Irving, John: *1942

Until I Find You, 2005 - Thematic Parallels: Trauma

Irving, John: Until I Find You, 2005
The book’s main topic is trauma, memory, and the long-lasting effects of childhood sexual abuse.
The following books are thematically similar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Henríquez, Cristina: The Book of Unknown Americans, 2014, ~280pp
  This novel centers immigrant struggles and features episodes of violence, including implied sexual abuse and its impact on families and victims.
  - Both novels center on characters trying to anchor themselves in an unfamiliar or shifting world. While one is immigrant fiction (Henríquez) and the other a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman (Irving), they connect on deep thematic ground: the search for identity, the shaping power of family and loss, the long shadow of the past, and the voices of outsiders.
- Morrison, Toni: The Bluest Eye, 1970, ~170pp
  A novel that explores themes of abuse, trauma, and societal pain.
  - Both novels explore the devastating impact of childhood trauma, the failures of adults, and the fractured search for identity. While Morrison situates this within the intersecting forces of race, class, and gender, and Irving within family dynamics and sexuality, they share a commitment to exposing painful truths often silenced in society.
- Proulx, Annie: Brokeback Mountain, 1997, ~35pp
  This short story explores emotional pain, identity struggle, and trauma related to forbidden love.
  - Both works center on love, sexuality, secrecy, trauma, and masculinity, showing how personal identity and intimacy are shaped by forces of repression, silence, and memory.
- Wright, Richard: Native Son, 1940, ~400pp
  This is a novel dealing with issues of systemic racism and social injustice, which often intersect with themes of trauma.
  - Both novels are long, often disturbing explorations of how external forces — racism, abuse, secrecy, family dysfunction — shape identity, blur the line between victim and agent, and complicate the process of coming of age.
List of general discussion questions on Trauma (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Trauma (pdf)