HEAPS OF HYPNOSIS
Kind of Cruel – Sophie Hannah
This novel isn’t my usual cup of tea when it comes to fiction. But when hypnosis lecturer and teacher Michael Heap told Kev that author Sophie Hannah had been in touch to research hypnosis for this book, I couldn’t resist adding it to my reading list.
Kind of Cruel is a psychological thriller centred on Amber, a woman who consults a hypnotherapist about the chronic insomnia she’s suffered since an arson attack that killed her best friend. A series of coincidences, connections, past traumas, mysteries and memories – all pushed along by some, frankly, bonkers policework – weave together into plot twists that kept me guessing and a denouement I couldn’t have seen coming a mile off.
But what interests us, of course, is the hypnosis.
Hypnosis isn’t really ‘the star’ of this book. It’s almost quite incidental, though the homely hypnotherapist Ginny provides intriguingly revealed expert psychological commentary between chapters, and plays a key role in the final police takedown.
The beginning of the book felt mildly reminiscent of Victorian tales of psychic phenomena induced via hypnosis – the kind we’ve explored here or as penned by George du Maurier on astral projection and alien spirit guides.
After Amber’s first hypnosis session, she has a memory of seeing the words ‘kind, cruel, kind of cruel’ and (as you do) gets sucked into a police investigation into a seemingly unrelated murder.
I don’t know whether this was Hannah’s intention or not, but that early whiff of hypnosis plus the recovery/creation/whatever of a mysterious memory certainly set my mind into the realms of hypnotic extrasensory perception – maybe hypnosis had opened up some sort of psychic connection between her and the victim… or murderer..? It was a neat red herring for me, whether by accident or design.
Hannah captures the ‘ickiness’ of Amber going to see a hypnotherapist. The character’s internal monologue as she drives to her first appointment is a whirl: it won’t work; it’s a waste of money; she’s going to turn back for home; but it’s a secret from her husband; she’s feeling ridiculous; it’s a last resort, etc. Her impressions of Ginny, her treatment rooms, her location, and her marketing are absolutely scathing. As are the bitchy exchanges about hypnotherapy and Ginny between Amber and a woman she keeps crossing paths with at appointments. It’s sobering reading for any practicing hypnotherapist!
Ginny is also later described as a psychotherapist. So, reputationally, she’s on the ascent as the book builds – her (written) insights are interesting and seem credible, and her involvement in the plot towards the end is fun if rather far-fetched!
Hannah has indeed done Michael Heap and hypnosis as a field proud. The unconscious/conscious mind model is dismissed as nonsense, and Hannah has Amber and the fellow client she keeps meeting discuss hypnosis using the ‘hidden observer’ model.
I particularly relished Amber’s irritation at the superfluous, outdated rituals and scriptings of hypnosis – she’s impatient, conflicted and unsure she’s ever even experienced ‘hypnosis’ because of these distractions. Her character’s internal rant against imaginary staircases should put you off using goal-directed fantasy for good!
And as she sassily internally huffs about the seating Ginny requires: “What is it about hypnotherapy that makes it work better horizontally than vertically?”
