Cracked is a personal account written by someone who had a traumatic brain injury aged 14 years, in 1992. She was left with no physical scars, but with a complete loss of memory. What Lynsey well describes is the feeling of loss of identity, the feeling that she is trapped in someone else’s body, and that her family is not her own; this is particularly well accentuated by the use of the definite article, as in the mother, the father, the sister, etc. However, it is her relationship with health professionals, education, and most particularly her peers which are the most frightening and insightful aspects of this book.

Initially the book’s emphasis is on the author’s loss of her own identity. She says that she feels that her own date of birth is the date of her accident, …