Description
2015 American Library Association: Winner, Over the Rainbow Book
“Coffey has created a stimulating interpretation of the Freud family through Anna’s eyes.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Mental health journalist Coffey’s (Unspeakable Truths and Happy Endings) effective creation of Anna’s cool, somewhat clinical voice will hold the attention of readers already curious about the Freuds or psychoanalytic theory.”
—Library Journal
“Coffey offers some truly shocking disclosures about the Freud family in this complexly entertaining, sexually dramatic, acidly funny novel of genius and absurdity, insight and delusion, independence and loyalty. Illustrated with archival photographs and backed by a substantial bibliography, this is an electrifying, imaginative portrait of an overlooked historical figure of great significance: fascinating, courageous, and steadfast Anna Freud.”
—Booklist
“Completely absorbing and entirely believable, Hysterical is both a lovely work and a treasure. This is the book we all wish Anna Freud had had the courage to write.”
—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author The Assault on Truth: Freud’s Suppression of the Seduction Theory and former Projects Director of The Freud Archives
“Rebecca Coffey’s imagination knows no bounds. She makes you believe this is exactly the way it all happened. Hysterical is sad, funny, painful, strange, outrageous, and disturbing. If we can’t have Anna’s diaries, this is the next best thing.”
—Ellen Bass, author of The Courage to Heal
“…[A]bsolutely fascinating and interesting. Reading it brought up a lot of tears because of the memories it evoked about the people and the time. I was so happy to have Freud’s relationship with his daughter revealed.”
—Sophie Templer, 95-year-old daughter of controversial Freudian psychoanalyst Otto Gross
“Though fiction, HYSTERICAL is structured as an autobiography, with Anna’s voice assuming the narration. It’s an interesting trick, and one Coffey pulls off quite well―she captures Anna’s formality, smart but plain spoken, straightforward to the point of creating emotional distance, and occasionally so hyper-aware and unaware in the same moment that it grates. . . . Like a therapy session, HYSTERICAL tunnels very deeply into Anna’s childhood experiences―thoughts, events, dreams, fantasies―and like a therapy session, the facets of what are revealed are at times disturbing and uncomfortable. Add to all that the inherent struggle between Sigmund and Anna, which twists and deepens as they both age, especially as Anna comes into her sexuality, and you’ve got a plot so rife with tension it’ll make you squirm. . . . Hysterical also contains some incredibly riveting passages about various analysands of Freud’s―people whose deviant natures stuck with Anna, probably because she sympathized in some way with them―and some funny parts, jokes and other bits that provoke a laugh even while you feel slightly (or profoundly) disturbed. And while there is a strong emphasis on Anna’s childhood and coming of age, Coffey leads the reader through Anna’s young adulthood, her decision to become a teacher and from there an analyst and advocate for children, her first love, her “coming out,” and her life with Dorothy Burlingham. Those with an interest in Freud, the history of psychology or psychoanalysis, and/or the history of gayness as “illness” will find this book a necessary and enjoyable addition to the literature. HYSTERICAL approaches its subject with remarkable, even agile, tenderness and understanding―Coffey gives Anna a voice, one that history has thus far not allowed her.”
—LAMDA Literary
“…[A] wonderfully insightful fictional glimpse into the Freud family dynamic and, most notably, its impact on Sigmund’s theories about lesbianism. How did Freud père receive the announcement that the daughter to whom he was closest―his right-hand girl and protégé―loved women? How did he deal with her long domestic partnership with another woman? Coffey’s presentation of what may have happened between Sigmund and Anna is nuanced, intelligent, and wonderfully persuasive.”
—Lillian Faderman, author of Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir
“Moving, irreverent, often very funny, and a remarkable tour de force, Hysterical lets us eavesdrop at the keyhole of the Freud family. And, oh, what we learn!”
—Leonard Foglia, Broadway director of Thurgood, Wait Until Dark, and Master Class
