The Shadow Of The Mole

1916 Bois de Bolante France. The battles in the trenches are raging fiercer than ever. In a deserted mineshaft French sappeurs discover an unconscious man and nickname him The Mole.Claiming he has lost his memory The Mole is convinced that he's dead and that an Other has taken his place. The military brass considers him a deserter but front physician and psychiatrist-in-training Michel Denis suspects that his patient's odd behavior is stemming from shellshock and tries to save him from the firing squad.The mystery deepens when The Mole begins to write a story in écriture automatique that takes place in Vienna with Dr. Josef Breuer Freud’s teacher in the leading role. Traumatized by the recent loss of an arm Denis becomes obsessed with him and is prepared to do everything he can to unravel the patient's secret.Set against the staggering backdrop of the First World War The Shadow Of The Mole is a thrilling tableau of loss frustration anger madness secrets and budding love. The most urgent question in this extraordinary story is: when how and why reality shifts into delusion?The Flemish writer Bob Van Laerhoven writes in a fascinating and compelling way about a psychiatric investigation during WW1. The book offers superb insight into the horrors of war and the trail of human suffering that results from it - NBD Biblion