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Post-Traumatic

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About this listen

Can Vivian find happiness after what has been done to her?

To the outside observer, Vivian is a success story—a dedicated lawyer who advocates for mentally ill patients at a psychiatric hospital. Privately, Vivian contends with the memories and after-effects of her bad childhood, compounded by the everyday stresses of being a Black, Latinx woman living in a white society. She lives in a constant state of hypervigilant awareness that makes even a simple train ride a heart-pounding drama.

For years, Vivian has self-medicated with a mix of dating, dieting, dark humour and smoking weed with her best friend, Jane. But after a family reunion prompts Vivian to take a bold step, she finds herself alone in new and terrifying ways, without even Jane to confide in, and she starts to unravel.

Will she find a way to repair what matters most to her?

A debut from a stunning talent, Post-Traumatic is a new kind of survivor narrative, featuring a complex heroine who is blazingly, indelibly alive. Listeners who loved Open Water, A Little Life or Luster will adore this razor-sharp book about the aftermath of trauma that somehow manages to brim with warmth, laughter, and hope.

©2022 Chantal V. Johnson (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK
Coming of Age Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction World Literature Fiction Heartfelt Tobacco

Critic reviews

"Deeply original, socially important, psychologically revelatory, propulsively and idiosyncratically readable. Post-Traumatic is a gem." (Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot)

"Stunning and riotous, Post-Traumatic took me right under and then revived me, like only the best fiction can do. Johnson's delicious, meticulous prose delivers such intimacy and hilarity on the page, I laughed and cried all the way through. This is a raw, brilliant and unforgettable debut. I love everything about it!" (Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies)

"Vivian is one of the most fascinating characters I've read in contemporary fiction: self-aware and lost, cutting and wounded, resilient and vulnerable—all those misfit bits that add up to the whole of a real human being. Reading Post-Traumatic feels like an illicit thrill." (Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev)

All stars
Most relevant
I adored this novel. Forget the canonical stuff, this book will tell you more about life & its meaning than any giant of literature. It’s raw, beautiful, desperately sad and joyously funny all at once. Cannot wait to read more of the author’s work.

Visceral, timely, vital

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