Case Study

Set in 1965 London, "Case Study" plunges into a labyrinthine exploration of sanity, identity, and truth. A young woman, convinced that the charismatic psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite is responsible for her sister's suicide, meticulously orchestrates a plan for revenge and exposure. Adopting a new persona, Rebecca Smyth, she presents herself as a client to Braithwaite, diligently documenting her sessions and observations in a series of notebooks. Her intent is to uncover his true nature and gather evidence against him. However, as she delves deeper into Braithwaite's unsettling world and his unconventional therapeutic methods, the line between her assumed identity and her true self begins to blur. She finds herself increasingly entangled, questioning not only his reality but her own perception and character. Graeme Macrae Burnet masterfully interweaves these intimate, often darkly humorous, notebook entries with his own biographical research into the enigmatic Collins Braithwaite, creating a metafictional narrative that challenges readers to discern fact from fiction.