HUMAN TRACES

Sebastian Faulks (CHARLOTTE GRAY) brings together the lives of two fictional young men, Jacques Rebière and Thomas Midwinter, who meet at university in 1880, during psychiatry's infancy. The would-be "mind doctors" become fast friends and start a clinic but eventually disagree over the treatment of a patient. Jacques believes the unconscious holds the key to insanity while Thomas believes mental illness is genetic. Narrator James Adams keeps exhaustive sections of exposition, lengthy descriptions, and tedious conversations moving forward while skillfully maintaining the details of the historical period. Adams offers credible period diction, recounting nineteenth-century views on the treatment of dementia, hysteria, and schizophrenia, as well as drawing a horrific picture of the conditions in a "lunatic asylum." Faulks's content is ambitious, and Adams's performance is admirable. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2010]