The Quietist by Daniel David Gothard, a book review.

I was sent The Quietist to review and it sounded just like the kind of book I’d like to read.

The Blurb

Dr Lanning, Catherine Stannard and Patrick Hawton are thrown together by a motorway tragedy. Dr Lanning is treating Catherine and Patrick for PTSD, the loss of their loved ones, their different approaches to feeling and dealing with survivor guilt. Through shared therapy sessions, Catherine and Patrick form a bond, allowing them to relinquish their previous lives and inhibitions. Dr Lanning sees an opportunity to study them, using them to rebuild his reputation. In doing so, he creates an environment where Catherine and Patrick begin to lose sight of their new realities.

My Review of the Quietist

My first thoughts about this book was that it was going to be a psychological thriller. Three grieving people brought together with three different personalities and it was very foreboding.

It was in fact a clever and intense look at the way grief affects different people and the things they do. The doctor started off with a different objective in getting the two remaining survivors of a massive car crash together. Their cumulative grief changes his perspective completely.

The two survivors develop a friendship that seems wrong at first and they start to act in ways they would never have done had their partners survived. The friendship develops though and they become each other’s supporters.

The entire book is a study of human behaviour after grief and how everyone reacts differently. It wasn’t a long book and it wasn’t a thriller as such, but it was a satisfying read and very well written. It kept me turning the pages, even though I wished there were more of them.

The triggers I’d use for this book are, grief, violence, self harm and suicide.

One last word, they say never judge a book by the cover. I’m still trying to work out what this cover has to do with any of the story, but I guess it does give off a sense of calm.