Trauma and Healing

In The Deal by Elle Kennedy, trauma and healing form the novel's central and carefully developed theme. Kennedy does not present recovery as a dramatic, singular transformation. Instead, the author demonstrates that it is a slow, nonlinear process of incremental courage that looks different for every person. The journey to healing cannot be rushed or willed into existence.

Hannah and Garrett, the protagonists in the novel, carry deep wounds into the story. Hannah's wound is from her sexual assault five years prior and Garrett carries wounds from a childhood defined by his father's physical abuse. Kennedy, the novel's author, is deliberate in showing that trauma does not simply recede with time but actively shapes the way people move through the world, construct their identities, and relate to others.

For Hannah, the consequences of her assault are far-reaching and specific: she avoids alcohol, navigates parties...