The Shadows: A Novel

Alex North’s The Shadows argues that past traumas are not static events but active forces that continue to shape the present, poisoning communities and individuals alike. The novel suggests that true resolution is impossible without confronting suppressed histories, as avoidance only allows the past to fester and repeat itself in new, destructive forms. This haunting is evident in the psychological burdens of the characters and the cyclical violence that plagues the Gritten community, demonstrating that a refusal to face the past guarantees its destructive return.

The lingering impact of trauma is most intimately explored through the characters of Paul and Daphne Adams. Paul’s reluctant return to his hometown of Gritten triggers a flood of painful memories he has suppressed for 25 years. The physical sickness he feels upon re-entering the town reveals the profound psychological weight of his past, and his reluctance to engage with the community, even in the face of his mother’s illness, highlights how unwilling he is to confront his traumatic past. North illustrates this theme further through his use of Daphne’s dementia, which acts as a literary device to blur the line between past and present. Her fragmented, horrified recollections, such as shouting, “Red hands, Paul! There are red hands everywhere” (25), show her mind trapped in the moment of the original trauma.