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Reviewed by Rebekka of Two Courts 3.25.2000. The Disappearance of Lyndsey Barratt The Nitty Gritty: Personages: Lyndsey Barratt is the core here. She's party to: Origin: Well, no. It doesn't. Lyndsey supposedly formed her other selves--which are continually
and consistently treated like only 'alternates' who would never
be healthy without integration--due to the trauma of a gang rape.
Now, that's fine, and it can and does happen. But to give credulance
to this book would mean ignoring a huge list of contradictory base
qualities. For a personality to be that strong, such habits should
have been formed early in Lyndsey's youth--instead of when she was
already a young woman, having literally just graduated college.
(Yes! Now *everyone* can fear turning into a psychotic dominatrix
killer whenever they have a bad day, at whatever age!) Otherwise
you wouldn't have the amnesia and strong identity separation--and
what was that gratuitous scene in there where Linda molests
Lyndsey? Thanks! I want to be known as a person who goes around
randomly feeling up my sisters. Yes, there are hints to her 'latent' tendancies--her supposedly
incredible acting talents, and her ability to create in-depth characters.
And there are people who have those abilities, or who don't, or
whichever, who are mid-continuum or partially multiple or whatever
term works best. They can go through life unaware and mostly together,
and they can have happy lives regardless. (ed comment by Sparrow:
Then they're more mid-continuum? Right. No big deal.) But does Wilson expect us to believe that Lyndsey is a sleeper
multiple? Let's face it--even with all those elements and allowances
combined, it is incredibly rare to have that high a level of dissociation
occurring if the first instance of splitting occurs that late in
life. (ed note by Reb: Having said that, I've probably offended
a number of multiples out there who have had that happen.) Memory
bleedover occurs. People don't always stay down. And Lyndsey is
supposedly completely amnesiatic for over seven years while Linda
goes skipping about. At the very first sign of existence. If accuracy would count here--not that it seems to matter to
Mr. Wilson--then Lyndsey would still be the primary personality,
and would have the very strong presence of the other two in existence.
They might even take over every now and then, or coexist with no
time limit. But this? An excellent example of a wee bit too much
extrapolation over too little information. And, also by the sound
of it, every single multiple out there is just inches away from
landing themselves into jails as vindicative--or not so--murderers,
even if they're as cutely unaware of it as Lyndsey was, and that
any single trauma automatically means that a person runs the risk
of completely full-blown multiplicity. Just like catching a disease!
Great! Final Result: This book left an utterly indescribably bad taste in my mouth.
Do yourself a favor. Don't even look at it twice.
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