Plural Stories

Submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah!

"It's like we're all on a bus. And sometimes I'm driving the bus, and so that means I have access to my body and my words and things like that, and then sometimes I'm on the back of the bus, and I have no ability to do anything -- but I can see what's happening. And I feel like it's gotten to a point, for the most part, where I feel like all the parts that need to be around are driving the bus together."

Blurb: When Andrea Dunlop's sister was investigated for medical child abuse (popularly known as "Munchausen by Proxy") more than a decade ago, it tore her family apart. This catastrophic series of events sent Andrea on a journey to understand a form of abuse that many people don't want to believe exists, speaking with experts, the occasional perpetrator, and a lot of survivors. Season 4 follows the story of Jordyn Hope, a survivor Andrea became friends with while making earlier seasons, as they unravel the secrets of their childhood.

Why is it worth your time?: The podcast is excellent in general, with the host neither sugarcoating nor sensationalizing the abuse she covers, and getting a wide range of relevant voices on-mic. Jo had guest appearances in earlier seasons to give a survivor's perspective, and this season they step into the spotlight. Their multiplicity is only discussed in Episode 5: Revelations (Youtube link), but symptoms like dissociation and amnesia come up elsewhere in the season -- and obviously they're plural the whole time. It's rare to see DID come up in a series where that isn't the focus, and refreshing that, in contrast to all the negative/damaging health effects Jo deals with as a result of their abuse, the multiplicity is presented as neutral-to-positive.

Plural Tags: abuse high-focus, cofronting, dissociation, relationships: teamwork, type: medical, type: switching

Content Warnings: Medical child abuse (from Jo's mother), emotional abuse, sexual abuse (from someone else), gaslighting, narcissism, alcoholism, racism toward Jo's biological father, eating disorder, inpatient mental health stays. Jo's mother dies in the course of the season, which they and their sister struggle with at the end.

Accessibility Notes: Audio, available on Apple Podcasts and other podcast services. The Youtube uploads have auto-generated transcripts, with all the errors you would expect.

Misc. Notes (if any): Added the "switching" tag because Jo talks about it happening in general while they made the season, though they don't call out any specific switches on-mic. They're not the main creator or editor of the podcast, but with this specific season I'd say they're involved-enough to rate the "creator: plural" tag.

"I don't think the therapist knew what she was doing. She kept looking for the real person. They're all real."

Blurb: When a skeezy San Antonio psychotherapist is found murdered in her office, it's up to lesbian detective Lucia Ramos to find the killer, with the help of her median love interest, Amy.

Why is it worth your time?: This is not going to be a book for everyone, but if you want a mystery where lesbians, incest survivors, and therapists are both heroes and villains, and with a pretty cool median love interest, this is the book for you. (There's also a more florid client with MPD, but she doesn't play a major role.) Anyone who has had an abusive therapist may find this book cathartic.

Amy's shifts are treated in a straightforward, everyday way that's refreshingly ordinary. She is neither treated as fragile victim nor exotic curiosity. As she explains, "I've got some of the symptoms of Multiple Personality Disorder, but to a very light degree. It's a continuum, of course, like most human behavior. I have mood shifts, but not true personality shifts. There is a core that is always present, not just observing. No amnesia. Just fickle and fluid. It keeps me interesting."

Plural Tags: abuse high-focus, median, medical

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Only officially available in paperback secondhand, though cheaply. I found my copy through the library, but that seems to have been a lucky break. However, archive.org has a screenreadable copy!

Misc Notes: Winner of the 1990 Spinsters Lesbian Fiction Contest.

“When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.”

Blurb: Burke, a merc/PI living on the seamiest side of New York City, gets involved in a case involving an abused nine-year-old multiple who has murdered two of his baby foster brothers. Burke has to negotiate a truce between the cops and child welfare groups coming to blows over him... and also get revenge for the multiple's sake.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a pretty good grim-n-gritty crime novel. However, it's probably the only of its like that will be in this catalog, and it comes with caveats. It is very, very much a book from 1991: the memory wars, ritual abuse, and Satanic trappings of group child abuse are all plot points, and the multiple has a murderer headmate. However, and the reason this book is in the catalog, is that it's the only one I've seen that takes a murderer multiple and treats them with sympathy and compassion--it takes the tack not of "multiples don't murder people" but "even if a multiple does murder someone, they still deserve compassion and care." Chosen family and the welfare of children, even "bad" children, are core themes. This is definitely not a book for everybody, but it is a book for SOMEBODY. (Also, it's nice to see someone discuss ritual abuse with the air of, "yeah, the trappings are to scare the victims; Satanism is not itself the problem.")

Plural Tags: MPD, fusion, switching, abuse high-focus

Content Warnings: include spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: Available on paper, ebook, and audiobook.