Description

Late one night, Rebecca Fogg’s hand is partially amputated in an explosion in her flat. Quick thinking saves her life, but the journey to recovery is a slow one. As the doctors rebuild her hand, Rebecca (who also survived 9/11) rebuilds her sense of self by studying the physical and psychological process of recovery.

Interspersing the personal with the medical, Rebecca charts her year of rehabilitation, touching on the marvellously adaptable anatomy of the hand; how the brain’s fight or flight mechanism suppresses conscious thought so we can react instantly to danger; and why trauma causes some people to develop PTSD, while giving others a whole new lease of life.

Told with great emotional and intellectual clarity, Beautiful Trauma explores the resilient nature of the human spirit and the power we all hold in our hands.

Publisher Review

A cheering, upbeat story of recovery from life-threatening injury; Beautiful Trauma frames healing as a dance of acceptance and readjustment, of effort and reward, as well as the exploration of new possibilities. Fogg’s journey back to health is an inspiration — Gavin Francis A powerful account of the human capacity for healing. It speaks to the deep reservoir of resilience in all of us — Dr Anna Lembke, bestselling author of Dopamine Nation Captivating and insightful, Beautiful Trauma will have you rapt from the very first page. An extraordinary celebration of the human spirit – [it] will stay with you long after you turn the final page — Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me A compelling story of gain from loss. It describes Fogg’s personal quest to understand the objective basis of her physical and subjective torment, and how, using introspection and science, she emerged as a new person — Joseph LeDoux, author of The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains A celebration of the adaptability of the body and the resilience of the mind. Fogg has retained her awe of the human experience, despite it all, and the result is a truly special book — Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness This is a book of grace and hope. Grace in the recovery from pain and fear, and hope in the acceptance of a new, fascinating life — Dr Emily Mayhew, author of Wounded