6/6/2023 0 Comments Chantal v johnson![]() ![]() Vivian and Jane are able to laugh at the ways in which they’ve been disenfranchised by the system they work in as black women-they share anecdotes about complicated and challenging family dynamics, and trade stories about everyday abuses, racism, and misogyny. Vivian deals with her high stress job by maintaining a healthy sense of humor and relying on her closest friend from law school, Jane, an academic and fellow survivor of childhood abuse. ![]() Vivian has a special relationship with her clients-as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse herself, she understands exactly how the system treats black and brown girls in need of help. The novel begins with Vivian, a Black/Latina established legal advocate lawyer living in New York City, who seeks to free her victimized and mentally ill clients from the cycle of hospitalization and incarceration. ![]() Post-Traumatic seeks to prove Sehgal wrong by structuring its narrative around the lingering effects of childhood sexual abuse. ![]() The trauma plot entered the literary vernacular recently with literary critic Parul Sehgal’s piece, The Case Against the Trauma Plot, which posits that writers have become overly dependent on using a traumatic backstory to prop up an underdeveloped narrative. Johnson’s debut novel, Post-Traumatic, offers a unique version of of the very en vogue trauma plot. ![]()
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