Anna O by Matthew Blake

DRB Reviews...Anna O by Matthew Blake

I took a class in university, "Psychology 101" and found it quite interesting. Since I was studying music as my major, this was obviously an elective, but the course did open my eyes. I learned about Anna O, properly known as Bertha Pappenheim, and how this one woman influenced Sigmund Freud. She was diagnosed with hysteria, which might today be a dissociative or somatic disorder or  she might have been suffering from a neurological disorder. Anna O's case was important in the development of psychoanalysis. 

When I saw the fictional novel entitled Anna O by Matthew Blake, it peaked my interest. If nothing else, it had to be a good psychological thriller right? So, I was drawn to read it.

I read Anna O methodically, chapter by chapter each evening before bet. The story line was captivating, and I felt the need to keep reading to seek the truth. As I dove further in, I realized all is not what it seems, and I became obsessed. I pushed forth to the ending, faster and faster, reading until I could not evade sleep any longer. The ending left me speechless...I couldn't read fast enough, it spiralled to a closure I completely didn't expect, and caught me out with the second largest curve ball I have experienced reading a book. The first and greatest curve ball of all time was when I read the "The Silent Patient." 

Anna O is honestly one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a very long time. The deep, dark recesses of the mind were exposed here, and Blake kept the focus on the good and evil parts of the mind and mental health. I have to leave my review with this one quote from Sigmund Freud himself:
"The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life."  

Anna O is a must read!