This impressive and compelling book explores the disturbance that can arise from sudden loss of the analytic relationship. We know that the analytic relationship invites a depth of connection which would be dangerous outside of the frame, and so when this unique container is abruptly removed, the bereaved patient risks losing parts of the self which were being lodged with the analyst. The subsequent transition to a new analyst, a ‘foster mother’, is a major task because what has been lost is irreplaceable. As one contributing author puts it: ‘The analyst and the analysand have created a world together, a culture of two, to which the rest of the world has little access’ (Young, p. 118).

The authors of this book are mostly drawn from North America, and each chapter reflects on a personal experience that caused the analytic frame to break or collapse.