Up From the Blue
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Product Description
Product Description
Tillie is an eight-year-old girl who doesn't stop. She buzzes with an incessant creative energy, dreaming and dancing and always talking, talking, talking: and all for her beautiful mother Mara. But for Mara even the ordinary world is too much; suffocating under an unshakeable misery, all she longs for is life to leave her alone. When Tillie's father receives a promotion, he sees a new chance to impose order - and by the time Tillie arrives in their new house her mother is nowhere to be seen. Tillie's imagination feverishly tries to solve the mystery, but the truth is far more distressing than she ever could have thought. An achingly real depiction of a family struggling with mental illness, Up from the Blue is a wrenching debut recalling the works of Lionel Shriver, Mark Haddon, and Emma Donoghue.
About the Author
Susan Henderson is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the founder of the literary blog LitPark: Where Writers Come to Play (www.litpark.com). Her work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, the Pittsburgh Quarterly, North Atlantic Review, Opium, amongst others.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel had me in it's grip from the first page. We meet Tillie in 1991 when she is about to give birth to her first baby and apart from the fact that it is six weeks too early, she appears just like any other new mother. This is far from the truth.
Her story is desperately sad and far from normal. In the following chapters, the reader is led back to the 1970s when Tillie was just eight years old. On the surface, all is well with her family. Dad is a Colonel who specialises in designing missiles and her brother is much like an average 12 year old. Mara, her mother seems eccentric and free spirited, perhaps not the best match for an army officer who expects the household to run in an orderly and regimental way. Sadly, Mara is mentally ill and it is taking it's toll on the whole family, but Tillie most of all.
When her father is promoted to work at the Pentagon, Tillie is sent to stay with one of his female work colleagues whilst the new home is being prepared. On rejoining them, her mother is absent and no one will tell Tillie where she is. Tillie's frantic search for her begins.
"Up From the Blue" is thoughtfully written and a depicts the struggle that families endure whilst in the grip of mental illness. Yes, Tillie is a handful, but mostly because she is so bright and artistic, traits she shares with her mother and why they are so close. Dad just strives for a normal life, something he will never attain with Mara.
I highly recommend this novel, a first for Susan Henderson, whose writing is quite beautiful and utterly convincing.
This book was made available to me, prior to publication, in return for an honest review.
Her story is desperately sad and far from normal. In the following chapters, the reader is led back to the 1970s when Tillie was just eight years old. On the surface, all is well with her family. Dad is a Colonel who specialises in designing missiles and her brother is much like an average 12 year old. Mara, her mother seems eccentric and free spirited, perhaps not the best match for an army officer who expects the household to run in an orderly and regimental way. Sadly, Mara is mentally ill and it is taking it's toll on the whole family, but Tillie most of all.
When her father is promoted to work at the Pentagon, Tillie is sent to stay with one of his female work colleagues whilst the new home is being prepared. On rejoining them, her mother is absent and no one will tell Tillie where she is. Tillie's frantic search for her begins.
"Up From the Blue" is thoughtfully written and a depicts the struggle that families endure whilst in the grip of mental illness. Yes, Tillie is a handful, but mostly because she is so bright and artistic, traits she shares with her mother and why they are so close. Dad just strives for a normal life, something he will never attain with Mara.
I highly recommend this novel, a first for Susan Henderson, whose writing is quite beautiful and utterly convincing.
This book was made available to me, prior to publication, in return for an honest review.
Format:Kindle Edition
This novel tells the story of Tillie and her family during a particularly difficult period of her Mother's mental illness. It is a brutally honest reflction of all the parties involved amd reflects the realities, the highs and the lows, the humour and the desparation.
I found this book compelling from the beginning, although some of the characters appear unsympathetic I was drawn into the story. The reflection of a racially segregated community and Tillie's reaction to that added another dimension to the narrative of the family unit and thereby more depth to the story.
I would recommend this book.
I found this book compelling from the beginning, although some of the characters appear unsympathetic I was drawn into the story. The reflection of a racially segregated community and Tillie's reaction to that added another dimension to the narrative of the family unit and thereby more depth to the story.
I would recommend this book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
60 reviews
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
"Our secret hearts can only hide for so long"
3 Sep 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Don't read too many detailed reviews of this book until you have read the book. You don't want anything to spoil it for you.
Reading this book was like devouring a wonderfully rich dessert. I wanted to slowly savor every bite, rolling it around on my tongue, but I could not slow down, I had to rush forward until the whole thing was consumed. The prose is flawless and rich; the characters true to life, and I could picture the house and the family perfectly.
As Henderson described the life inside the military family of the 1970's I felt sure she must have been looking in the picture windows of the 1950's houses in my neighborhood of military families. She saw the strict father who must be saluted; the son who sits up very straight and says "yes sir". And there was the mother who gave up her dreams to follow her soldier husband around the country so he could advance in rank. Lastly, there was the little girl, confused and lonely, who had to learn to keep her emotions in little boxes on the shelf. And behind those tightly curtained windows, no one was allowed to know what went on there.
I wish Susan Henderson great success with this book, it is an absolute prize of a novel.
Reading this book was like devouring a wonderfully rich dessert. I wanted to slowly savor every bite, rolling it around on my tongue, but I could not slow down, I had to rush forward until the whole thing was consumed. The prose is flawless and rich; the characters true to life, and I could picture the house and the family perfectly.
As Henderson described the life inside the military family of the 1970's I felt sure she must have been looking in the picture windows of the 1950's houses in my neighborhood of military families. She saw the strict father who must be saluted; the son who sits up very straight and says "yes sir". And there was the mother who gave up her dreams to follow her soldier husband around the country so he could advance in rank. Lastly, there was the little girl, confused and lonely, who had to learn to keep her emotions in little boxes on the shelf. And behind those tightly curtained windows, no one was allowed to know what went on there.
I wish Susan Henderson great success with this book, it is an absolute prize of a novel.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Dark Chocolate for the Soul
26 Sep 2010
Format:Paperback
This is a dark and delicious book about a young woman's memories of growing up in her family. This is one of those families " wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." It is one of the many suffering families burdened with inscrutable secrets which family members are trained from early on not to go near or speak of. The disappearance of Tillie's beloved mother while Tillie is briefly away, and the fierce taboos that have instantly appeared to discourage anyone from speaking of it, are marvelously drawn. These things do happen in real families. Ms. Henderson explores the possibility , which many children fear is true, but which everyone assures them certainly is not, that their parent went away or appeared to no longer love them because of something inadequate or specifically unlovable about the child. But what if that actually was the reason? What if your mother really didn't love you much, and in fact, loved her life most when she was away from you. This eccentric, artistic, literary mother, whom Tillie adores, seems to have had a tremendous impact upon Tillie. But it is Tillie and not her mother whose energy is continually expended trying to spend time with her, despite the obstacle course thrown in her way by the entire family and even her house. Meanwhile the rest of the family, the stoical, functional, steadfast, dependable father is quite ignored and discredited, as is the peripheral brother who seems to do most things right, is living his own way through it, but never gets that level of attention and affection. If, as it was in my case, you may have grown up in a family with secrets and uncertain of the love of your parents and/or siblings, this novel will show you that you weren't alone. It's a ravishing story that will make you want to cry out for all of us.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
"Keep a lookout for your Mother."
31 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I love books which grab you on the first page and don't let you go. This is one of them and it was truly an enjoyable read. Tillie is quite a handful as a child and her experiences and *feelings* were both memorable and profound. I loved the dialogue in her head and the way she thought. And she has a lot going on in that head of hers.
She watches as her brother and her father change their behavior as her mother comes up missing. It's one thing to lose a parent by death but quite another to lose them by illness. I had difficulty putting this book down and I will look forward to the author's next novel. She has a wonderful way with words and ideas. Highly recommended.
She watches as her brother and her father change their behavior as her mother comes up missing. It's one thing to lose a parent by death but quite another to lose them by illness. I had difficulty putting this book down and I will look forward to the author's next novel. She has a wonderful way with words and ideas. Highly recommended.
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