Scan barcode
A review by hypops
John, Dear by Laura Lannes
4.0
John, Dear is a nightmarish and harrowing fable of a woman’s self-effacement and what it means for her to be with an emotionally abusive partner. This short book is so emotionally volatile and resonant that it feels like it might be too soon for me to voice my thoughts about it. It’s still actively rolling around in my head and will be for some time.
And maybe that’s the point: it’s an unsettling book that, if it has done its job, recreates the experience of emotional abuse insofar as feelings never feel like one’s own (what is this strange illness?) and feelings are never allowed to coalesce into solid things (am I crazy?). If ghosts really are the result of unresolved trauma, then this woman lives a phantom-like existence. She is disallowed from finding emotional resolution and so must live in a ghostly limbo, receding ever further into a horrifying, dark nothingness.
And maybe that’s the point: it’s an unsettling book that, if it has done its job, recreates the experience of emotional abuse insofar as feelings never feel like one’s own (what is this strange illness?) and feelings are never allowed to coalesce into solid things (am I crazy?). If ghosts really are the result of unresolved trauma, then this woman lives a phantom-like existence. She is disallowed from finding emotional resolution and so must live in a ghostly limbo, receding ever further into a horrifying, dark nothingness.