READING IDEAS FOR THE WEEK

The Lost Sessions by Sebastian Beaumont, Myrmidon, £18

The latest from the veteran Scottish-born author of Thirteen and The Juggler this, like his other works, explores the margins of the cerebral and the supernatural. There is more to his work than hauntings or mind-bending surrealism though – a linking theme that the protagonist must take a journey of self-awareness to escape his predicament.

Thirteen, The Juggler and The Lost Sessions, the author says, were conceived as a triptych, with this being the last.

A psychotherapeutic counsellor himself, he says Thirteen is about the sudden release of the past from the unconscious, The Juggler about dealing with the present, and The Lost Sessions looks at “a ‘beyond me’ perspective, or what happens when ordinary ‘me’ consciousness is temporarily absent.”

I am new to Beaumont as an author and the promise of a twisted tale with hints of the supernatural seemed something I would be instantly captivated by. But, not quite.

The Lost Sessions is the story of Will, a psychotherapist, who is knocked from his bike in a hit-and-run. As he recovers from concussion, he finds himself in a vortex of shifting realities, at the centre of which is Emma, a young woman determined to secure Will as her therapist – and who also claims to be dead.

She also seems to know a lot about Will’s past, and soon her presence begins to invade his life.

After cancelling his clients’ appointments due to his concussion, when Will returns to work, he discovers he has continued to see them – and he has no memory of it. But to me, these lost sessions are somehow more peripheral, we don’t get into the details until over halfway through the book. The rest is an apparently simple re-telling of his character history.

I found this structure made drama or tension anti-climactic. For example, without spoiling the plot, Will’s youngest sibling drowned when they were children. Will believes it is for this reason his mother is not close to him and sends him to schools in Scotland, away from the rest of the family.

When it comes to the confrontation of this dynamic, nothing happens. It all falls flat. I also have issue with the women characters. They are either overly emotional or irrational. Even Will’s wife, Lara, initially portrayed as the only woman of substance, soon turns her back on her husband in a sudden outburst. It goes against her character and relegates her into the background with the other women.

However, The Lost Sessions is interesting and will be a good read for those who want to experience the surreal but do not want to be overwhelmed by the fantastical.