![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This book deals with child abuse in fairly graphic detail and would almost certainly be triggering for some folks out there. I have avoided graphic detail in my review, but I'll put in under a cut just in case.
Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities by Richard Baer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not really sure how to rate this book. I had a hard time putting it down - it is a fascinating story, and Baer's description of how his patient, Karen, had created so many alternate personalities and how they functioned in different areas of her life was intriguing.
It is also a harrowing story. Karen created her alternate personalities to cope with truly horrific abuse. I found myself repeatedly not wanting to believe her stories of what happened - not because she isn't credible, but because I really didn't want to believe that so many people could treat a child so horribly and never be exposed or held to account for it. This is not a book that will leave you feeling cheerful about human nature, although Karen's own journey to put her personalities and her life back together does provide an uplifting counterbalance to the grimness.
View all my reviews >>
Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities by Richard BaerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not really sure how to rate this book. I had a hard time putting it down - it is a fascinating story, and Baer's description of how his patient, Karen, had created so many alternate personalities and how they functioned in different areas of her life was intriguing.
It is also a harrowing story. Karen created her alternate personalities to cope with truly horrific abuse. I found myself repeatedly not wanting to believe her stories of what happened - not because she isn't credible, but because I really didn't want to believe that so many people could treat a child so horribly and never be exposed or held to account for it. This is not a book that will leave you feeling cheerful about human nature, although Karen's own journey to put her personalities and her life back together does provide an uplifting counterbalance to the grimness.
View all my reviews >>
