A striking, psychologically astute debut about the aftermath of trauma

Can Vivian live ecstatically, after what has been done to her?

To the outside observer, Vivian is a success story-a dedicated lawyer who advocates for mentally ill patients at a New York City psychiatric hospital. Privately, Vivian contends with the memories and aftereffects of her bad childhood-compounded by the everyday stresses of being a Black Latinx woman in America. She lives in a constant state of hypervigilant awareness that makes even a simple subway ride into a heart-pounding drama.

For years, Vivian has self-medicated with a mix of dating, dieting, dark humour and smoking weed with her BFF, Jane. But after a family reunion prompts Vivian to take a bold step, she finds herself alone in new and terrifying ways, without even Jane to confide in, and she starts to unravel. Will she find a way to repair what matters most to her?

A debut from a stunning talent, Post-Traumatic is a new kind of survivor narrative, featuring a complex heroine who is blazingly, indelibly alive. With razor-sharp prose and mordant wit, Chantal V. Johnson performs an extraordinary feat, delivering a psychologically astute story about the aftermath of trauma that somehow manages to brim with warmth, laughter, and hope.

'Reading Post-Traumatic feels like an illicit thrill' Dawnie Walton

'It made me smile, laugh, cringe, shiver, and think. Like life, Post-Traumatic is richly triggering and highly recommended' Myriam Gurba

'Swift, caustic, charismatic, beautiful, terrifying, and so incredibly funny' Tommy Pico

'This brilliant debut shows us what it means to live with, and beyond, trauma. I felt such kinship with Vivian that I sometimes felt like Johnson was reading my mind' Jessamine Chan