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As I approached the task of reviewing Melanie Klein: A Contemporary Introduction, I was wondering what might make this book particular in its explication of Kleinian concepts. There are a variety of such books at this point, variously depicting Melanie Klein’s world and her ideas. I say this to make clear that I was a bit doubtful at first, even while intrigued. Having now read Penelope Garvey’s focused, clear, and comprehensive overview of Melanie Klein’s principal ideas, I very much appreciate the particularity of her contribution. Garvey is doing something the other introductory works have not done in quite the same way.
In six highly concentrated and distinct chapters, Garvey describes in clear and accessible language the evolution of Klein’s ideas. Garvey places Klein’s formation in historical time and situates the unfolding of her ideas in relation to her own life history. The author sets it up so that Klein’s personal history comes alive with brief references to her biography that help to ground and enrich our appreciation of Klein’s person along with her theory. Early losses (of her brother and then her father) are noted as central to Klein’s preoccupation with mourning along with war which constitutes the backdrop against which many of Klein’s theories are further developed and elaborated. In describing this, Garvey is attempting to counter the misperception (often stated) that Klein ignored external reality. In fact, throughout Klein’s writings she emphasizes the relationship between external and internal worlds, arguing that the two are always in a dynamic relationship of mutual influence. Garvey writes, “Contrary to the view that Klein’s interest was solely in the internal world, she took a great interest in the effect of world events on the emotional state of her patients–-the threat of war, the effect of the brief peaceful resolution, the effect of the outbreak of war, and finally the impact of war itself.” (p. 12). Klein was extremely sensitive to the