Most people can picture images in their heads - the look of an apple, the appearance of their kitchen or the smile of their best friend - but not everyone can.
Those who cannot visualise anything in their mind's eye are probably among 1% of people with extreme aphantasia, according to a review of studies on the phenomenon.
At the heart of Dennis’ story is a failed therapy system endured by children in real life, and which Denfeld says is still in use today. Known as “holding time,” Denfeld brings the suffering of children subjected to this “care” to vivid life. Denfeld bases the details in this fictional novel on real-life experiences and issues she encountered as a foster parent.
In the 14th century, King Charles VI of France suffered from a curious, but by no means original, delusion. He believed his body was made entirely of glass. A relatively new material, both fragile and transparent, glass captures the hypochondriac’s acutest fear – brittle vulnerability – with their greatest desire: visceral omniscience. This human longing to peer inside our “meaty vessel” was answered in the 20th century by medical technologies, including blood testing, microscopy and imaging, which became widely available. Rather than soothe the hypochondriacal itch, however, this intimate access – along with Google’s democratisation of medical knowledge – has fuelled health anxiety to new heights.
Susan Pope arrived as a 5-year-old in pre-statehood Alaska from Buffalo, New York, with her parents and a younger sister. She has remained a resident ever since, with an extended family now including two near-adult grandchildren. “Rivers and Ice,” in well-crafted and insightful essay chapters, follows her life as both she and Alaska grew from raw beginnings to the present day. The whole forms a generational portrait of family and place, involving both love and loss and imbued with hard-won resilience.