Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Hysterical
Rebecca Coffey
Review by Priscilla Comen
Hysterical
Rebecca Coffey
Review by Priscilla Comen
Hysterical, by Rebecca Coffey, is the story of the life of Anna Freud. In the Forward, the author tells what sources she used and how Anna’s psyche was formed by her father…or not. Anna loved a woman, Dorothy Burlingham, heir to the Tiffany fortune, despite her father saying that lesbianism is a “gateway to mental illness.” It was an open secret that he analyzed her six days out of seven. In spite of this unusual relationship, she became a respected, dedicated psychologist for children. This is her story, one that her father’s biographers have not told. They have been more interested in upholding her father’s reputation.
As in any novel, fiction is interwoven with facts and author Coffey has created scenes, dialogue, and situations based on her imagination. The book also includes photos and Jewish humor her father loved. The novel is told by Anna in the first person as she describes her place as one of six children in their family in Vienna. She often played in the waiting room of her father's office, downstairs of their apartment. She listened while he questioned patients. Hysteria was an epidemic in 1895, and some doctors treated it with surgery, sedation, or massage. Freud tried sympathy, attention, and talking. He claimed that hysteria was caused by trauma, and trauma was sexual and almost always perpetuated by fathers on daughters.
In 1902, Papa Freud formed a group of the Wednesday Psychological Society and was appointed an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Vienna. Anna was close to her Tante Minna and while in the waiting room of Papa’s office, read his stacks of journals and his notes on patients. Author Coffey describes how Ratman (Herve Lanzer) was questioned and his responses. He repeats “Whatever are you thinking?” Papa says that Herr Lanzer is homosexual and is cured completely. Dr. Jung and Freud go into an adjoining room alone, and talk about psychological theories. Freud admits that he and Tante Minna have sex in the evenings. Anna listens at the wall and learns more about her father and aunt. She wants to help Herr Lanzer, but not to tell him family secrets.
Oli, Anna’s brother, tended to their Mama who was in bed all the time. He made her laugh, brought her meals, read to her. Oli was the smartest, and answered all the children's questions about airplanes and crayons. Papa said the Oedipus complex didn’t apply to Oliver, but Papa was fascinated by him. Anna loved being Papa’s favorite, translated his theories, and listened to him every night. The other children left home to go to college and marriage. Anna’s fantasies consumed her when she turned sixteen. She wanted to go to university to study the classics, but Papa thought women should study home-making. Instead, she was sent to Murano in the Dolomites where she hiked, took massages, played chess, and memorized all of papa’s works. She was told to stay away from her sister Sophie’s wedding, and was distraught, ignoring her health for four months.
When Anna regained her health and resumed walks with her father, he suggested she become a psychologically informed teacher. She took the exam and later taught as an apprenticed teacher, and helped distribute orphaned children to new homes in Vienna. In 1917 food was scarce. Anna was satisfied with her life, She behaved on the playground at recess as one of the children.
She told her father about her dreams, but feared he would not keep them secret. In 1920, her sister, Sophie, died of influenza. Anna’s mother burned her husband’s letters to her, and threw herself out the window. She landed in the garden on her feet with only minor injuries. Papa mourned Sophie and revised his theory of penis envy for little girls. He also mourned the loss of Anna on his analyst’s couch. Four years after Sophie’s death, Anna became an analyst and told her story of the process. She met Eva Rosenfeld and fell in love with her. Eva was the substitute for her sister, and had nothing to do with Papa. Anna became Eva’s helper with tasks such as helping with dinners and driving the children to school and back. She resumed sessions with her Papa, and Mama told her she once loved a woman. Her parents ended that affair and Mama said to not let them do that.
Anna went to a conference and delivered a paper Papa had written about fathers and daughters. She realized it was a declaration of his love for her. Eva did not turn out to be the love of Anna’s life, Dorothy Burlingham did. Eva became Papa’s patient and returned to her gloomy husband. Dorothy Burlingham burst into the Freud house one night at dinner-time with her four children. She was running away from her abusive husband who was in America. Anna took charge of the oldest son, Robert. They built and raced soap-box cars, swung from trees like monkeys, and she gave him money for candy. Dorothy rented a mansion in Vienna and Anna went every day to analyze the children. Soon, another friend of Dorothy’s came to live there with her children. Anna had a full schedule of analysands. They started the Matchbox School for children in analysis. Music and art were interspersed with mathematics, history, and nature hikes. But from 1931 to 1938, events were bad: Jews were harassed and the school closed. Anna described the tension and anxiety when she and Dorothy and the Freud family escaped Vienna and fled to England. A photo shows her and Papa on the train at last. Papa’s three sisters stayed in Germany and were murdered in a concentration camp.
Rebecca Coffey has won many awards and worked nine years to research and write Hysterical. What happened to all the Freud children after they left Vienna? Does Anna stay with Dorothy? Were Dorothy’s children better for having been analyzed by both Anna and Dorothy? Find out in this interesting biographical novel about Anna Freud at your Mendocino Community Library.
As in any novel, fiction is interwoven with facts and author Coffey has created scenes, dialogue, and situations based on her imagination. The book also includes photos and Jewish humor her father loved. The novel is told by Anna in the first person as she describes her place as one of six children in their family in Vienna. She often played in the waiting room of her father's office, downstairs of their apartment. She listened while he questioned patients. Hysteria was an epidemic in 1895, and some doctors treated it with surgery, sedation, or massage. Freud tried sympathy, attention, and talking. He claimed that hysteria was caused by trauma, and trauma was sexual and almost always perpetuated by fathers on daughters.
In 1902, Papa Freud formed a group of the Wednesday Psychological Society and was appointed an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Vienna. Anna was close to her Tante Minna and while in the waiting room of Papa’s office, read his stacks of journals and his notes on patients. Author Coffey describes how Ratman (Herve Lanzer) was questioned and his responses. He repeats “Whatever are you thinking?” Papa says that Herr Lanzer is homosexual and is cured completely. Dr. Jung and Freud go into an adjoining room alone, and talk about psychological theories. Freud admits that he and Tante Minna have sex in the evenings. Anna listens at the wall and learns more about her father and aunt. She wants to help Herr Lanzer, but not to tell him family secrets.
Oli, Anna’s brother, tended to their Mama who was in bed all the time. He made her laugh, brought her meals, read to her. Oli was the smartest, and answered all the children's questions about airplanes and crayons. Papa said the Oedipus complex didn’t apply to Oliver, but Papa was fascinated by him. Anna loved being Papa’s favorite, translated his theories, and listened to him every night. The other children left home to go to college and marriage. Anna’s fantasies consumed her when she turned sixteen. She wanted to go to university to study the classics, but Papa thought women should study home-making. Instead, she was sent to Murano in the Dolomites where she hiked, took massages, played chess, and memorized all of papa’s works. She was told to stay away from her sister Sophie’s wedding, and was distraught, ignoring her health for four months.
When Anna regained her health and resumed walks with her father, he suggested she become a psychologically informed teacher. She took the exam and later taught as an apprenticed teacher, and helped distribute orphaned children to new homes in Vienna. In 1917 food was scarce. Anna was satisfied with her life, She behaved on the playground at recess as one of the children.
She told her father about her dreams, but feared he would not keep them secret. In 1920, her sister, Sophie, died of influenza. Anna’s mother burned her husband’s letters to her, and threw herself out the window. She landed in the garden on her feet with only minor injuries. Papa mourned Sophie and revised his theory of penis envy for little girls. He also mourned the loss of Anna on his analyst’s couch. Four years after Sophie’s death, Anna became an analyst and told her story of the process. She met Eva Rosenfeld and fell in love with her. Eva was the substitute for her sister, and had nothing to do with Papa. Anna became Eva’s helper with tasks such as helping with dinners and driving the children to school and back. She resumed sessions with her Papa, and Mama told her she once loved a woman. Her parents ended that affair and Mama said to not let them do that.
Anna went to a conference and delivered a paper Papa had written about fathers and daughters. She realized it was a declaration of his love for her. Eva did not turn out to be the love of Anna’s life, Dorothy Burlingham did. Eva became Papa’s patient and returned to her gloomy husband. Dorothy Burlingham burst into the Freud house one night at dinner-time with her four children. She was running away from her abusive husband who was in America. Anna took charge of the oldest son, Robert. They built and raced soap-box cars, swung from trees like monkeys, and she gave him money for candy. Dorothy rented a mansion in Vienna and Anna went every day to analyze the children. Soon, another friend of Dorothy’s came to live there with her children. Anna had a full schedule of analysands. They started the Matchbox School for children in analysis. Music and art were interspersed with mathematics, history, and nature hikes. But from 1931 to 1938, events were bad: Jews were harassed and the school closed. Anna described the tension and anxiety when she and Dorothy and the Freud family escaped Vienna and fled to England. A photo shows her and Papa on the train at last. Papa’s three sisters stayed in Germany and were murdered in a concentration camp.
Rebecca Coffey has won many awards and worked nine years to research and write Hysterical. What happened to all the Freud children after they left Vienna? Does Anna stay with Dorothy? Were Dorothy’s children better for having been analyzed by both Anna and Dorothy? Find out in this interesting biographical novel about Anna Freud at your Mendocino Community Library.