Eva
This is a good read! The book is well written and original - the plot is intriguing and the characters come to life. I could not put it down and can thoroughly recommend it.
Adella is a little girl of six who has chosen not to speak; Laura is a child psychotherapist whose job is to put things right. We follow her work of trying to resolve the problem of this electively mute child through the detailed verbatim reports of sessions which Laura presents to a supervision group where we meet Matt, a fellow therapist, who also brings intimate accounts of his work with a highly anxious adult patient.
The story traces particularly Laura’s involvement with Adella and her colleague Matt, where we see her struggle with the difficulties of working with a
totally silent child together with the confusion of her own emotional life as she gets closer to Matt.
Both therapists are unsettled in their way by contact with their troubled patients and with each other and have to analyse their own feelings and behaviour. But the main focus is the often moving account of the development of Laura’s relationship to the child in the consulting room where the cause of her silence is explored and understood to bring about change and eventually help her find her voice.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
This is a good read! The book is well written and original - the plot is intriguing and the characters come to life. I could not put it down and can thoroughly recommend it.
This is the fascinating and very moving story of a psychotherapist working with a child who has chosen not to speak. The psychotherapist, Laura, is skilled and patient, as she builds rapport with the child, Adella, and seeks to discover what has happened to her. We witness some of the sessions, and learn about others from Laura’s presentations to her colleagues in their supervision group. One of her colleagues is Matt, who has issues of his own to resolve. He and Laura start meeting to discuss their clients, and they grow closer. There are tensions in Laura’s fifteen-year marriage, and Matt is an attractive younger man who lightens her mood. Laura feels guilty, but finds it increasingly difficult to suppress her desire for him. Laura’s conflicted emotions are vividly portrayed, and it feels that her marriage may be in jeopardy. The characters are complex. Those we sympathize with have their foibles, and less likeable characters are shown to be human too. I was interested in the dynamics in the group, and felt like a fly on the wall in their meetings. The dialogue feels authentic and the writing is succinct; I felt I was in a safe pair of hands. Much of the story is affecting and poignant, especially the therapist’s work with the child. I was enthralled and felt compelled to read on, to find out what would happen, and at the same time, I didn’t want to come to the end, as I was so involved with the characters. Many themes are explored here, including the effects of trauma, the therapeutic process, how the work affects therapists, the tensions and frustrations that can arise in a long marriage. Mute is a rich and satisfying novel, by an accomplished author.
