Hysteria
“‘A skilful writer, whose intelligent observations about her own experiences and the history of her illness are sharp and insightful.’
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When Katerina Bryant suddenly began experiencing chronic seizures, she was plunged into a foreign world of doctors and psychiatrists, who understood her condition as little as she did. Reacting the only way she knew how, she immersed herself in books, reading her way through her own complicated diagnosis and finding a community of women who shared similar experiences.
In the tradition of Siri Hustvedt's The Shaking Woman, Bryant blends memoir with literary and historical analysis to explore women's medical treatment. Hysteria retells the stories of silenced women, from the 'Queen of Hysterics' Blanche Wittmann to Mary Glover's illness termed 'hysterica passio' a panic attack caused by the movement of the uterus — in London in 1602 and more. By centring these stories of women who had no voice in their own diagnosis and treatment, Bryant finds her own voice: powerful, brave and resonant.
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Read a review by the Australian Book Review
Read a review by the Age/Sydney Morning Herald
Read a review by Readings
Read a review by InDaily
Read a review by Kill Your Darlings
Read a review by ArtsHub
Read a review by Sydney Review of Books
Read a review by Underground Writers
Read an interview with Melbourne Writers Festival
Read an interview with The Adelaide Review
Read an interview with The Monthly
Read an interview with Feminist Writers Festival
Read an interview with Kill Your Darlings
Watch The Guardian Australia Book Club, featuring Hysteria and Show Me Where It Hurts
Listen to an interview with The Wheeler Centre’s Take Home Reading Podcast
Listen to an interview with 3RRR’s Uncommon Sense
Listen to an interview with Kill Your Darlings’ Podcast
Listen to an interview with Writes 4 Women, on Hysteria and the Feminist Writers Festival
Listen to an interview with Radio National’s The Drawing Room
Watch a lecture on Hysteria for the History Trust of South Australia
“‘At once devastating, hopeful, comforting and bold. Bryant captures precisely, beautifully what it is to be made uncertain by illness.’”
“‘Katerina Bryant explores the disorienting and distressing phenomenon previously known — and denigrated — as ‘hysteria’ with compassion and insight.’”
“‘Hysteria is a timely and exciting work, keenly interested in the long history of women being treated — and mistreated — by the medical system, and the ways in which their complicated legacy is still being felt today. At once deeply personal and broadly political, it is a touching and tender examination of what it means to live in a body and with a brain that is aberrant or unwell, and how we might find a shape for our selves and our experiences in these circumstances. Bryant is a careful and intelligent writer, and this is a book that will have a great impact on many people.’”
“This is a stunning work of narrative non-fiction. It’s an honest account of personal strife, perfectly balanced out with insightful research.”
“ This is an exceptional debut, comprised of hybrid conventions and characters, that will no doubt have an impact on many people.”
