I’m delighted to weIcome Jo Johnson as my guest today – her second novel, Surviving Her, was independently published on 1st November and is now available for kindle (free via Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback. It’s not Jo’s first visit to Being Anne – I shared a powerful piece from her back in March 2020 called We are not ok, are we? (you can read it again here), marking the release of her first novel, Surviving Me (published by Unbound).
As well as being an author, Jo is a clinical psychologist and writes novels around psychological themes that she can write about with particular authenticity. This time, she explores the issue of childhood neglect and emotional coercion, both in the context of material privilege.
Let’s take a closer look…
Nicky is the child with the hurting eyes and desperate ways. You want to rescue him.
Claus is the man with the empty eyes and controlling ways. You need to rescue her.
Broken by the death of her sister, Keziah is swept off her feet when Claus, a wealthy psychologist, walks into her life. She marries in haste.
But her husband’s idiosyncrasies, his unexplained absences and his locked room are hard to ignore ‒ until the past resurfaces and Keziah’s world explodes.
Meanwhile, nine-year-old Nicky is trying desperately to hold his small world together after his father walks out. He wants to be ‘the man of the house’ but he can’t keep his mum safe from her bad choices and violent boyfriends.
When Keziah ends up in hospital, her world collides with Nicky’s. The secrets he shares propel Keziah to the scene of two mysterious deaths, both of them linked to her husband…
Interesting? Let me hand over to Jo, to tell us more about grief, loss and what us flawed humans do to feel better…
Surviving Her explores several psychological themes but one key thread is unresolved grief and how attempts to control emotional pain lead to behaviours that can potentially harm others.
Keziah, the protagonist loses her sister in a tragic accident. She experiences feelings of guilt as well as sadness, fear and anger. To control her pain, she mimics the life her sister would have lived in order to make her parents happy again. She resigns her place in the mountain bike squad, pursues a safe career and marries an unsuitable older man, in haste.
But loss is not only about death. Feelings of grief can arise in response to many different situations. Examples might include loss of identity at retirement. Loss of future plans due to chronic illness or infertility, or the loss of a loved one when they develop dementia.
Surviving Her begins in a context of privilege. Nine-year-old Nicky lives behind a wide electric gate in a road only professionals can afford. But, bad things happen behind fancy gates.
Nicky’s father leaves the family home and as a helpless child without control: he grieves for his father’s physical presence and the security he felt when they were three. He also grieves the emotional security his mother gave before she suffered the pain of rejection. She soothes her pain with wine and the validation of difficult men.
Us humans are all different with a unique personality, past and life. These factors mediate how we experience loss and what we do to get rid of the associated emotional pain.
As a society we recognise feelings of grief after the death of a loved one but we often miss other forms of loss. Unresolved loss is painful. Us humans don’t like emotional pain so naturally strive to eliminate it.
Humans do many things to get rid of emotional pain. Some use substances to self soothe. Some overwork or exercise. Some clean or shop. Many people try and control their environment or other people as a way of reducing their fear.
People labelled as controlling are often demonised in a way that people who use other strategies are not.
Surviving Her is a fast-paced domestic suspense informed by my work as a clinical psychologist. The dual narrative combines engaging, complex characters with a fast-moving plot to answer the question: What does it take for a man to become emotionally coercive?
Looks good Jo – and I’m very impressed by the reviews, both on Amazon and Goodreads. I wish you every success with it…
About the author
Jo Johnson is a clinical psychologist specialising in neurological disorders. She is the author of nine psychology related publications for children and adults. Telling and listening to stories is an integral part of her work as a clinician and public speaker.
Surviving Her is Jo Johnson’s second novel. Like her first book, Surviving Her doesn’t shy away from serious topics that as a psychologist Jo can write about with inside knowledge and authenticity. The psychology of childhood neglect, trauma, grief and emotional coercion are compassionately knitted within the twists and drama of this carefully crafted novel.
She is working on a third novel, Surviving Him.
She lives in West Sussex with her husband.