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Tales of Trauma: The Return of the Past in Sue Grafton's Novels

Tales of Trauma: The Return of the Past in Sue Grafton's Novels This study approaches Sue Grafton's ‘Alphabet Series’ with attention to the concept of trauma and the repetition it entails. Trauma is linked to the past but the symptoms manifest themselves, repeatedly, in the present. The focus here is on the effects of this dynamic link between past and present for the detective, Kinsey Millhone, and selected characters, including serial killer Ned Lowe, the series’ final villain. At a novel's end, a reader closes the book, but endings and closure are not the same thing. Repetition is a powerful force pressing for continuation, moving to overcome closure, which takes two key, interwoven forms in Grafton's novels: seriality and trauma. Seriality features in the sequence of twenty-five Kinsey Millhone novels produced over time, as well as in the actions of a serial killer who bridges the gap between the series’ two final novels. Trauma is an expression of past pain or injury that manifests in the present, repeating the past experience in ways that unconsciously recreate the pain. Trauma is a deep-seated facet of Millhone's sense of identity, as well as a sign of the influence of crime and tragedy in the lives of many characters. This essay explores how seriality and trauma in the novels combine to create a rich sense of a past that is both always present and always under construction. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Crime Fiction Studies Edinburgh University Press

Tales of Trauma: The Return of the Past in Sue Grafton's Novels

Martin, Rebecca
Crime Fiction Studies , Volume 1 (2): 16 – Sep 1, 2020
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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
Copyright © Edinburgh University Press
ISSN
2517-7982
eISSN
2517-7990
DOI
10.3366/cfs.2020.0019
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Abstract

This study approaches Sue Grafton's ‘Alphabet Series’ with attention to the concept of trauma and the repetition it entails. Trauma is linked to the past but the symptoms manifest themselves, repeatedly, in the present. The focus here is on the effects of this dynamic link between past and present for the detective, Kinsey Millhone, and selected characters, including serial killer Ned Lowe, the series’ final villain. At a novel's end, a reader closes the book, but endings and closure are not the same thing. Repetition is a powerful force pressing for continuation, moving to overcome closure, which takes two key, interwoven forms in Grafton's novels: seriality and trauma. Seriality features in the sequence of twenty-five Kinsey Millhone novels produced over time, as well as in the actions of a serial killer who bridges the gap between the series’ two final novels. Trauma is an expression of past pain or injury that manifests in the present, repeating the past experience in ways that unconsciously recreate the pain. Trauma is a deep-seated facet of Millhone's sense of identity, as well as a sign of the influence of crime and tragedy in the lives of many characters. This essay explores how seriality and trauma in the novels combine to create a rich sense of a past that is both always present and always under construction.

Journal

Crime Fiction Studies – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2020

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