All Bleeding Stops

'All Bleeding Stops’ is a powerful story, told in equally powerful language. It had a profound impact on me and, long after reading the last word, I was musing about my impressions: the fragility of the human psyche when confronted with trauma - especially so when it is ongoing, and the double-edged sword of compassion that can become self-destructive when it is allowed to come too close and become too personal.

The book’s protagonist is Matthew Barrett, a young surgeon drafted into the U.S. Navy and detailed to Phu Bai, Vietnam, eager to begin his surgical career in earnest. I witnessed the gradual unravelling of his psyche bombarded by horror, the unending exposure to broken bodies, his perceived powerlessness in the face of irreparable damage to young lives: death, dismemberment, disfigurement, shattered futures, broken lives; all that in spite of his heroic, exhausting, never-ending attempts to repair and save - and fix. And his dawning despair, his increasing revulsion with the destruction of lives, his impotence to save that one important life, leading to the final moment of utter disgust with himself. By the time he returns from Vietnam, Matthew is broken, and caught between either practicing his surgical skills on dead bodies, or giving compassionate assistance to the living. He chooses the latter - in another horrific war.

I was completely absorbed by Matthew’s story; the commanding prose and powerful images held me in thrall. I could strongly identify with him and commiserate with his pain, despair, guilt, rage, and emptiness. I empathised with Packy and was uplifted by Denis and Therese, all these other well-defined and -developed characters. I loved every minute of reading this book and would gladly afford it a plus sign behind the five stars!

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this spellbinding  eARC!