society expects a woman to be a “good mother.” Tony’s self-absorption reminds me of my own. Offering to help, eager to help, but always taking the easy way out in the end.
Fractured is easy to read, with prose like good background music, never intrusive, but with a building power so that some of the killer lines near the end punch you right in the heart. It’s also hard to read on an emotional level, and I guess that this difficulty will vary with the past experiences of the reader. This is core-of-the-being territory, and I suspect some people will not want to go there.
I did find the beginning a tad hysterical, but that, I soon realised, was just the nature of the highly charged situation. I also, though the power of the final pages is undeniable, wanted a little more at the end: maybe some happiness for these tortured souls that the author brought to life in my mind. But then, this isn’t a romantic comedy. It’s a mirror of real life.
There’s a line near the end. It comes from a 1975 journal article on child abuse. “In every nursery there are ghosts …” That’s what this book is about. The ghosts in the nursery. They’re always present to a greater or lesser degree. But some of us don’t know how to keep them away.
Fractured is a great book that deserves a wide readership. Well done Dawn Barker.
October 26, 2014
This was an enjoyable read for me, I wasn't bowled over, or overly excited by it. Great debut for author and child psychiatrist though, Dawn Barker. This is a serious platform, post natal psychosis and the tragedy that follows when Anna isn't sleeping and doesn't appear to be coping too well. Husband Tony goes straight back to work, mistake number one, and mistake number two, doesn't follow through with thoughts he has in regards to her appearing to not cope. He thinks she'll be fine, it doesn't appear to be serious - even after witnessing a manic episode that is out of the normal realm of Anna's tired depression. This wasn't a book I had to keep reading, and I was left with a 'flattish' ending, although I realise the ending was probably meant to make us keep thinking.
October 21, 2014
Anna and Tony were thrilled by the birth of their beautiful baby boy, whom they named Jack. He was adorable, and Anna couldn’t wait to get home from hospital and begin being the mother she had always wanted to be. But Jack wouldn’t settle, he seemed to be always hungry, and so the routine began with Anna feeding him every two hours or so, not sleeping when Jack slept, and determined to do everything on her own. She wanted to breastfeed, she was determined to be a GOOD mother, and refused the suggestion she top Jack up with formula. She refused help from Tony’s mother, Ursula, and her own Mum, Wendy, who lived in Western Australia, was told by Anna to come over to Sydney when Jack was bigger, so she could enjoy and interact with him…
Tony went back to work immediately Anna and Jack came home from hospital, therefore he was gone from early morning till early evening, every week day, and missed a lot of Anna’s problems. Even when he wanted to help, she wouldn’t let him, plus when he asked her if she was alright, she always said yes. In retrospect of course, Tony realized she WASN’T alright, but the fragile walls had begun to crumble, and suddenly, on the day Tony left early for a meeting after organising his mother to come over to help Anna with Jack, everything came crashing down, and Tony’s life, and the lives of everyone around him were changed forever.
The suddenness of life’s change shocked Tony…Anna was in bed sleeping, he had fed Jack and left him also sleeping, and gone to work. Now, only a matter of half an hour later, Anna and Jack were missing. His Mum and Dad Jim, along with Tony himself, began a search, which became more and more desperate…no-one had seen her; Emily, Anna’s best friend, hadn’t spoken to her in a week, Wendy hadn’t spoken on the phone to Anna in a couple of days….where could she be? Where was Jack? Tony rang the police around mid-day, and the search intensified…..
The emotion in this book is intense…many times I was swallowing back tears. The empathy for Anna and her desperation with Jack, her determination to do everything herself when I KNEW she should be asking for and accepting help. As a first time mother, Anna only knew what she had read in books, and they all told her she SHOULD do this, and she SHOULDN’T do that! Those of us with experience ourselves, know that every child is different, and every mother (and father)’s coping mechanism is different.
Dawn Barker has done a brilliant job with this novel, with the subject of childbirth and post natal depression. I have close family who suffered, though I was lucky myself…I have seen what it can do to a family, but fortunately not to the extreme of the families in this novel. I would highly recommend this book to everyone!
Tony went back to work immediately Anna and Jack came home from hospital, therefore he was gone from early morning till early evening, every week day, and missed a lot of Anna’s problems. Even when he wanted to help, she wouldn’t let him, plus when he asked her if she was alright, she always said yes. In retrospect of course, Tony realized she WASN’T alright, but the fragile walls had begun to crumble, and suddenly, on the day Tony left early for a meeting after organising his mother to come over to help Anna with Jack, everything came crashing down, and Tony’s life, and the lives of everyone around him were changed forever.
The suddenness of life’s change shocked Tony…Anna was in bed sleeping, he had fed Jack and left him also sleeping, and gone to work. Now, only a matter of half an hour later, Anna and Jack were missing. His Mum and Dad Jim, along with Tony himself, began a search, which became more and more desperate…no-one had seen her; Emily, Anna’s best friend, hadn’t spoken to her in a week, Wendy hadn’t spoken on the phone to Anna in a couple of days….where could she be? Where was Jack? Tony rang the police around mid-day, and the search intensified…..
The emotion in this book is intense…many times I was swallowing back tears. The empathy for Anna and her desperation with Jack, her determination to do everything herself when I KNEW she should be asking for and accepting help. As a first time mother, Anna only knew what she had read in books, and they all told her she SHOULD do this, and she SHOULDN’T do that! Those of us with experience ourselves, know that every child is different, and every mother (and father)’s coping mechanism is different.
Dawn Barker has done a brilliant job with this novel, with the subject of childbirth and post natal depression. I have close family who suffered, though I was lucky myself…I have seen what it can do to a family, but fortunately not to the extreme of the families in this novel. I would highly recommend this book to everyone!
June 12, 2015
This was an awful read - well executed, because it certainly made me want to keep reading, but just terrible to read about Anna, not coping with her new baby and just so dreadfully, dreadfully tired… I don’t want to say too much for fear of giving away details, but I’m glad I don’t have children and if I ever feel like I wish I could have a baby, I think I’d be cured if I came back and re-read this. It is haunting.
I originally gave this 4.5 stars, leaving off half a star because there were some instances which seemed a bit strange - a character would say one thing and then contradict themselves in the next breath, or do the opposite, and this didn’t seem to make sense, but I've decided this was perhaps normal behaviour in this situation. So I’m revising my rating to 5 stars.
I originally gave this 4.5 stars, leaving off half a star because there were some instances which seemed a bit strange - a character would say one thing and then contradict themselves in the next breath, or do the opposite, and this didn’t seem to make sense, but I've decided this was perhaps normal behaviour in this situation. So I’m revising my rating to 5 stars.
February 20, 2017
BAYILDIM. Tam da bu tip roman arıyordum. Belirsizlikler. Harikaydı.
Suç sadece Anna da değil aynı zamanda Tony'de. Kesinlikle Tony Anna'ya bebek doğduğunda destek olabilirdi. Ve de en önemlisi olaylar birbirini kovalarken Emily bile Anna ya destek çıkarken Tony bunu yapmadı. Böyle kocanın CANI CEHENNEME!!!!!
Evet Anna bir sure bunalım yaşadı. Kötü bir sey yaptı ama bu onun elinde değildi. Bir de üstüne Ursula'nın yaptığı terbiyesizlikler var.
Suç sadece Anna da değil aynı zamanda Tony'de. Kesinlikle Tony Anna'ya bebek doğduğunda destek olabilirdi. Ve de en önemlisi olaylar birbirini kovalarken Emily bile Anna ya destek çıkarken Tony bunu yapmadı. Böyle kocanın CANI CEHENNEME!!!!!
Evet Anna bir sure bunalım yaşadı. Kötü bir sey yaptı ama bu onun elinde değildi. Bir de üstüne Ursula'nın yaptığı terbiyesizlikler var.
August 30, 2016
Kitabın konusu baştan sona kadar sürükleyiciydi. Üstelik psikolojik terimlerde vardı. Yani benim sevmeme gibi bir durumum olamazdı fakat sonu tam olarak istediğim gibi bitmedi şaşırtmadı sarsmadı ama güzeldi..
April 6, 2013
Fractured is a devastating portrayal of a young family shattered by tragedy from debut author, Dawn Barker. When Anna is found bruised, battered and uncommunicative on a seaside cliff, her husband, Tony, imagines she has been attacked, perhaps car jacked. While he is relieved she has been found safe, their newborn son, Jack, is still missing and Anna can't, or won't, tell them where he is.
Structured along two alternating timelines that eventually meet, Fractured begins with the day that Anna and Jack disappear and then takes the reader back to the day that their much wanted and loved son was born. As the story unfolds, primarily through the viewpoint of Tony, we are witness to Anna's experience of new motherhood and Tony's struggle to make sense of the disintegration of his family.
With sensitivity and compassion, Barker explores this confronting situation and it's heart rending results. The tension comes at first from the unknown fate of baby Jack but is maintained as Anna and Tony have to come to terms with events, and are faced with the unimaginable emotional and legal repercussions of tragedy.
As the characters vacillate between blame, empathy, loathing and pity so does the reader, forced to confront the boundaries of our understanding about postpartum mental illness. It is an intense study of human frailty, drama and tragedy of which many have little understanding.
A superb debut for Dawn Barker, Fractured is a psychologically complex, gripping story that I couldn't put down. This adult fiction title is one that will haunt me for a while.
July 23, 2021
gereksiz uzatılmış gereksiz detaylarla süslenmeye çalışılmış bir kitaptı. temele inildiğinde değindiği konu bence gerçelten çok hoş sadece annanın üstüne gidilmesi beni gerçekten çok yordu çünkü tony de bana kalırsa en az onun kadar hatalıydı bi tık daha kısa tutulsa benden bi 4 alırdı
April 2, 2013
Something in the prologue of this book warned me that something terrible was about to be revealed. I recognised the room (I have been a social worker/youth worker/refuge worker in the past and knew where that room was, what it was.) My interest was stirred but I was hesitant to proceed, in fact I did procrastinate quite a bit before picking this book up again. I do not enjoy reading “lifelike” tragedies- I feel too much. And this book certainly made me feel.
My chest tightened as I read the first forty or so pages – the pages describing the time up to what was to be referred to as “the event”, the unspeakable act...I knew what was coming. I couldn’t breathe. I ask myself, is it my studies or work history or my own experience of childhood/motherhood that instilled this tension within me? Would a childless woman or a man be so affected by this script? I don’t know I can only read and interpret the world through my eyes, my experiences.
An emotional and tension packed introduction to a topic that no one mentions out loud. (I deliberately avoid “spoilers”) It is time the taboo was broken and maybe this book will be the catalyst that will drive this conversation into the open. It is a conversation mothers should have with their daughters, and daughters should have with their friends and partner. It is a subject the world should be talking about and thinking about and changing. Each one of us can help create this change.
Back to the book – emotional, VERY. A suspenseful start, a sad, sad truth then unfolds – the truth about the event itself and the truth how others respond to this situation. We see through the reactions of the other characters; the mum, mother in law, husband, friends etc how they responded, the responsibility they did not embrace. I hope I would react differently. It is a credit to the author that the characters evoke such strong reactions: I hated the mother in law, her smugness, her selfishness, her inability to show her feelings, her lack of charity. I wanted the husband to be berated- he was selfish, he did not respond the clues and hints that something was really not right and he did not intervene; he went to work. I was angry that society put so much pressure on women, especially young women – to be pretty, thin, perfect, caring, a housewife, a provider, a mother, a cleaner and unselfish. I felt so sorry for the Anna. I felt she had been let down by all those around her – and had been since a child. “Life is fine”, we have that throwaway line spoken everyday; listen. We all cope when everything is going well, it is not until we are tested that the fractures begin to show. I think this novel demonstrates the need for more honesty in life and relationships and the fact we - men and women have forgotten how to ask for help and maybe some of us have forgotten how to respond.
A great read – keep the tissues handy.
My chest tightened as I read the first forty or so pages – the pages describing the time up to what was to be referred to as “the event”, the unspeakable act...I knew what was coming. I couldn’t breathe. I ask myself, is it my studies or work history or my own experience of childhood/motherhood that instilled this tension within me? Would a childless woman or a man be so affected by this script? I don’t know I can only read and interpret the world through my eyes, my experiences.
An emotional and tension packed introduction to a topic that no one mentions out loud. (I deliberately avoid “spoilers”) It is time the taboo was broken and maybe this book will be the catalyst that will drive this conversation into the open. It is a conversation mothers should have with their daughters, and daughters should have with their friends and partner. It is a subject the world should be talking about and thinking about and changing. Each one of us can help create this change.
Back to the book – emotional, VERY. A suspenseful start, a sad, sad truth then unfolds – the truth about the event itself and the truth how others respond to this situation. We see through the reactions of the other characters; the mum, mother in law, husband, friends etc how they responded, the responsibility they did not embrace. I hope I would react differently. It is a credit to the author that the characters evoke such strong reactions: I hated the mother in law, her smugness, her selfishness, her inability to show her feelings, her lack of charity. I wanted the husband to be berated- he was selfish, he did not respond the clues and hints that something was really not right and he did not intervene; he went to work. I was angry that society put so much pressure on women, especially young women – to be pretty, thin, perfect, caring, a housewife, a provider, a mother, a cleaner and unselfish. I felt so sorry for the Anna. I felt she had been let down by all those around her – and had been since a child. “Life is fine”, we have that throwaway line spoken everyday; listen. We all cope when everything is going well, it is not until we are tested that the fractures begin to show. I think this novel demonstrates the need for more honesty in life and relationships and the fact we - men and women have forgotten how to ask for help and maybe some of us have forgotten how to respond.
A great read – keep the tissues handy.
April 14, 2013
What an incredible debut from new Australian author Dawn Barker. I loved this book from the very first page and from that very first page I was catapulted through each and every page at a rate I just couldn’t stop. This novel is POWERFUL! It is also DEVASTATING! The tragedy that grips this family was just so intense and the feelings that Dawn can just put down on paper dragged me through the wringer also, so much so that I was trying to cope with the emotions myself that this story pulls you into. I think being a mother and a doctor has allowed this new author the gift of depth in her narration in a subject that she knows. This is a stunning first novel from Dawn and I truly hope is not the last……
August 24, 2016
Cidden çok iyi bir psikolojik gerilim kitabı Kırık Dökük. Okuduğum için memnunum, ayrıca sanki hava hiç sıcak, bunaltıcı, iğrenç değilmiş gibi beni biraz da terletti. Gerilim okumak başlı başına ter dökmek demek ve bunun üzerine bir de psikoloji eklenince otuz beş kez duş almak istememe neden oldu.
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February 12, 2016
4.65/5
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March 1, 2017
Yazarın ilk romanı olmasına rağmen müthiş sürükleyici ve anlatımı harika bir romandı. Betimlemeler, karakterlerin içinde bulundukları benlikler ve düşünceler teker teker çok iyi anlatılmış. Daha kitabın başında bu fark ediliyor ve kitabın içine girmemeniz için hiçbir neden kalmıyor.
Anna ve kocası Tonny her zaman bir bebek istediler. Bebek sahibi olmanın getirdiği zorluklar tek başına Anna’nın üstüne yığılıyor. Tonny ona ne kadar yardım etmeye çalışsa da bebeği emzirmesi gereken ve her ağladığında onu uyutması gereken kişi Anna. Dahası bebekleri Jack sürekli ağlayıp, geceleri uyumayan bir bebek olunca Anna daha da kötüye gidiyor. Doğum sonrası depresyona giren biri oluyor fakat bu onu kabul etmiyor. Öyle ki Tonny bile bunun normal olduğunu, doğum yapan her kadının böyle olduğunu düşünüyor. Ama öyle mi?
Anna’nın durumu bir iyi bir kötü olmaya devam ederken Tonny annesini çağırıp Anna’a yardım etmesini istiyor. Tonny’nın annesi eve geldiğinde Anna ve Jack’i evde bulamıyor. Ve olaylar burada patlak vermeye başlıyor. Kafanızda oluşan belirsizlik, acaba gerçekten öyle mi gibi düşünceler sizi ele geçiriyor. Tonny ve Anna arasında geçen her şey çok gerçek ve yerindeydi. Tonny ne tam anlamıyla Anna’dan uzaklaştı ne de tam anlamıyla yanında oldu. Burada en fazla üzüldüğüm kişi hep Tonny oldu. Bir tarafta karısı ve oğlu diğer tarafta ÇİRKEF bir anne… Tonny’nin annesi Ursula resmen melek görünümlü şeytan. Kitabın ilk yarısında Anna’a destek olmaya çalışırken son yarısında adeta bir şeytan oluyor. Özelikle geçmişte onun yaptığı hatalar varken böyle davranması çok yersizdi.
Anna’nın yaşadığı olay bazı karakterlere göre “sıradan” bir durum gibi görünmesine sinir oldum. Bir şey yokmuş gibi hadi yemeye çıkalım düşünceleri beni rahatsız etti doğrusu. Ve yine bazı yerlerin fazla uzatıldığını düşünüyorum. Mesela kitapta bir mektup olayı var. Tonny bu mektubu defalarca okumasına rağmen, biz okurlar bunu okuyamıyoruz. Anca kitabın sonunda okuyoruz ki zaten bu mektup tahmin edilebilen bir şeydi. İçinde yazılanları sonunda bizde okuduğumuzda bunu anlıyoruz. Ve bir de Anna’nın en yakın arkadaşı Emily var. Emily tamam iyi güzel hoş bir şeyler yapmaya çalıştı ama neden kitapta bu kadar az vardı?? Bu da beni rahatsız eden başka bir etkendi.
Kitap hem şimdiki zamanı hem de geçmişten Jack’in doğumundan ve ortadan kaybolmalarına kadar olan bütün süreci anlatıyor. Böylece aklınızda hiçbir soru işareti kalmıyor. Bir ailenin nasıl bir anda ortadan kaybolduğu hakkında bir roman. Anna’nın annesi onun yanında olmalıydı. Onu en iyi annesi tanıyorken, doğumdan sonra bile kızının yanına gelmeyişi çok ama çok aptalcaydı.
Hele o sonu.. Çoğu yazar gibi Dawn Barker’da bizim hayal gücümüze bırakmış. Hayal gücümde Tonny ve Anna çok mutlu. Ama ayrı ayrı…
"Hayat sadece eğlenmek değil, yetemediğimiz zamanlar olur."
Anna ve kocası Tonny her zaman bir bebek istediler. Bebek sahibi olmanın getirdiği zorluklar tek başına Anna’nın üstüne yığılıyor. Tonny ona ne kadar yardım etmeye çalışsa da bebeği emzirmesi gereken ve her ağladığında onu uyutması gereken kişi Anna. Dahası bebekleri Jack sürekli ağlayıp, geceleri uyumayan bir bebek olunca Anna daha da kötüye gidiyor. Doğum sonrası depresyona giren biri oluyor fakat bu onu kabul etmiyor. Öyle ki Tonny bile bunun normal olduğunu, doğum yapan her kadının böyle olduğunu düşünüyor. Ama öyle mi?
Anna’nın durumu bir iyi bir kötü olmaya devam ederken Tonny annesini çağırıp Anna’a yardım etmesini istiyor. Tonny’nın annesi eve geldiğinde Anna ve Jack’i evde bulamıyor. Ve olaylar burada patlak vermeye başlıyor. Kafanızda oluşan belirsizlik, acaba gerçekten öyle mi gibi düşünceler sizi ele geçiriyor. Tonny ve Anna arasında geçen her şey çok gerçek ve yerindeydi. Tonny ne tam anlamıyla Anna’dan uzaklaştı ne de tam anlamıyla yanında oldu. Burada en fazla üzüldüğüm kişi hep Tonny oldu. Bir tarafta karısı ve oğlu diğer tarafta ÇİRKEF bir anne… Tonny’nin annesi Ursula resmen melek görünümlü şeytan. Kitabın ilk yarısında Anna’a destek olmaya çalışırken son yarısında adeta bir şeytan oluyor. Özelikle geçmişte onun yaptığı hatalar varken böyle davranması çok yersizdi.
Anna’nın yaşadığı olay bazı karakterlere göre “sıradan” bir durum gibi görünmesine sinir oldum. Bir şey yokmuş gibi hadi yemeye çıkalım düşünceleri beni rahatsız etti doğrusu. Ve yine bazı yerlerin fazla uzatıldığını düşünüyorum. Mesela kitapta bir mektup olayı var. Tonny bu mektubu defalarca okumasına rağmen, biz okurlar bunu okuyamıyoruz. Anca kitabın sonunda okuyoruz ki zaten bu mektup tahmin edilebilen bir şeydi. İçinde yazılanları sonunda bizde okuduğumuzda bunu anlıyoruz. Ve bir de Anna’nın en yakın arkadaşı Emily var. Emily tamam iyi güzel hoş bir şeyler yapmaya çalıştı ama neden kitapta bu kadar az vardı?? Bu da beni rahatsız eden başka bir etkendi.
Kitap hem şimdiki zamanı hem de geçmişten Jack’in doğumundan ve ortadan kaybolmalarına kadar olan bütün süreci anlatıyor. Böylece aklınızda hiçbir soru işareti kalmıyor. Bir ailenin nasıl bir anda ortadan kaybolduğu hakkında bir roman. Anna’nın annesi onun yanında olmalıydı. Onu en iyi annesi tanıyorken, doğumdan sonra bile kızının yanına gelmeyişi çok ama çok aptalcaydı.
Hele o sonu.. Çoğu yazar gibi Dawn Barker’da bizim hayal gücümüze bırakmış. Hayal gücümde Tonny ve Anna çok mutlu. Ama ayrı ayrı…
"Hayat sadece eğlenmek değil, yetemediğimiz zamanlar olur."
November 22, 2019
Gerçekten daha önce karşılaşmadığım bir konu ele alınmıştı. Doğum sonrası psikoz ve depresyon daha önce okumadığım bir konuydu ve kitabı yazan psikiyatrist olduğu için beklentim de büyüktü. Ama şunu tereddütsüz yazıyorum, yazar potansiyeli çok yüksek bir konuyu boşa harcamış. Okurken çok sıkıldım, hızlı okudum, çünkü hemen bitsin de kurtulayım diye düşündüm. Kitap beni içine çekmedi, hiçbir duygu hissetirmedi, basit ve düz cümleler yaşanan olayların duygularını anlatmak için yetersiz kalmıştı. Karakterlerle empati kurmak, onları anlamak çok zordu. Ortada zihinsel bir hastalık yaşayan bir kadın vardı ama kimse onun durumunu gerçekten anlamıyordu, karakterler olaydaki sorumluluklarını bir türlü kabul etmiyorlardı. İtici karakterler okuma zevkimi diplere çekti. Anna'nın zihinsel durumunu daha ayrıntılı ve duygu yoğunluğu içinde okumak isterdim, bencil karakterlerin birbiri ile çatışıp durmasını değil. Ayrıca diyaloglar çok yetersizdi. Gereken derinliği hiçbir konuşmada bulamadım. Boğucu bir kitaptı ama bu içerdiği dramın ötesinde kitabın yazımında, karakterlerin oluşturulmasında yer alan teknik bir sorundu bence.
Kitapla ilgili sevdiğim tek şey çift zamanlı ilerlemesiydi. Olayın yaşanmasından önceki zamanları ve sonraki zamanları dönüşümlü olarak gösteriyordu. Kitabı okuyanlar en azından doğum sonrası psikozunun belirtilerini öğrenmiş oluyor, bu açıdan faydalı olabilir ama sanırım o kadarını internetten de araştırabiliriz.
Kısacası hayal kırıklığı oldu bu kitap benim için. Ve beklentimin yüksekliği, konunun ilginçliği de beni gerçekten sinirlendirdi.
Kitapla ilgili sevdiğim tek şey çift zamanlı ilerlemesiydi. Olayın yaşanmasından önceki zamanları ve sonraki zamanları dönüşümlü olarak gösteriyordu. Kitabı okuyanlar en azından doğum sonrası psikozunun belirtilerini öğrenmiş oluyor, bu açıdan faydalı olabilir ama sanırım o kadarını internetten de araştırabiliriz.
Kısacası hayal kırıklığı oldu bu kitap benim için. Ve beklentimin yüksekliği, konunun ilginçliği de beni gerçekten sinirlendirdi.
March 21, 2013
Fractured tells the story of a healthy, highly functioning woman who has a much anticipated pregnancy and a very wanted little baby boy, Jack. But in the weeks following her son’s birth she experiences sleep difficulties and mixed feelings about her baby and she develops a postnatal psychosis with devastating effects on the young family. Told mainly from the viewpoint of her husband Tony, the reader is also privy to the impact on the paternal and maternal grandparents as well as the unfolding story of Anna’s deterioration in her mental state, the day the tragedy occurred and the weeks and months in the aftermath.
Working in perinatal mental health myself I’m always a little critical of how mental illness is represented in fiction especially during motherhood but I couldn’t really fault Fractured. It doesn’t just explore the illness but the implications on the family and the fracture in the relationships both before and after the tragedy.
The author’s background in psychiatry lends an insight into institutionalisation and the integrate details of the impact of a major mental illness on not just the individual but also the extended family. But what I really appreciated was the objectivity the author brings in representing the health system and wider professional network that encounter Anna and her family. From the GP, to the maternity unit to psychiatric ward and the police, as a health professional even I was saying “that’d be right” about some of the poor handling of the case.
Though postnatal depression is quite common for women, postpartum psychosis is actually quite rare and can actually occur without any history of mental health issues. That’s a little scary.
The opening chapter generates anxiety in the reader with the idea that something bad has happened. Tony, father of six week old Jack trusts his intuition and leaves work early when his mother discovers that Jack and his wife Anna are not at home as he expected. Where could they possibly have gone when she was in bed less than an hour ago?
When Anna is found she is in a psychotic state and unable to articulate or remember what happened to Jack. When their baby is located, the tragic news devastates the family. Jack is dead. But how did he die? Tony is frantic to find an explanation for Anna’s behaviour, from believing she was attacked to some form of physical condition until reluctantly considering that perhaps his beloved wife killed their baby.
My feelings for each of the characters in the story changed throughout. initially I felt Ursula, Tony’s mother was very supportive and helpful but later I found her to be quite critical and intrusive- much how Tony experienced her in the latter half of the book. Tony was whom I empathised with mainly as he learns that his baby has died and his wife is mentally ill. The author realistically showed the change in Tony’s perception of the situation and the mixture of feelings he had throughout the story. Anna’s viewpoint became more palpable later in the story as the before and after began to merge and she became more lucid. I could empathise with her, especially near the end knowing that her life would never be the same again. How in just six weeks a young couple bring a bundle of joy into the world can have their lives turned upside down and would be on their conscience forever.
Later in the story as the impact on Anna and Tony’s relationship became palpable, I became a little teary and even though my vision was a little blurry I just couldn’t put this book down.
Fractured is a touching, moving story about the devastating impact of postnatal psychosis on a family in its extreme manifestations. Through clever storytelling of the before and after approach it gives you a sense of helpless hindsight of all the points in which something could have been done to prevent baby Jack’s death.
Working in perinatal mental health myself I’m always a little critical of how mental illness is represented in fiction especially during motherhood but I couldn’t really fault Fractured. It doesn’t just explore the illness but the implications on the family and the fracture in the relationships both before and after the tragedy.
The author’s background in psychiatry lends an insight into institutionalisation and the integrate details of the impact of a major mental illness on not just the individual but also the extended family. But what I really appreciated was the objectivity the author brings in representing the health system and wider professional network that encounter Anna and her family. From the GP, to the maternity unit to psychiatric ward and the police, as a health professional even I was saying “that’d be right” about some of the poor handling of the case.
Though postnatal depression is quite common for women, postpartum psychosis is actually quite rare and can actually occur without any history of mental health issues. That’s a little scary.
The opening chapter generates anxiety in the reader with the idea that something bad has happened. Tony, father of six week old Jack trusts his intuition and leaves work early when his mother discovers that Jack and his wife Anna are not at home as he expected. Where could they possibly have gone when she was in bed less than an hour ago?
When Anna is found she is in a psychotic state and unable to articulate or remember what happened to Jack. When their baby is located, the tragic news devastates the family. Jack is dead. But how did he die? Tony is frantic to find an explanation for Anna’s behaviour, from believing she was attacked to some form of physical condition until reluctantly considering that perhaps his beloved wife killed their baby.
My feelings for each of the characters in the story changed throughout. initially I felt Ursula, Tony’s mother was very supportive and helpful but later I found her to be quite critical and intrusive- much how Tony experienced her in the latter half of the book. Tony was whom I empathised with mainly as he learns that his baby has died and his wife is mentally ill. The author realistically showed the change in Tony’s perception of the situation and the mixture of feelings he had throughout the story. Anna’s viewpoint became more palpable later in the story as the before and after began to merge and she became more lucid. I could empathise with her, especially near the end knowing that her life would never be the same again. How in just six weeks a young couple bring a bundle of joy into the world can have their lives turned upside down and would be on their conscience forever.
Later in the story as the impact on Anna and Tony’s relationship became palpable, I became a little teary and even though my vision was a little blurry I just couldn’t put this book down.
Fractured is a touching, moving story about the devastating impact of postnatal psychosis on a family in its extreme manifestations. Through clever storytelling of the before and after approach it gives you a sense of helpless hindsight of all the points in which something could have been done to prevent baby Jack’s death.
Read
April 3, 2013Fractured is the first novel I've read which deals with the issue of post-natal psychosis - an issue which is often sensationalised and misrepresented in the media. Fractured explores the tragic implications of this illness with sensitivity, in a page-turning story which I read in a couple of sittings.
Dawn Barker captures very accurately the bewilderment and sense of being completely overwhelmed that new mothers feel, as well as the emotions of a new father, who is aware that his wife is struggling but unsure how best to support her.
The novel begins on the day of Anna's breakdown, but Anna is so unwell she can't remember where she has been or what has happened. Her husband Tony is left to piece it together while he also deals with the repercussions of her illness. There is a great deal of suspense as the narrative moves between the novel's present, and the day of the breakdown, with the full picture of events revealed only gradually.
I think one of the best things about this novel was the way other characters responded to Anna's illness, and her actions while she was affected by post-natal psychosis. Her husband and his parents are conflicted, on one hand wanting to support her, and on the other, blaming her for something she had no control over. It is an insight into how people with mental health issues are often treated.
This is a page-turning psychological drama on a topic which needs to be written and talked about more in order to be better understood.
*I am not giving it a rating because I'm in a writer's group with Dawn and any rating I gave might be perceived as biased.
Dawn Barker captures very accurately the bewilderment and sense of being completely overwhelmed that new mothers feel, as well as the emotions of a new father, who is aware that his wife is struggling but unsure how best to support her.
The novel begins on the day of Anna's breakdown, but Anna is so unwell she can't remember where she has been or what has happened. Her husband Tony is left to piece it together while he also deals with the repercussions of her illness. There is a great deal of suspense as the narrative moves between the novel's present, and the day of the breakdown, with the full picture of events revealed only gradually.
I think one of the best things about this novel was the way other characters responded to Anna's illness, and her actions while she was affected by post-natal psychosis. Her husband and his parents are conflicted, on one hand wanting to support her, and on the other, blaming her for something she had no control over. It is an insight into how people with mental health issues are often treated.
This is a page-turning psychological drama on a topic which needs to be written and talked about more in order to be better understood.
*I am not giving it a rating because I'm in a writer's group with Dawn and any rating I gave might be perceived as biased.
March 31, 2015
Oh my! What a great first novel. Easy to read, kept me thinking a few twists and turns. Did not like the husband's mum. Kept thinking how could she of done this, but hormones play a huge part, why would this happen to some people and not others. Great read.
March 4, 2016
Günün birinde hamile kalırsam bu kitabın bilinçaltımda derin bir yara oluşturduğunun farkına varmam umarım. Doğum sonrası psikolojisi, stresi ve sorunları iyi bir şekilde işlenmişti. Peki ya o son? Sonrası okuyucunun hayal gücüne bırakılışı bir parça rahatsız etti *-*
March 2, 2015
I had high hopes for this book and it just did not deliver on it's potential.
At the book's outset, new father Tony receives a call while at work: His wife Anna and their six week son are missing. Hour by hour, day by day, the details behind what went so tragically wrong in the story of a young mother unable to cope. This is a book about post postpartum psychosis (think: Andrea Yates) and it's devastating aftermath.
I went into this more than a little impressed with the courage of an author willing to tackle such a huge taboo subject on a first novel. i was anticipating an honest and frank discourse on how truly truly difficult it can be for new mothers to adjust to life in the early weeks after a baby is born, but to go even further down the rabbit hole of "Things not talked about" and polarizing subject as postpartum depression, psychosis and even . These are things we need to talk about as a society, especially given how very much pressure and judgment is put on parents to be absolutely perfect with their children. I'd hoped the subject matter would be handled with grace, intelligence and candor.
Unfortunately, it just seemed like the scope and depth of the subject matter was far beyond the skill of the story teller.
It just wasn't good, guys. It was poorly written, repetitive and powers that be forgive me for saying this, but it was boring. Just because this subject *should* be talked about, should be addressed does not mean you should just shrug and pretend this poorly written book is better than it is. It was less an intelligent and sensitive handling of a powerful and painful subject and more a derivative, breathless, brainless and shallow entry in the Jodi Picault genre of grim novels for ladies. Exploitation Chick Lit from the Dark Side?
Aside from the serious mishandling of the major elements, things were emphasized, picked out and put forth for no real reason. An example I found grating, silly as it may sound...in practically every single scene, alcohol is high lighted. Having wine, getting beers, sipping champagne. Every single flippin scene, there is untold emphasis about the various and assorted characters picking their poison, drinking their third or fourth beer and asking for another, purchasing booze, gifting booze, wondering who is going to buy, bring or gift the booze, not to mention savoring their wine, licking their lips after a particularly sweet Riesling. So. Much. Fucking. Alcohol. What lip biting was to Fifty Shades, wine drinking is to this book. So okay, I figure...we're going to deal with alcoholism or the effects of drinking on a family. Nope. The heavy 'casual' drinking is just...there. No reason, the clan just can't be sound one another unless they're boozing it up and arguing over who drank the least and can drive home semi sober.
I like flawed characters quite a bit, and I typically will not dismiss a book because I dislike the characters in it. I don't read to make imaginary friends or to self insert. I consider myself a fairly open minded reader in that respect. Be that as it may, it was impossible to have any sympathy or respect for Anna. She is a whiny, self absorbed child. In the "before" sections of the book, before the ppd ever took hold, she refuses to communicate with anyone and is instead completely fake and utterly passive aggressive. Anna's full character can be summed up by saying she expecting everyone around her --from hospital staff, to her in-laws, to her mother to people on the street and especially her poor sap of a husband, even her poor woe begotten baby-- to magically read her mind and intuit her every whim... rather than communicate what her needs and wants like an adult.
Tony is supposed to always just know Anna's every dislike, want, and discomfort without Anna giving the slightest bit of indication as to what she truly wants. Anna will lie, saying she is fine with xyz (Tony's parents coming over for dinner. Tony going home while her labor is induced, Tony sleeping, Tony going back to work etc ad nauseam) while she is Internally SEETHING and wondering why everyone so meeeeean and no one does what she wants. Even something as petty, a stupid as refusing to tell Tony to not rub her back during labor, but instead getting pissy and whiny in her own head but not saying anything at all.
Frankly, if it was a smarter book, I'd be willing to chalk up my distaste for the character as a sign of "Hey. This lady's psychotic. Of course she is acting irrationally/strangely/childishly" but even in the flash back sections of the book, even in the areas where she is described outside of the she is whiny and selfish.
I'll be clear: Postpartum depression is a serious matter, it is not the cutesypoo baby blues...people are suffering. I found the bumbling mishandling of the subject to be exploitative.
Moving along, Anna is of those characters that everyone loves for reasons unstated by the author themselves. To be extraordinarily flippant, I'll quote Rhett Butler, at the book's horribly disappointing conclusion, she's like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail.
And that's the problem I have with this book, right there. That while smoking, angry rant. It made me mad at a lady suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Do not waste your time or money.
At the book's outset, new father Tony receives a call while at work: His wife Anna and their six week son are missing. Hour by hour, day by day, the details behind what went so tragically wrong in the story of a young mother unable to cope. This is a book about post postpartum psychosis (think: Andrea Yates) and it's devastating aftermath.
I went into this more than a little impressed with the courage of an author willing to tackle such a huge taboo subject on a first novel. i was anticipating an honest and frank discourse on how truly truly difficult it can be for new mothers to adjust to life in the early weeks after a baby is born, but to go even further down the rabbit hole of "Things not talked about" and polarizing subject as postpartum depression, psychosis and even . These are things we need to talk about as a society, especially given how very much pressure and judgment is put on parents to be absolutely perfect with their children. I'd hoped the subject matter would be handled with grace, intelligence and candor.
Unfortunately, it just seemed like the scope and depth of the subject matter was far beyond the skill of the story teller.
It just wasn't good, guys. It was poorly written, repetitive and powers that be forgive me for saying this, but it was boring. Just because this subject *should* be talked about, should be addressed does not mean you should just shrug and pretend this poorly written book is better than it is. It was less an intelligent and sensitive handling of a powerful and painful subject and more a derivative, breathless, brainless and shallow entry in the Jodi Picault genre of grim novels for ladies. Exploitation Chick Lit from the Dark Side?
Aside from the serious mishandling of the major elements, things were emphasized, picked out and put forth for no real reason. An example I found grating, silly as it may sound...in practically every single scene, alcohol is high lighted. Having wine, getting beers, sipping champagne. Every single flippin scene, there is untold emphasis about the various and assorted characters picking their poison, drinking their third or fourth beer and asking for another, purchasing booze, gifting booze, wondering who is going to buy, bring or gift the booze, not to mention savoring their wine, licking their lips after a particularly sweet Riesling. So. Much. Fucking. Alcohol. What lip biting was to Fifty Shades, wine drinking is to this book. So okay, I figure...we're going to deal with alcoholism or the effects of drinking on a family. Nope. The heavy 'casual' drinking is just...there. No reason, the clan just can't be sound one another unless they're boozing it up and arguing over who drank the least and can drive home semi sober.
I like flawed characters quite a bit, and I typically will not dismiss a book because I dislike the characters in it. I don't read to make imaginary friends or to self insert. I consider myself a fairly open minded reader in that respect. Be that as it may, it was impossible to have any sympathy or respect for Anna. She is a whiny, self absorbed child. In the "before" sections of the book, before the ppd ever took hold, she refuses to communicate with anyone and is instead completely fake and utterly passive aggressive. Anna's full character can be summed up by saying she expecting everyone around her --from hospital staff, to her in-laws, to her mother to people on the street and especially her poor sap of a husband, even her poor woe begotten baby-- to magically read her mind and intuit her every whim... rather than communicate what her needs and wants like an adult.
Tony is supposed to always just know Anna's every dislike, want, and discomfort without Anna giving the slightest bit of indication as to what she truly wants. Anna will lie, saying she is fine with xyz (Tony's parents coming over for dinner. Tony going home while her labor is induced, Tony sleeping, Tony going back to work etc ad nauseam) while she is Internally SEETHING and wondering why everyone so meeeeean and no one does what she wants. Even something as petty, a stupid as refusing to tell Tony to not rub her back during labor, but instead getting pissy and whiny in her own head but not saying anything at all.
Frankly, if it was a smarter book, I'd be willing to chalk up my distaste for the character as a sign of "Hey. This lady's psychotic. Of course she is acting irrationally/strangely/childishly" but even in the flash back sections of the book, even in the areas where she is described outside of the she is whiny and selfish.
I'll be clear: Postpartum depression is a serious matter, it is not the cutesypoo baby blues...people are suffering. I found the bumbling mishandling of the subject to be exploitative.
Moving along, Anna is of those characters that everyone loves for reasons unstated by the author themselves. To be extraordinarily flippant, I'll quote Rhett Butler, at the book's horribly disappointing conclusion, she's like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail.
And that's the problem I have with this book, right there. That while smoking, angry rant. It made me mad at a lady suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Do not waste your time or money.
March 22, 2013
When Tony’s mother calls him during a meeting to tell him that his wife isn’t home, Tony immediately becomes worried. Tony and Anna welcomed baby Jack six weeks ago and it’s clear that Anna has been struggling a little with the constant broken sleep. Tony had told Anna this morning that his mother would pop around to help her out, maybe watch Jack so she could have a sleep so it’s very strange that Anna isn’t there.
Tony rushes home and while his mother waits at the house, he goes searching for Anna. There’s no sign of her for hours and finally he rings the police. When they find Anna, she is admitted immediately to hospital – the psychiatric ward. And there’s no sign of baby Jack. When he is finally found, the worst of Tony’s nightmares come shockingly true.
There’s no doubt that Anna is ill – she’s almost catatonic and when she comes out of the drugs it seems she has no memory of what has occurred. Tony is facing losing the most important people in his life and he also has to deal with the fact that one caused the loss of the other. He finds it hard to be with Anna, to even look at her, even though he knows that what she did isn’t really her. It has a name, this thing that changed her personality but that doesn’t make it any easier or make Tony’s grief any less. He has too much to deal with right now, he can’t face his wife as well.
A tragic incident, a resulting charge and the players in baby Jack’s life will forever have to deal with the many small things that contributed. It’s enough to tear a family apart.
I knew when I saw this book that I would have to read it immediately! I bought it on my trip into Dymocks the other week and read it the next day. I’m equal parts fascinated by and terrified of post-partum depression and psychosis. My great aunt suffered from at least one, and even now it remains slightly unclear which, because this was over 40 years ago, before it even had a name, when the solution was to put the woman in a mental hospital, usually for life. She tried to kill herself many times, she left her young child alone and was found in a hotel attempting to end her own life. Her husband worked very hard to find a doctor that could find an explanation other than “your wife is insane” and finally received a diagnosis of severe depression, most likely caused by the birth of their daughter. His solution was for her to never have another baby and she didn’t. Instead they adopted a little boy years later.
Today, the solutions are not quite so drastic. With early intervention, medication and support, people can successfully manage the depression and even have more children. My sister-in-law suffered post-natal depression after her second child and took medication for years but recently had a third child medication free. I have to admit, I don’t know as much about post-partum psychosis and what is being tried to treat it (I have read that if mistaken for depression, anti-depressants may not help). But for Anna, all of this knowledge and help came too late. It’s such a hard thing to be a mother, there’s so much pressure from every which direction to natural birth or not to natural birth, to breastfeed or not breastfeed, to co-sleep or have the baby in its own bassinette/cot/room, to start solids at 4 months or 6 months, to get your pre-baby body back and to be honest, it just goes on and on and on. I think that Barker perfectly captured this pressure and how it can impact upon someone who has strict ideas of what they want – Anna’s attempts to fall pregnant, her dream birth that didn’t happen, her difficulty in breastfeeding are all so brilliantly explored in this novel, without the author needing to spend a huge amount of time doing so. Anna’s exhaustion and yet her desire to ‘do it all’, to not want to hand the baby over to Tony (but become angry when he sleeps), to not want her mother-in-law to pop by to help, struck such a chord in me. We’ve all been there, at one stage or another when we’ve had babies! I am married to the most hands-on father in the world but I had to marvel at his ability to sleep through the screaming infant who was three feet away from his face. It used to piss me off and I’d kick him but when he’d offer to get up, I’d snap “Why bother, I’m awake already.”
Anna’s story broke my heart but I also understood the way in which Tony’s mother, Ursula, felt as well. It is like we are groomed as a society to “rank” crime and a mother harming her children is pretty much right up there at the top, be it deliberate or because of some other factor. It’s hard to get your head around such an act and it’s hard for people to understand the true impact of a mental illness at times, as well. No one expects psychosis and when a new mother is exhausted, snappy, emotional or manic, well to be honest, they’re just all the symptoms of being a new mother. I felt horribly sorry for Tony, who saw a few small signs, who urged Anna to see a doctor but couldn’t go with her due to being at work. He could only take on trust that what Anna told him was the truth and when it turned out to not be, he had to live with his small role just as Anna had to live with her role as well. It’s such a punishment in itself that there’s nothing else you could do to someone in Anna’s position to punish them more. Their every day life is more punishment than anything else that could be inflicted upon them.
Fractured is a fabulously written book that delicately explores a disturbing topic. It would be so easy to read a story like this in the paper and feel one way (probably the way that Ursula does) but this book gently encourages a reader to put themselves in everyone’s shoes, including Anna’s. It’s so easy to sink into books like this one and get lost in the story. It’s a fantastic debut novel and makes me excited about future books from this author.
Tony rushes home and while his mother waits at the house, he goes searching for Anna. There’s no sign of her for hours and finally he rings the police. When they find Anna, she is admitted immediately to hospital – the psychiatric ward. And there’s no sign of baby Jack. When he is finally found, the worst of Tony’s nightmares come shockingly true.
There’s no doubt that Anna is ill – she’s almost catatonic and when she comes out of the drugs it seems she has no memory of what has occurred. Tony is facing losing the most important people in his life and he also has to deal with the fact that one caused the loss of the other. He finds it hard to be with Anna, to even look at her, even though he knows that what she did isn’t really her. It has a name, this thing that changed her personality but that doesn’t make it any easier or make Tony’s grief any less. He has too much to deal with right now, he can’t face his wife as well.
A tragic incident, a resulting charge and the players in baby Jack’s life will forever have to deal with the many small things that contributed. It’s enough to tear a family apart.
I knew when I saw this book that I would have to read it immediately! I bought it on my trip into Dymocks the other week and read it the next day. I’m equal parts fascinated by and terrified of post-partum depression and psychosis. My great aunt suffered from at least one, and even now it remains slightly unclear which, because this was over 40 years ago, before it even had a name, when the solution was to put the woman in a mental hospital, usually for life. She tried to kill herself many times, she left her young child alone and was found in a hotel attempting to end her own life. Her husband worked very hard to find a doctor that could find an explanation other than “your wife is insane” and finally received a diagnosis of severe depression, most likely caused by the birth of their daughter. His solution was for her to never have another baby and she didn’t. Instead they adopted a little boy years later.
Today, the solutions are not quite so drastic. With early intervention, medication and support, people can successfully manage the depression and even have more children. My sister-in-law suffered post-natal depression after her second child and took medication for years but recently had a third child medication free. I have to admit, I don’t know as much about post-partum psychosis and what is being tried to treat it (I have read that if mistaken for depression, anti-depressants may not help). But for Anna, all of this knowledge and help came too late. It’s such a hard thing to be a mother, there’s so much pressure from every which direction to natural birth or not to natural birth, to breastfeed or not breastfeed, to co-sleep or have the baby in its own bassinette/cot/room, to start solids at 4 months or 6 months, to get your pre-baby body back and to be honest, it just goes on and on and on. I think that Barker perfectly captured this pressure and how it can impact upon someone who has strict ideas of what they want – Anna’s attempts to fall pregnant, her dream birth that didn’t happen, her difficulty in breastfeeding are all so brilliantly explored in this novel, without the author needing to spend a huge amount of time doing so. Anna’s exhaustion and yet her desire to ‘do it all’, to not want to hand the baby over to Tony (but become angry when he sleeps), to not want her mother-in-law to pop by to help, struck such a chord in me. We’ve all been there, at one stage or another when we’ve had babies! I am married to the most hands-on father in the world but I had to marvel at his ability to sleep through the screaming infant who was three feet away from his face. It used to piss me off and I’d kick him but when he’d offer to get up, I’d snap “Why bother, I’m awake already.”
Anna’s story broke my heart but I also understood the way in which Tony’s mother, Ursula, felt as well. It is like we are groomed as a society to “rank” crime and a mother harming her children is pretty much right up there at the top, be it deliberate or because of some other factor. It’s hard to get your head around such an act and it’s hard for people to understand the true impact of a mental illness at times, as well. No one expects psychosis and when a new mother is exhausted, snappy, emotional or manic, well to be honest, they’re just all the symptoms of being a new mother. I felt horribly sorry for Tony, who saw a few small signs, who urged Anna to see a doctor but couldn’t go with her due to being at work. He could only take on trust that what Anna told him was the truth and when it turned out to not be, he had to live with his small role just as Anna had to live with her role as well. It’s such a punishment in itself that there’s nothing else you could do to someone in Anna’s position to punish them more. Their every day life is more punishment than anything else that could be inflicted upon them.
Fractured is a fabulously written book that delicately explores a disturbing topic. It would be so easy to read a story like this in the paper and feel one way (probably the way that Ursula does) but this book gently encourages a reader to put themselves in everyone’s shoes, including Anna’s. It’s so easy to sink into books like this one and get lost in the story. It’s a fantastic debut novel and makes me excited about future books from this author.
November 28, 2014
There are many reported examples of post-natal (puerperal) psychosis and the consequences suffered by the affected mother, but none brings them closer to home than Dr Dawn Barker in this, her debut novel, in which she has written a bold account of one couple’s tragic journey into parenthood and the complex realms of the mind.
Tony is certain that there is something wrong with Anna, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. So, the house is a mess with washing hardly being done, clothing not being ironed and Anna not cleaning as much as she used to, not to mention cooked meals which are few and far between and Anna not being able to sleep because of the demands of breast-feeding which have her up every two hours. And then there are the few days where she seems almost normal, washing windows, tidying up and cooking a meal. But that’s normal with a new baby … isn’t it?
At work one morning he receives an anxious call from his mother letting him know that Anna and Jack aren’t home. Anna knew her mother-in-law was on her way over, Tony reminded her before he left for work to attend a high-powered meeting, so why is she not home!
Frantic, and with his mind offering flash-backs of the past six weeks, he rushes out of his meeting. Hours later, after a lot of searching and calling friends to find out whether they’ve seen Anna and Jack and receiving no positive answers, he does the only other thing he can think of and calls the police to lodge a missing person’s report.
He finally receives a call from the police, but all is not as it should be. Informing him that they have found Anna, alive, albeit a bit bruised and battered, there’s just one problem … Jack is not with her. Seemingly catatonic, Anna is rushed to hospital appearing to have lost all contact with reality which means that no-one is able to get any useful information out of her. Fearing the worst, Tony doesn’t quite realise the impact this phone call and Anna’s diagnosis is going to have on their lives and, unfortunately, Anna can’t remember any details. What follows is an anguished account of this couple’s struggle to come to terms with a tragedy that no parent should have to experience.
Whilst the ravages of this terrible disorder and the tragic consequences which followed didn’t only affect Tony and Anna, but their parents too, I couldn’t help but not be invested in Ursula, Tony’s mother. The total opposite of Anna’s mother Wendy, Ursula invoked in me an extreme dislike for her in the way she attempted to manipulate Tony in decisions he should have been making on his own, and had me thinking to myself that she should have been offering unbiased support instead of creating a divide.
All too vivid a reminder of my first birth not going at all the way I had planned along with the determination to try and do everything myself, my coping mechanisms slowly crumbling around me along with the obstinacy of not having the problems addressed, this novel invoked my own painful memories at my experience with full-blown post-natal depression after the birth of my first child, for which I was only diagnosed after the birth of my second child, two years and ten months later – this only after being subtly prompted by both my mother and mother-in-law to seek medical advice.
On diagnosis, my GP in South Africa promptly prescribed medication and put me back onto birth control with strict instructions that I shouldn’t have any more children, and while I didn’t suffer psychosis, the all too real rawness of Anna’s emotions and state-of-mind had me vacillating between continuing to read or put it down. Fortunately, Tony and Anna won, and their story had me in its grips until the last page.
Complex and psychologically-charged with intense themes of guilt, grief, helplessness and infanticide, Dawn Barker, in drawing on her psychiatry background and structuring the novel with two alternating timelines, has mixed clinically sound fact with fiction and adeptly approached this subject with the sensitivity and respect it deserves, not only offering insight into the sufferer’s world, but that of her extended family too, thereby giving the reader a realistic portrayal of this rare mental illness which affects approximately one to two women in one-thousand.
I certainly look forward to Dr Barker’s next compelling addition to the fiction genre and would highly recommend this novel to both men and women embarking on that wonderful thing called parenthood (as well as any prospective grand-parents) in order to gain an understanding of the extreme complexities of the mind in the hope that, though rare, future tragedies like this can be averted.
My thanks goes to the publisher, Hachette Books and The Reading Room for providing me with a bound proof of this novel.
And, yet another one is added to my endless list of books for the 2013 Australian Women Writers’ Challenge.
Tony is certain that there is something wrong with Anna, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. So, the house is a mess with washing hardly being done, clothing not being ironed and Anna not cleaning as much as she used to, not to mention cooked meals which are few and far between and Anna not being able to sleep because of the demands of breast-feeding which have her up every two hours. And then there are the few days where she seems almost normal, washing windows, tidying up and cooking a meal. But that’s normal with a new baby … isn’t it?
At work one morning he receives an anxious call from his mother letting him know that Anna and Jack aren’t home. Anna knew her mother-in-law was on her way over, Tony reminded her before he left for work to attend a high-powered meeting, so why is she not home!
Frantic, and with his mind offering flash-backs of the past six weeks, he rushes out of his meeting. Hours later, after a lot of searching and calling friends to find out whether they’ve seen Anna and Jack and receiving no positive answers, he does the only other thing he can think of and calls the police to lodge a missing person’s report.
He finally receives a call from the police, but all is not as it should be. Informing him that they have found Anna, alive, albeit a bit bruised and battered, there’s just one problem … Jack is not with her. Seemingly catatonic, Anna is rushed to hospital appearing to have lost all contact with reality which means that no-one is able to get any useful information out of her. Fearing the worst, Tony doesn’t quite realise the impact this phone call and Anna’s diagnosis is going to have on their lives and, unfortunately, Anna can’t remember any details. What follows is an anguished account of this couple’s struggle to come to terms with a tragedy that no parent should have to experience.
Whilst the ravages of this terrible disorder and the tragic consequences which followed didn’t only affect Tony and Anna, but their parents too, I couldn’t help but not be invested in Ursula, Tony’s mother. The total opposite of Anna’s mother Wendy, Ursula invoked in me an extreme dislike for her in the way she attempted to manipulate Tony in decisions he should have been making on his own, and had me thinking to myself that she should have been offering unbiased support instead of creating a divide.
All too vivid a reminder of my first birth not going at all the way I had planned along with the determination to try and do everything myself, my coping mechanisms slowly crumbling around me along with the obstinacy of not having the problems addressed, this novel invoked my own painful memories at my experience with full-blown post-natal depression after the birth of my first child, for which I was only diagnosed after the birth of my second child, two years and ten months later – this only after being subtly prompted by both my mother and mother-in-law to seek medical advice.
On diagnosis, my GP in South Africa promptly prescribed medication and put me back onto birth control with strict instructions that I shouldn’t have any more children, and while I didn’t suffer psychosis, the all too real rawness of Anna’s emotions and state-of-mind had me vacillating between continuing to read or put it down. Fortunately, Tony and Anna won, and their story had me in its grips until the last page.
Complex and psychologically-charged with intense themes of guilt, grief, helplessness and infanticide, Dawn Barker, in drawing on her psychiatry background and structuring the novel with two alternating timelines, has mixed clinically sound fact with fiction and adeptly approached this subject with the sensitivity and respect it deserves, not only offering insight into the sufferer’s world, but that of her extended family too, thereby giving the reader a realistic portrayal of this rare mental illness which affects approximately one to two women in one-thousand.
I certainly look forward to Dr Barker’s next compelling addition to the fiction genre and would highly recommend this novel to both men and women embarking on that wonderful thing called parenthood (as well as any prospective grand-parents) in order to gain an understanding of the extreme complexities of the mind in the hope that, though rare, future tragedies like this can be averted.
My thanks goes to the publisher, Hachette Books and The Reading Room for providing me with a bound proof of this novel.
And, yet another one is added to my endless list of books for the 2013 Australian Women Writers’ Challenge.
March 10, 2013
3.5
Fractured is an insightful portrayal of mental illness and its devastating effects on a young Australian family.
After desperately trying for a baby for a long time, Anna and Tony finally welcome their firstborn son Jack into the world. But for Anna both the birth and the weeks following are not as she had expected. Jack is a fretful baby who wakes every two hours, and with Tony working long days Anna is soon in a state of total exhaustion. And though Tony is worried about his wife, he puts her growing lethargy, weight loss and mood swings down to adjusting to having a new baby in the house. It is not until Anna and Jack disappear one morning that Tony realises that something is very badly wrong ….
Barker, who is a psychiatrist, offers the reader insights into the devastating effects of postnatal depression, drawing on the background knowledge and experience of a health professional who has been exposed both to patients with the disease as well as the clinical environment. Her portrayal of Anna as she goes through various stages of trying to adjust to being a mother, and her gradual unravelling, is both touching and shocking. The story sends an important message to readers – that mental illness is a medical condition just like other diseases, such as cancer, and not the “fault” of the sufferer. Through Anna, whose actions may repel the reader, we get a glimpse into a world where logic and reason are no longer sufficient anchors to make people operate within the moral and ethical frameworks of humankind. Instead, the illness may compel sufferers to act in an irrational manner which is totally out of character for the person.
I thought that the scenes of Anna trying to come to terms with not only her ever growing fatigue and the demands of her newborn, but also her own feelings of powerlessness and estrangement from her baby were brilliantly described. Every new mother will identify to some extent to Anna’s emotional rollercoaster ride as she tries so very hard to be a good mother to her son. Offering Tony’s perspective highlights the differences in the new parenting experience and the adjustments required by the new parents.
Revealing most details of the novel’s central events early in the book perhaps gave too much away too soon, and I would have liked a bit more mystery to keep me truly engaged with all the characters. However, supporting the story with the perspectives of both Anna’s and Tony’s family members and friends added depth to the story and explored the effects of Anna’s illness on those closest to her, rippling out into the wider community. One aspect which could have been further explored was the public reaction to the events unfolding in the story, and its impact on family members – although the internal conflicts and divided loyalties were portrayed very well.
Barker has done an excellent job in exploring the tragic effects of postnatal depression, at a time in a woman’s life which is supposed to be the fulfilment of her womanhood. Written with compassion, understanding and sensitivity, this novel will touch your heart and sow the seeds for a better understanding of mental illness within the community. As other reviews have mentioned, this novel would offer many discussion points for bookclubs and further help to de-mystify mental illness.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this novel. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Fractured is an insightful portrayal of mental illness and its devastating effects on a young Australian family.
After desperately trying for a baby for a long time, Anna and Tony finally welcome their firstborn son Jack into the world. But for Anna both the birth and the weeks following are not as she had expected. Jack is a fretful baby who wakes every two hours, and with Tony working long days Anna is soon in a state of total exhaustion. And though Tony is worried about his wife, he puts her growing lethargy, weight loss and mood swings down to adjusting to having a new baby in the house. It is not until Anna and Jack disappear one morning that Tony realises that something is very badly wrong ….
Barker, who is a psychiatrist, offers the reader insights into the devastating effects of postnatal depression, drawing on the background knowledge and experience of a health professional who has been exposed both to patients with the disease as well as the clinical environment. Her portrayal of Anna as she goes through various stages of trying to adjust to being a mother, and her gradual unravelling, is both touching and shocking. The story sends an important message to readers – that mental illness is a medical condition just like other diseases, such as cancer, and not the “fault” of the sufferer. Through Anna, whose actions may repel the reader, we get a glimpse into a world where logic and reason are no longer sufficient anchors to make people operate within the moral and ethical frameworks of humankind. Instead, the illness may compel sufferers to act in an irrational manner which is totally out of character for the person.
I thought that the scenes of Anna trying to come to terms with not only her ever growing fatigue and the demands of her newborn, but also her own feelings of powerlessness and estrangement from her baby were brilliantly described. Every new mother will identify to some extent to Anna’s emotional rollercoaster ride as she tries so very hard to be a good mother to her son. Offering Tony’s perspective highlights the differences in the new parenting experience and the adjustments required by the new parents.
Revealing most details of the novel’s central events early in the book perhaps gave too much away too soon, and I would have liked a bit more mystery to keep me truly engaged with all the characters. However, supporting the story with the perspectives of both Anna’s and Tony’s family members and friends added depth to the story and explored the effects of Anna’s illness on those closest to her, rippling out into the wider community. One aspect which could have been further explored was the public reaction to the events unfolding in the story, and its impact on family members – although the internal conflicts and divided loyalties were portrayed very well.
Barker has done an excellent job in exploring the tragic effects of postnatal depression, at a time in a woman’s life which is supposed to be the fulfilment of her womanhood. Written with compassion, understanding and sensitivity, this novel will touch your heart and sow the seeds for a better understanding of mental illness within the community. As other reviews have mentioned, this novel would offer many discussion points for bookclubs and further help to de-mystify mental illness.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this novel. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
December 2, 2014
This was a riveting, psychologically compelling, tragic and well told story told along two time lines which do meet. One time line is leading up to the event and the other after the event. This is about a woman who has a much wanted baby and suffers from postnatal psychosis after the birth of her son, and the devastating impact it has on their life. This story stayed with me for many days after finishing it and is a book that I would suggest many mums and mums to be should read as well as the men in their lives. I feel post natal depression needs to be spoken about as it can have such a huge impact on not only a woman's life , but her family and those near and dear. People need to be educated about it, supportive, accepting and pro active when someone is suffering from it. Be honest too and express your concerns and observations about that person. Living with post natal depression, (gosh let alone postnatal psychosis),at a time that should bring so much joy, can be a very isolating and a lonely time on top of adjusting to parenthood as well as juggling life's other demands, family and relationships. This book was very close to home for me in parts as I had severe post natal depression after having my 3rd child 20 years ago and it was hell. Back then, people weren't as well educated or informed about it, so they were afraid and kept their distance and left me alone. It was hard, frightening and lonely as I also knew little about it too and was wondering what the hell was wrong with me as our baby was much wanted and loved too.
I highly recommend this read. It will tear at your heartstrings as it is so sad, so have the tissues nearby. I think this needs to be read by many.
I highly recommend this read. It will tear at your heartstrings as it is so sad, so have the tissues nearby. I think this needs to be read by many.
August 13, 2016
This book is a wonderful debut novel from an Australian author. THe story of a woman who suffers postpartum psychosis and whose actions have lifelong consequences, is a sad but thought provoking one.
Dawn Barker's experience as a psychiatrist really shows in this tale - the depression, stress, remorse, guilt, anger and despair felt by all the main players, are described very realistically. I certainly could feel nothing but sorrow for Anna, the new mother, as her story unfolds.
I liked the way the unfolding events are told in flashback, till we finally learn what happened on the fateful day in question.
There are many issues arising from this story - could the father/husband have done more? Although he had an inkling something was wrong, why didn't he act on it? Why didn't he follow up on his gut instincts? WHy didn't the Anna's GP do something more? Surely she must have had some sense that Anna was in a state of crisis? Why didn't Anna herself speak about her problem? She must have known that she wasn't coping and that there may be some consequences with her depressed state of mind. These sorts of issues frustrated me a bit, but I guess that's what happens in real life. We always ask ourselves "what if?" and "if only I had …."
I guess this made me think about how our actions impact upon many others, and also how differently people react to an event. Can we forgive, or will we always be angry and bitter towards a person, even if they were not in control at the time?
Very thoughtful and well written novel. The dialogue was also realistic and believable.
May 16, 2013
A young family with a first born suffers the worst disaster imaginable. Clever and insightful writing which keeps the reader's interest, I read it in a day! I had initially thought the topic may be too tough, but it is so deftly told, so human, so real that I wanted to see how Anna fared.
The characters are believable and we care what happens to them. Tony, the husband and father, is shown to get off more lightly (if that is possible in this situation) than his wife, Anna. This, whilst sad, does reflect society's bias that children are basically their mother's responsibility. Fathers can be forgiven their trespasses more readily as they are busy out grafting.. bringing home the bacon... whatever.
As a mother I identified with Anna's isolation, desperate tiredness and remembered that babies are not always the beautiful, contented, sweet smelling creatures of folk lore but often cranky, sleepless, screaming machines, pulling up their tiny legs in agony.
I could see how Anna's fate could have been so different, the story had a touch of the Shakespearian tragedy, the behaviour of others around her impacting so on her choices or lack of choices. They all had full control of their minds and she did not. Fractured will get the reader thinking, it has an important message about parenthood and modern family life.
The characters are believable and we care what happens to them. Tony, the husband and father, is shown to get off more lightly (if that is possible in this situation) than his wife, Anna. This, whilst sad, does reflect society's bias that children are basically their mother's responsibility. Fathers can be forgiven their trespasses more readily as they are busy out grafting.. bringing home the bacon... whatever.
As a mother I identified with Anna's isolation, desperate tiredness and remembered that babies are not always the beautiful, contented, sweet smelling creatures of folk lore but often cranky, sleepless, screaming machines, pulling up their tiny legs in agony.
I could see how Anna's fate could have been so different, the story had a touch of the Shakespearian tragedy, the behaviour of others around her impacting so on her choices or lack of choices. They all had full control of their minds and she did not. Fractured will get the reader thinking, it has an important message about parenthood and modern family life.
February 20, 2013
There are very few books that make me want to skip ahead to find out what is going to happen next. I found myself constantly doing this in Fractured. Dawn Barker's handling of narrative tension is superb - you can't help but sneak a peak at the next chapter, not just to find out if what you think is happening really is happening, but to find out how it happened and, more importantly, why?
I loved this book - especially the scenes about a new mother coping with those god-awful days of having a new baby which can be so claustrophobic. That sense is captured brilliantly here, as is the total metamorphosis of the mother into someone she herself can barely recognise, compared to the woman she was just days ago, before the birth.
Yes it deals with serious issues and no it is not a cheerful book but the story is so well told and the see-sawing emotions of motherhood are so well captured that the intensity of the book is just right. It is a book that made me think, and a book that has not yet left me, even now, a couple of days after I have finished it.
I loved this book - especially the scenes about a new mother coping with those god-awful days of having a new baby which can be so claustrophobic. That sense is captured brilliantly here, as is the total metamorphosis of the mother into someone she herself can barely recognise, compared to the woman she was just days ago, before the birth.
Yes it deals with serious issues and no it is not a cheerful book but the story is so well told and the see-sawing emotions of motherhood are so well captured that the intensity of the book is just right. It is a book that made me think, and a book that has not yet left me, even now, a couple of days after I have finished it.
June 20, 2014
In this brilliant psychological drama, I found sincere empathy for each of the 6 main characters, and the relationships between them. These characters are Anna, the tortured young mother; her non- understanding husband, Tony; Wendy, Anna's mother, who has had mental problems of her own; Ursula, the mother-in-law, whose main concerns were only for her own children; and Ursula's conforming husband. The real crisis begins with the birth of Jack. Indeed, if the characters themselves had found more empathy, understanding, and care of each other - the tragic set of circumstances would not have occurred.
I don't imagine that anyone reading this book will not come out without more knowledge, and understanding, of postpartum mental illness - and generally, the effects that lack of understanding and care can have on those around us.
Dawn Barker, a psychologist and mother herself, has given us a sensitive, compassionate and gripping first novel!
I don't imagine that anyone reading this book will not come out without more knowledge, and understanding, of postpartum mental illness - and generally, the effects that lack of understanding and care can have on those around us.
Dawn Barker, a psychologist and mother herself, has given us a sensitive, compassionate and gripping first novel!
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December 12, 2013This review is kindly brought to you by Wild Colonial Girl blog:
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In the past couple of months, I’ve started a new series — where I review someone’s book, and they review mine — and we put them up at the same time. My idea was for it to be a kind of ‘two of us’ of books/authors, where we find the connections between our work — and our lives. The first wonderful exchange was with Walter Mason (I reviewed Destination Cambodia: Adventures in the kingdom and he took a squiz at just_a_girl).
This time, I take on Dawn Barker’s popular debut novel, Fractured.
Just from the outset, this review is going to have *Spoilers*. There is so much exciting plot happening in Dawn’s book that I don’t want to pussyfoot around it…
I recently became familiar with Dawn Barker’s work, as part of a posse of writers in WA (Annabel Smith, Amanda Curtin, Natasha Lester, Emma Chapman, Sara Foster, to name a few) and her book featured in Friday Night Fictions (August issue). Fractured also often featured in the Australian Women Writers Challenge, where it was a hot favourite with reviewers, and Annabel Smith did an in-depth interview with Dawn.
Reading Fractured brought up all kinds of memories. Nothing prepared me for the emotional and physical onslaught of having children. Pregnancy was tough. I spent the first three months pretty much unable to stand up due to so-called ‘morning sickness’ (god, that term doesn’t do it justice) — twice! Before the second pregnancy, I engaged in some heavy-duty magical thinking and decided that if I just wished hard enough, I surely couldn’t get that sick the next time. It was worse!
I learnt the true meaning of the term ‘shit a brick’ (constipation, OMG!) and then, just as I was starting to enjoy putting on copious amounts of weight and eating carrot cake every day, I found out I had gestational diabetes, which put me on a strict and boring regime of no sweets, rice, pasta, and involved injecting myself in my wiggly stomach each night.
After I gave birth (lucky for me, quick and straightforward: knew those dancing hips were going to come in handy at some point), I had the pinks the first time. I was joyous (verging on manic I suspect). The second time, I got the blues. I thought it would be easy peasy the second time around. No troubles with breastfeeding. Relaxed. Settling and swaddling a cinch. But no. GG decided she would not sleep unless in my arms (or my husband’s). For the first three months, due to various people pleading with us not to lie in bed with her, my husband and I alternated nights of trying to sleep half-sitting up on the couch. For the first three months, I never got more than two straight hours sleep.
I fought the definition of postnatal depression at the time because I thought ANYONE would go nuts having to endure that kind of sleep deprivation for so long (this is not to dismiss the idea of postnatal depression as a serious issue, though, for many women). It got to the point that, even when I had the chance to sleep, I just couldn’t seem to work out how.
Which brings me to Anna, the central character in Fractured. Anna doesn’t sleep either. The world leading up to getting pregnant and giving birth is shown to be one of illusion, of unrealistic expectations. Highly organised, nothing seems to go to her often rigid plan. Her birth plan is ignored. Her feelings for her baby are not the way she had hoped.
She feels isolated and cornered, unable to communicate with her husband, Tony. He leaves the house to go back to work pretty soon after she returns from hospital, not understanding that she is afraid, anxious, and on the verge. She doesn’t have the language to ask him to stay. Or to ask him (or anyone) to help. The amount of responsibility she takes on completely destroys her.
And on top of that, the reader gradually learns that Anna is contending with something equally serious. She is starting to hear voices, urging her on an increasingly paranoid and soul-destroying route. Her son is not yet six weeks old. But she cannot protect him from her thoughts.
I was familiar with postnatal depression but had never heard of postnatal psychosis. Dawn Barker is also a child psychiatrist so her insight into this condition (and Anna’s character development) is crucial. The book also takes us into some disturbing contemporary hospital practices, including giving Anna ECT without her permission — in a very short timeframe (when she’s in no position to contest the decision). The idea that this is possible, that a patient’s rights are systematically stripped when they enter hospital for care, is terrifying.
The book’s clever structure, that interweaves chronology, and various characters’ stories, means Fractured takes a while to reveal important moments, and there’s a real sense of doom and mystery surrounding Anna’s uncharacteristic behaviour. It’s a cliffhanger of a book, in every sense of the term.
It’s also a book about blame. Certain family members are quick to withdraw from Anna, unable to reconcile her actions with their definitions of acceptable boundaries to cross. Tony wrings himself dry, wondering at his own absence, his selfishness, his culpability in the desire to escape family for work.
Self-blame can be the most poisonous thing of all. Anna condemns herself for not living up to her own ideas of what a ‘perfect mother’ should be. In just_a_girl Margot, Layla’s mother, shares this black-and-white way of looking at the world. When looking at Layla, she sees her own failings reflected, rather than a child who deeply loves her and is desperately seeking her attention. By continuing with her blinkered thinking from when Layla is a baby, Margot misses out on all the good things, unable to see beyond her own limited view.
I was excited to read that one of the main influences for Dawn when writing her novel was Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin. It taught her that a mainstream novel could take on highly emotive and harrowing topics. I read it when writing just_a_girl and found it changed my whole idea of character too. I realised that Margot didn’t have to be likeable but her way of thinking needed to be believable (if misguided). The way she perceives Layla is, from early stages of motherhood, influenced by the fact that she can’t breastfeed, she feels guilty, she is isolated in the community, her husband is often away working, and her mother was no role model at all. She crucifies herself rather than acknowledging that it’s damn hard.
It’s also good to get a husband’s insight in Fractured. Dawn’s third-person narrative means she can fly in and out of all the characters’ lives, exposing their dreams and perceived failings. I can only imagine how hard it is, too, for the significant other like Tony who get no sleep, haul themselves off to work, feeling guilty at the sight of mum looking so exhausted and fragile (but hey, the experience is not like this for everyone, I hope!). I remember my husband leaving our house for his first day of work after my second child (at six weeks), and pleading with him to stay. Still operating on no sleep, I breastfed my daughter in tears for an hour, as my two-year-old son ran rings around us, asking for all the things he knew I couldn’t provide with a baby latched on; I had no idea how I would get through the day, and all the ones after that. In the end I called my best friend and she turned up, all action-stations, made lunch, sat me outside, told me everyone felt like that (in a sympathetic way), and those feelings drifted off for a while and I saw that I just had to get through it a bit at a time.
The death of a child remains a taboo topic. It’s not something people want to contemplate, let alone talk about. But this book opens up the subject for debate. The reader is constantly being forced to confront their own questions of morality, wavering backwards and forwards, and it’s a mark of Dawn’s skill as a writer that we can condemn and be sympathetic to Anna at the same time, asking: at just what point, is she ultimately responsible for her own behaviour?
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In the past couple of months, I’ve started a new series — where I review someone’s book, and they review mine — and we put them up at the same time. My idea was for it to be a kind of ‘two of us’ of books/authors, where we find the connections between our work — and our lives. The first wonderful exchange was with Walter Mason (I reviewed Destination Cambodia: Adventures in the kingdom and he took a squiz at just_a_girl).
This time, I take on Dawn Barker’s popular debut novel, Fractured.
Just from the outset, this review is going to have *Spoilers*. There is so much exciting plot happening in Dawn’s book that I don’t want to pussyfoot around it…
I recently became familiar with Dawn Barker’s work, as part of a posse of writers in WA (Annabel Smith, Amanda Curtin, Natasha Lester, Emma Chapman, Sara Foster, to name a few) and her book featured in Friday Night Fictions (August issue). Fractured also often featured in the Australian Women Writers Challenge, where it was a hot favourite with reviewers, and Annabel Smith did an in-depth interview with Dawn.
Reading Fractured brought up all kinds of memories. Nothing prepared me for the emotional and physical onslaught of having children. Pregnancy was tough. I spent the first three months pretty much unable to stand up due to so-called ‘morning sickness’ (god, that term doesn’t do it justice) — twice! Before the second pregnancy, I engaged in some heavy-duty magical thinking and decided that if I just wished hard enough, I surely couldn’t get that sick the next time. It was worse!
I learnt the true meaning of the term ‘shit a brick’ (constipation, OMG!) and then, just as I was starting to enjoy putting on copious amounts of weight and eating carrot cake every day, I found out I had gestational diabetes, which put me on a strict and boring regime of no sweets, rice, pasta, and involved injecting myself in my wiggly stomach each night.
After I gave birth (lucky for me, quick and straightforward: knew those dancing hips were going to come in handy at some point), I had the pinks the first time. I was joyous (verging on manic I suspect). The second time, I got the blues. I thought it would be easy peasy the second time around. No troubles with breastfeeding. Relaxed. Settling and swaddling a cinch. But no. GG decided she would not sleep unless in my arms (or my husband’s). For the first three months, due to various people pleading with us not to lie in bed with her, my husband and I alternated nights of trying to sleep half-sitting up on the couch. For the first three months, I never got more than two straight hours sleep.
I fought the definition of postnatal depression at the time because I thought ANYONE would go nuts having to endure that kind of sleep deprivation for so long (this is not to dismiss the idea of postnatal depression as a serious issue, though, for many women). It got to the point that, even when I had the chance to sleep, I just couldn’t seem to work out how.
Which brings me to Anna, the central character in Fractured. Anna doesn’t sleep either. The world leading up to getting pregnant and giving birth is shown to be one of illusion, of unrealistic expectations. Highly organised, nothing seems to go to her often rigid plan. Her birth plan is ignored. Her feelings for her baby are not the way she had hoped.
She feels isolated and cornered, unable to communicate with her husband, Tony. He leaves the house to go back to work pretty soon after she returns from hospital, not understanding that she is afraid, anxious, and on the verge. She doesn’t have the language to ask him to stay. Or to ask him (or anyone) to help. The amount of responsibility she takes on completely destroys her.
And on top of that, the reader gradually learns that Anna is contending with something equally serious. She is starting to hear voices, urging her on an increasingly paranoid and soul-destroying route. Her son is not yet six weeks old. But she cannot protect him from her thoughts.
I was familiar with postnatal depression but had never heard of postnatal psychosis. Dawn Barker is also a child psychiatrist so her insight into this condition (and Anna’s character development) is crucial. The book also takes us into some disturbing contemporary hospital practices, including giving Anna ECT without her permission — in a very short timeframe (when she’s in no position to contest the decision). The idea that this is possible, that a patient’s rights are systematically stripped when they enter hospital for care, is terrifying.
The book’s clever structure, that interweaves chronology, and various characters’ stories, means Fractured takes a while to reveal important moments, and there’s a real sense of doom and mystery surrounding Anna’s uncharacteristic behaviour. It’s a cliffhanger of a book, in every sense of the term.
It’s also a book about blame. Certain family members are quick to withdraw from Anna, unable to reconcile her actions with their definitions of acceptable boundaries to cross. Tony wrings himself dry, wondering at his own absence, his selfishness, his culpability in the desire to escape family for work.
Self-blame can be the most poisonous thing of all. Anna condemns herself for not living up to her own ideas of what a ‘perfect mother’ should be. In just_a_girl Margot, Layla’s mother, shares this black-and-white way of looking at the world. When looking at Layla, she sees her own failings reflected, rather than a child who deeply loves her and is desperately seeking her attention. By continuing with her blinkered thinking from when Layla is a baby, Margot misses out on all the good things, unable to see beyond her own limited view.
I was excited to read that one of the main influences for Dawn when writing her novel was Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin. It taught her that a mainstream novel could take on highly emotive and harrowing topics. I read it when writing just_a_girl and found it changed my whole idea of character too. I realised that Margot didn’t have to be likeable but her way of thinking needed to be believable (if misguided). The way she perceives Layla is, from early stages of motherhood, influenced by the fact that she can’t breastfeed, she feels guilty, she is isolated in the community, her husband is often away working, and her mother was no role model at all. She crucifies herself rather than acknowledging that it’s damn hard.
It’s also good to get a husband’s insight in Fractured. Dawn’s third-person narrative means she can fly in and out of all the characters’ lives, exposing their dreams and perceived failings. I can only imagine how hard it is, too, for the significant other like Tony who get no sleep, haul themselves off to work, feeling guilty at the sight of mum looking so exhausted and fragile (but hey, the experience is not like this for everyone, I hope!). I remember my husband leaving our house for his first day of work after my second child (at six weeks), and pleading with him to stay. Still operating on no sleep, I breastfed my daughter in tears for an hour, as my two-year-old son ran rings around us, asking for all the things he knew I couldn’t provide with a baby latched on; I had no idea how I would get through the day, and all the ones after that. In the end I called my best friend and she turned up, all action-stations, made lunch, sat me outside, told me everyone felt like that (in a sympathetic way), and those feelings drifted off for a while and I saw that I just had to get through it a bit at a time.
The death of a child remains a taboo topic. It’s not something people want to contemplate, let alone talk about. But this book opens up the subject for debate. The reader is constantly being forced to confront their own questions of morality, wavering backwards and forwards, and it’s a mark of Dawn’s skill as a writer that we can condemn and be sympathetic to Anna at the same time, asking: at just what point, is she ultimately responsible for her own behaviour?
July 10, 2024
Yani ne diyebilirim bilmiyorum. Hiç beklentisiz başlamama rağmen hayal kırıklığına uğradım. En azında arka kapak yazısından dolayı çetrefilli bir yola giriyoruz sanmıştım. Eğer ilk akla gelenle karşılaştıyorsak buna cidden bir gizem diyebilir miyiz sanmıyorum. Zamanı işleyiş tarzını sevsem de kitap en az elli sayfa az olabilir ya da inanılmaz farklı motiflerle süslenebilirdi. Oda tasvirlerinin gereksizliği beni yordu. Çok dallanıp budaklanabilecek bir konu en basit şekliyle yazılmıştı ve üstüne üstlük akıcı değildi. AH O KARAKTERLER... Tony bir kaşık suda boğulabilecek biriydi bence. Düşündüğü ile yaptığı asla uyuşmayan okuyucu sevsin diye haklı nedenleri olduğuna inandırılmaya çalışılan sevimsiz bir karakterdi. Annesi ondan beterdi. Baba biraz da pasif olsa yok olacaktı zaten. Kadın karakterin annesini yer yer sevsem de onu da bazen anlamadım. Konuşulmayan psikolojik gerilimlerden nefret ediyorum. Diyaloglarla o stresin verilmesi gerektiğini düşünüyorum. Sürekli bir susma hali... Bana gerilim hissi değil sıkıntı verdi. Sonu da anlamsızdı bence. Kadın karakteri farklı bir yöne sokabilirdi yazar. Tony'nin bu işten kılçıksız ayrılmasını da hiç anlamadım zaten. O ailesini yemeğe davet ettiği, eve geç geldiği sahnelerde boğazına yapışmak istedim. Bir de acım var diye zırlayıp karısı hastanede iken tenis sahalarında, barlarda kızlarla gününü gün ediyordu. Karısını çocuklarının cenazesine çağırmayıp yüzüne bakmazken iyi adam rolünü iyi oynadı. Her ikisinin de yasını birkaç dakika tuttu galiba. Sinir eden karakterlerle dolu gereksiz yere uzamış sıkıcı bir kitaptı.
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