The 11th Inkblot
Buy the Book:Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IPBooks
Published by: IPBooks
Release Date: February 11, 2020
Pages: 272
ISBN13: 978-1949093513
Synopsis
Caught between a distant father’s precision crafting of elegant timepieces and an enigmatic mother’s fascination with telling fortunes with blots of ink, Anton Zellinsky seeks to discover his identity and unravel the unsettling ambiguities of his boyhood. A historical fiction, The 11th Inkblot is a coming of age story and mystery involving unexplained family alienation and childhood grief. Anton’s memoir tells of his lifelong quest to solve the puzzle of his mother’s sudden disappearance from his life when he was a child. His search leads him to the Eastern Front in World War I, where poignant encounters with unforgettable figures leave traces that continue to haunt him for years to come. Through these experiences, he confronts horrors of war, endures traumatic twists of fate, and struggles to decipher what is real from what is not. His descent into madness leads him to search for his mother as he encounters lost family members in Hungary and becomes entangled in the lives of vibrant and mysterious Romani characters and the sinister forces determined to destroy him. Eventually finding himself a patient at the renowned Bürgholzli Clinic in Zurich, he encounters psychiatric luminaries Carl Jung and Hermann Rorschach, each of whom plays a different role in retelling his story. The 11th Inkblot invites the reader to become a passenger on a creative and moving interpretive journey of loss, discovery, acceptance, and redemption.
Add on GoodreadsPraise
“The young son of a watchmaker with a fascination for art begins creating inkblot drawings in this engrossing debut novel by Kleiger…One of the most compelling elements of this well-written and lovingly embroidered novel involves if or how Anton’s life will intersect with that of the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, pioneer of the eponymous inkblot test.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“A spellbindingly measured narrative that entertains and enthralls… A unique and captivating story of a young mind torn between science and art.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“The 11th Inkblot is a psychologically-textured coming of age mystery involving unexplained family alienation, childhood grief, trauma of war, and a search for connections.”
– NYRB
“A great read! Kleiger weaves a compelling tapestry of psychological history and fiction, filled with complex and fascinating characters living through trauma and loss. I found the depiction of the humane and sensitive treatment of PTSD highlighting the centrality of the long term therapeutic relationship focused on reintegration of the self instead of short term maneuvers aimed at symptom relief especially moving.”
– Joseph Silvio, M.D., Amazon Review
“Prepare to be quickly drawn into this engrossing page turner that fascinates in its historical accuracy and invites the reader into a beautifully spun web of interconnected lives and events…I laughed and cried, learned, and truly grew to know and love the splendidly alive cast of characters to whom I didn’t want to bid farewell when I turned the final page. In fact, they are with me still.”
– Lj Leeson, Amazon Review
“J. Herman Kleiger's first work of fiction is a tour de force! This is a story of a man's journey through inchoate family conflict and confusion as a boy, the brutality and soul scarring of war as a young man, his subsequent descent into madness, and finally his resurrection through psychological treatment with a caring and brilliant therapist.”
– Barton Evans, Ph.D., Goodreads Review
Excerpt
Prologue
How does one capture, in words, the life he has lived? Though I have spent much of my adult life narrowing my mind and distracting myself from writing this story, I knew the time would come that I would have enough courage to sift through my memories and endure the feelings that would become passengers on this journey. As the years pass with fewer things to command my time and attention, it becomes harder to avoid this moment. Alone in my study, I hear the steady ticking of the clock on the wall. I realize that the time is at hand for my story to begin.