A Psychoanalytic Childhood: A Memoir of Growing up in Mid-Twentieth-Century New York(Freud Museum London Series)

Writer Caroline Zilboorg tells the fascinating story of growing up in New York City in the 1950s as the daughter of the Russian-American psychoanalyst and medical historian Gregory Zilboorg, a pioneer of global psychoanalysis. This rich, evocative, and honest memoir, filled with private family photographs, brings a bygone era to life. This moving memoir opens a door into the life of a young girl growing up in a psychoanalytic household. It offers insight into not only the expectations of girlhood in upper-class New York in the 1950s, but also the burgeoning psychoanalytic community at that time with particular focus on the brilliant Gregory Zilboorg. Caroline Zilboorg draws on her memories of growing up in a what she calls 'a psychoanalytic household', and on a wealth of privately held scrapbooks and photographs. She recounts pivotal experiences from her birth in New York City in 1948 through the death of her father in 1959. Both chronological and reflective, the memoir tells the story of a girlhood shaped by the attitudes of the period towards femininity and masculinity, attachment and differentiation, as well as an account of her brief psychoanalysis with Margaret Mahler in 1955. The chronological narrative is placed throughout within the context of the long-term impact on the author's personal and professional life, and the book includes 21 previously unpublished images selected from her personal archives. This exceptional memoir is an homage to Freud, an intimate account of childhood and coming of age, and a privileged glimpse of a particular moment in psychoanalytic history. It is highly recommended to psychoanalysts, historians, and those interested in the lives of others. AUTHOR: Caroline Zilboorg is a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and a Scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council. Her books include the two-volume Life of Gregory Zilboorg, Richard Aldington and H.D.: Their Lives in Letters, The Masks of Mary Renault: A Literary Biography, and the historical novel Transgressions. 21 b/w illustrations

Table of Contents:
About the author Series editor’s foreword by Brett Kahr 1. Prologue: Homage to Freud 2. Geography 3. History 4. Early days 5. Accidents 6. Perfection 7. Identification 8. Psychoanalysis 9. Detachment 10. Latency 11. Severance 12. Aftermath

About the Author :
Caroline Zilboorg is a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and a Founding Scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council. Her books include the two-volume The Life of Gregory Zilboorg; Richard Aldington and H.D.: Their Lives in Letters; The Masks of Mary Renault: A Literary Biography; and the historical novel Transgressions. She lives in Brittany, France, where she continues to write.

Review :
'"I was a reflective child,” writes Dr Caroline Zilboorg, one who "analysed behaviour and experience… and struggled to understand things as they were". And in her fascinating coming-of-age chronicle of growing up in 1950s Manhattan, she does exactly that. Early experiences of what she calls a "privileged and predominantly happy childhood" are eloquently, vividly, and movingly recounted, often with pathos and gentle humour. This retrospective survey of key events in her formative years — "privileged" perhaps, yet not without personal and familial vicissitudes — is filled with intimate revelations and with insights into the intricate process of trying to capture and convey le temps perdu.' 'Caroline Zilboorg has written a fascinating account of growing up in post-World War II New York City, daughter of the Russian-American psychoanalyst Gregory Zilboorg, and undergoing psychoanalysis herself as a child with Margaret Mahler. This was an era when the founding generation of psychoanalysts were living in exile, often on their second or third marriage, socialising with colleagues and therapy patients, and combining public and private spaces with treatment rooms in their own homes. "A memoir is itself a psychoanalytic act", writes Caroline Zilboorg as she describes her attempts to be silent and perfect in a home full of employees and therapy patients while feeling unheard herself. I am recommending this book to my students and colleagues.' 'Dr Caroline Zilboorg’s new book is both moving and inspiring. Her writing style can be praised for its narrative richness, historical depth, and character-driven storytelling. Zilboorg excels at turning childhood memories and historical events into compelling reading. She weaves facts, analysis, and personal details into a narrative that feels colourful and accessible, making complex subjects engaging for a broad audience. Despite dealing with difficult and painful subjects and memories, Zilboorg writes in a clear, approachable style that makes this book appealing to both scholars and general readers. It is a very special book.'