Walking Wounded

A stirring debut novel about the complex relationship between a soldier and his psychiatrist, set in a failing psychiatric hospital between the end of the Second World War and the founding of the NHS.

An expertly imagined novel about war's long trail of damage, and about healing intentions gone savagely wrong. Walking Wounded will engage fans of Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy

The atmosphere of the late forties is brilliantly evoked . . . a compassionate and compelling account of post traumatic stress in veterans of the 2nd world war while bringing individual patients and their psychiatrists vividly to life

Reminiscent of Pat Barker's Regeneration , and its portraits of damaged soldiers from an earlier conflict, this is a novel that matches Barker's work in its exploration of the trauma wars inflict on those who fight them.

Quietly self-assured [and] deeply touching

Writing about a hospitalised and traumatised poet is to invite comparisons to Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy about shell-shocked First World War poets. Llewellyn's shocking and moving debut can hold its own even in that celebrated company.

Llewellyn's considerable gifts keep us gripped to the end even when the pain described becomes almost unbearable. The beauty and skill of her own writing is the best testament to her belief in the redemptive power of art.

Llewellyn has taken the harrowing subject of PTSD and used it to produce a haunting debut novel . . . The level of detail in the book is remarkable

A richly researched tale that stars cameos of the real-life medics who advocated brain surgery as a cure for the psychic scars of service. If that seems an outrage today, Llewellyn's achievement in this tender period piece is to evoke an incendiary sense of scandal , while avoiding all trace of we-know-better-now smugness.

A moving novel exploring the effects of PTSD post World War II

Meticulously researched, emotionally devastating : a work of uncommon brilliance .

An astute and powerful portrayal of the damage inflicted by war and the suffering often caused by misguided attempt to repair it. An extremely impressive first novel that combines a delicacy of language and a profound strength of insight .

An astonishing novel: beautifully crafted , with compelling characters and a gripping story . . . Llewellyn is an elegant, truthful writer .

If you're looking for a novel that is profoundly revelatory and comes with a huge punch of impact about something vitally important , this is it. It's hard to believe it's a debut novel, it's so assured . . . Highly recommended.

A remarkably nuanced debut about the human consequences of war

Powerful , shocking , enlightening , moving , and beautifully written

Sheila Llewellyn was born in England, of Welsh heritage, and has dual British/Irish citizenship. She has worked in Africa, Iran, Singapore, Germany and Russia. In 2002, she trained as a cognitive behavioural therapist at the University of Oxford, moved to Northern Ireland with her husband and worked as a specialist in PTSD at a national trauma centre. She completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry in Belfast in 2016.