I think this country is going through a period of recovery from the trauma of the last eight years or so, from the Trump presidency to Covid to the rise of social media driven anger and hate. There are no guarantees, of course, but there are promising signs these days of renewed energy and hope for a more decent society.
My latest mystery novel, Surfacing, was inspired by the trauma work of Dr. Judith Herman, especially Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.
I taught Herman’s work for years at Chicago Theological Seminary. Telling the truth about trauma in your life and/or being open to hearing about the trauma others have experienced, is absolutely key to doing healing work.
And I believe theology should be about truth and healing.
Perpetrators do not want the truth to see the light of day. They lie and deny and cover up so they can go on abusing. This is the case in individual relationships and in our political life. You know whom I am talking about.
Herman says,
In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.
In the novel, Alice Matthews, a campus policewoman, sees a man apparently drowned in a pool on the college campus where she works. She starts to remember sexual abuse she experienced as a teenager when she was on a swim team.
Her friend, Kristin Ginelli, a professor at the same school, recognizes the signs of undealt with trauma in Alice and encourages her to seek help with a therapist friend. Alice does and the book contains some scenes of her therapy.
I received advice from Dr. Sharon Ellis-Davis whose courageous book, The Trauma of Sexual and Domestic Violence, I highly recommend.
The novel was hard to write in many ways, but one thing I enjoyed was having Kristin be hugely pregnant and then, after the birth of her twins, lactating. I taught while pregnant and then nursing my children, and I can tell you many people see pregnant and lactating women as effectively brain dead.
It was fun to write about Kristin brushing off the attitudes of others about women’s bodies. Kristin doesn’t let something like being the size of a house or nursing her twin girls stop her from investigating. She and Alice are always an effective team.
In the next Substack, I will write about the subplots in the novel, especially attacks by white supremacists on a faculty colleague of Kristin’s. The university’s policy on “free speech” is worse than useless.
If you have been traumatized or if you know someone you suspect has undealt with trauma, encourage them to get professional therapeutic help. Local (progressive) religious leaders as well as mental health facilities can be a good source of recommendations for competent therapists.
Some of the sources I used for writing this novel are listed at the back of the book as well as discussion questions for book groups.
And if anyone wants to write a review on Amazon, I’d appreciate it. If an author (like me!) gets enough reviews, they start promoting a book. Thanks.