“The Gathering” (winner of 2007 Man Booker Prize) by Anne Enright (post 1): Veronica, whose large Irish family is gathering in Dublin after the death of her brother, Liam, is puzzled by her memory gap for their past conversation

“He was the one who talked most, but I didn’t mind. I wish I could remember what exactly he said, but conversation doesn’t stick to my memory of Liam…We talked as brother and sister might…It was summer, and sometimes we were still talking when the sun came up — but I have no idea what these conversations were. I put a phrase into the bedroom air, like ‘Joan Armatrading’, and I think, We would never talk about her. [note use of italics] I suppose we talked about family…What else — quantum mechanics? (1, p. 118).

Comment: Note that the author has italicized “We would never talk about her.”  As discussed in past posts, novelists may use italics to indicate voices heard in the head, as opposed to merely silent thought. And voices heard in the head may be voices of alternate personalities (2, p. 62, 94).

And if a novel has no characters who are labelled as having multiple personality, any symptoms of multiple personality may reflect what I call an author’s normal, creative, high-functioning “multiple personality trait.” 

Added same day: I will have further comment when I finish this novel. Maybe it will clarify itself.

1. Anne Enright. The Gathering. New York, Grove Press, 2007.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.