TRIAGE Paperback

"Triage" by Scott Anderson is a powerful and unsettling novel that delves into the profound psychological impact of war and the moral complexities faced by those on the front lines. The story follows Mark Walsh, a war photographer who returns from Kurdistan severely injured and deeply traumatized by a shell blast. While his girlfriend Elena struggles to understand his detachment and rapidly deteriorating condition, her estranged grandfather, Joaquin, a former psychiatrist who treated Franco's fascist war veterans, steps in to help. The novel intricately interweaves Mark's harrowing experiences in the war-torn landscape, his recovery in a rudimentary cave hospital where lives are decided by a grim "triage" system, and the disturbing secrets held by Joaquin, creating a narrative that explores themes of memory, guilt, survival, and the enduring scars left by violence, ultimately revealing how past traumas can profoundly shape the present.