The Other Side of You

By Salley Vickers
Picador

I’ll admit it; upon reading the first few chapters of The Other Side of You I was ready to be disappointed. Narrated by a male therapist, The Other Side of You chronicles his relationship with a suicidal female patient, Elizabeth Cruikshank. As a staunch feminist I am all too used to narratives that romanticize problematic power dynamics, and this tale is laden with potential for disaster. I particularly began bracing myself when I noticed David, the therapist, becoming enthralled with the mysteriously tragic Elizabeth, and I waited for the inevitable romance between the two to ignite. However Salley Vickers, manages to avoid the banal storyline in which an unfortunate woman is rescued by a strong man who effortlessly solves all her problems. It is through the exploration of Elizabeth’s history that we begin to see David’s limitations as a therapist and the weaknesses of psychiatry as a science.

Vickers, a trained analytical psychologist and professor of literature, showcases her ability to reveal the complexities of characters and the relationships they have through psychological explorations, a skill that brings Frantz Fanon to mind. These psychological explorations also expose the fluctuations in methods of psychiatric care, which we see most clearly through David and his changing role throughout the book. Set against the backdrop of England, which has an interesting history of psychiatry, The Other Side of You works to question the science of psychiatry, and pushes for a more nuanced understanding of the profession. As David’s methods as a psychiatrist shift over the course of the book, we begin to see Elizabeth emerge as a voice of reason and guidance. It is this transformation that makes Vickers' narrative so compelling.

The book opens with David coaxing words from an almost mute Elizabeth, and as the book unfolds, the balance of power between the two characters is in constant flux. The more that Elizabeth reveals about herself, the more we begin to see her intellect shine through. In the opening of the book, David falsely assumes that Elizabeth is unaware of her potential, “I recognised it as a kind of intelligence which is unconscious of its own reach.” By the end of the book, we begin to realize that it is Elizabeth’s awareness of her own abilities that leads to her attempted suicide. Over the course of their meetings David reveals his own history of loss and emotional distress, and the line between patient and doctor becomes blurred. Vickers avoids oversimplifications that would create a neat story line, and the result is a complicated mess of psychological and emotional trauma that refuses to frame the suicidal female protagonist in a destitute light.

Review by Lizzy Shramko

Click here to buy:

The Other Side of You