Tom Seymour is a psychologist,
married to his wife Lauren; their marriage is crumbling because she wants
children and this has made him impotent.  As they walk together along the river
Tyne in Britain, they see a young man swallow some pills and jump in the
water.  After Tom rescues him, it turns out that the young man is Danny Miller,
who Tom last saw thirteen years ago at his murder trial.  Tom had testified
that the 10-year-old Danny was competent to stand trial because he knew the
difference between right and wrong and the meaning of death.  As a result of
Tom’s testimony, the evidence was enough to prove Danny guilty.  It turns out
that Danny has recently been released from prison, and is not doing well.  Tom
agrees to meet with Danny to talk about his childhood, the murder, and his life
after he lost his freedom.  Through these conversations, Tom also comes to
confront his role as a psychologist specializing in troubled families with
unhappy children.  He also has to face changes in his life as his wife leaves
him.

Border Crossing is a serious
novel; while is framed around an old case of murder, it has little mystery to
it.  Barker’s portrait of Danny unfolds to show how the boy’s abusive father
and desperate mother had contributed to his delinquency and cruelty.  We also
see Tom’s misery in facing the end of his relationship with his wife; his
frustration with his sexual failure and the sadness at the fading of the bond
between him and Lauren.  The whole novel has a mournful air to it, and this is
enhanced by the reading of the unabridged audiobook by Simon Prebble, who does
a fine job.  It is a deliberate, psychologically complex book, describing Tom’s
inner thoughts and feelings as he negotiates this difficult phase of his life. 
The many small details make it quite realistic, yet each one adds to the total
effect in examining the ironies of a psychologist’s life.  

Pat Barker’s prose is skillfully
crafted to make an unusually thoughtful novel about psychology and how lives go
wrong.  Highly recommended.

© 2006 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts &
Humanities Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College,
Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Review. 
His main research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and
psychology.

Categories: Fiction, AudioBooks