Notes from the Lost Property Department, Bridget Pitt : review

Abstract

Amputations and scars announce the truth of a wounded body that has suffered an unquestionable trauma. In contrast, an injury to the brain leaves its subterranean mark in more subtle ways. This kind of trauma is not declared by the body but is rather concealed- contained- within it, its long-term effects discernible only through such markers as a loss of motor-skills and memory, and changes in behaviour. Bridget Pitt's Notes from the Lost Property Department (2015) is primarily concerned with the ways in which these invisible wounds cause disjunctions in personal identity and fissures in relationships. Exploring the effects of dementia and brain injury on a mother and daughter, her novel seeks to address the difficulties involved in the reparation of these psychic contusions.