Him - Clare Empson
The thing about voluntary mutism and dissociative amnesia, which is basically being unable or unwilling to speak or unable and unwilling to let thoughts focus, is that it’s usually associated with trauma and shock. Catherine Elliott has been silent for four months despite efforts by her family and doctors to get her to come back to them. One technique is to get the victim to hold on to a single important event or person that will bring everything back together, and for Catherine that important person is Lucian Wilkes. The other thing about voluntary mutism and dissociative amnesia is that you need to be patient, because it’s going to take a while to find out what it is about Lucian that has caused Catherine to fall into this condition. Catherine met Lucian 15 years ago at university. He’s the kind of boy who makes an immediate and unforgettable impression on everyone; intelligent, witty, handsome, rich, artistic, a little bit wild and impulsive. Not like Catherine who lives a sheltered...