"Bergen's power as a writer pulls like an undertow... An uncanny, discerning, merciful algebra on what love takes, and where it leaves us." -- Paige Cooper
In Out of Mind, David Bergen delves into the psyche of Lucille Black, mother, grandmother, lover, psychiatrist, and analyst of self, who first appeared in Bergen's bestselling novel The Matter with Morris. Although adept at probing the lives of others, Lucille has become untethered, caught between duty and desire, between the demands of family and her own longing.
Her ex-husband Morris betrays her by publishing a memoir about the aftermath of their son Martin's death in Afghanistan. She travels to Thailand to attempt to extricate her youngest daughter from the clutches of an apparent cult leader. And she is invited to the south of France to attend the marriage of a man whom she rejected a year earlier. Negotiating with herself about her altered role in the lives of her family and friends, Lucille circles the globe -- and herself.
In this brilliant and subtle evocation of vulnerability and loss, Bergen traces one woman's quest to reform her identity, reminding us that the unexpected is always lying in wait.
Genre: Literary Fiction
In Out of Mind, David Bergen delves into the psyche of Lucille Black, mother, grandmother, lover, psychiatrist, and analyst of self, who first appeared in Bergen's bestselling novel The Matter with Morris. Although adept at probing the lives of others, Lucille has become untethered, caught between duty and desire, between the demands of family and her own longing.
Her ex-husband Morris betrays her by publishing a memoir about the aftermath of their son Martin's death in Afghanistan. She travels to Thailand to attempt to extricate her youngest daughter from the clutches of an apparent cult leader. And she is invited to the south of France to attend the marriage of a man whom she rejected a year earlier. Negotiating with herself about her altered role in the lives of her family and friends, Lucille circles the globe -- and herself.
In this brilliant and subtle evocation of vulnerability and loss, Bergen traces one woman's quest to reform her identity, reminding us that the unexpected is always lying in wait.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Always incisive, richly evocative of our human experience, the work of David Bergen illuminates and exhilarates. His is a vital literary voice." - Claire Messud
"A beautiful piece of writing — delicate, melancholic, searching. Years after the violent death of her son, the psychiatrist Lucille remains stuck, watching as her ex-husband starts a new family and as her grown daughters drift away. Does Lucille have a place anymore? She travels to Thailand and to France, seeking connections, still yearning. She refuses to fade away; nor will her grief. David Bergen is an exceptional writer, harnessing his prose, its restraint a sign of its great power." - Tom Rachman
"David Bergen’s language is so pure and he listens so attentively to his characters that reading his work always stills me, like a meditation. In Out of Mind, Lucille has come to the end of her ways of knowing herself. But what does Lucille want? Bergen asks, and with consummate respect for her autonomy, he follows her on a journey towards the freedom that comes in knowing your own desires." - Joan Thomas
"A beautiful piece of writing — delicate, melancholic, searching. Years after the violent death of her son, the psychiatrist Lucille remains stuck, watching as her ex-husband starts a new family and as her grown daughters drift away. Does Lucille have a place anymore? She travels to Thailand and to France, seeking connections, still yearning. She refuses to fade away; nor will her grief. David Bergen is an exceptional writer, harnessing his prose, its restraint a sign of its great power." - Tom Rachman
"David Bergen’s language is so pure and he listens so attentively to his characters that reading his work always stills me, like a meditation. In Out of Mind, Lucille has come to the end of her ways of knowing herself. But what does Lucille want? Bergen asks, and with consummate respect for her autonomy, he follows her on a journey towards the freedom that comes in knowing your own desires." - Joan Thomas
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