Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks Reviews

Sebastian Faulks does not disappoint with Human Traces, builds up the story taking you with him, as your eyes read, your mind visualises and your emotions follows, you think you'll just read a chapter, but find yourself wanting to read 'just one more'.

This is the third book I've read by Sebastian Faulks and rightly hailed as his most ambitious novel yet. In many ways the seeds of this book lie back in A Fool's Alphabet, a clever book that probably has been underestimated. Birdsong made his career in many ways, an outstanding novel of the Great War and a passionate one; it has become ...  Read the complete review

Human Traces is probably Sebastian Faulks' most ambitious work to date: a sprawling, epic tale of the quest of three friends (Jacques, Thomas and Sophie) to discover the cause of and cure for mental illnesses in Victorian Britain. Taking in more or less the entire lifetime of the three principle characters, it is a remarkably evocative ...  Read the complete review

This is the story of Jacques and Thomas, two main characters that are very well described and brought to life by the author Sebastian Faulks, of which I am a huge fan. These two people share a common interest and fascination of the human mind, and when Jacques marries Thomas` sister, their relations grow stronger, as they now have a ...  Read the complete review

This is a stunning book - not only in the way the story moves forward but in the way it explores early ideas about psychiatry and madness. Sebastian Faulks has clearly researched thoroughly and intelligently the medical background but the story carries its learning lightly. At the end of it, I felt as though I'd learned as much ...  Read the complete review

Sebastian Faulks rose to acclaim with the publication of Bird Song and Charlotte Grey. These novels were celebrated for their complex plots and enthralling narrative, as well as the intelligent way in which the author dealt with complicated issues. In my opinion, Human Traces continues Faulks' tradition of tackling ...  Read the complete review

I was given this book by my mother who raved about it and said I must read it. Well I did and I couldn't put it down. A beautifully written story about love and madness, it touches deeply. The insights Faulks gives into early psychiatric treatment and attitudes to mental illness are exceptional and are obviously the result of ...  Read the complete review

This is a beautifully written book. As well as that, its depth of scholarship is, in so far as it clearly involved, inter alia, a great deal of research into the causes and symptoms of mental illness, quite remarkable for what is, after all, a fictional work. The story is about the lives of two men, both who, through their ...  Read the complete review