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Every Visible Thing
When unthinkable tragedy strikes, at what point must a family turn away from the past and move forward into the future? The extraordinary new novel from the critically acclaimed author of Love in the Asylum and The Mermaids Singing is a darkly absorbing, deeply realistic portrait of adolescence, family, and grief. The Fureys are a family divided in time. Five years ago, the eldest son, Hugh, left home in the middle of the night and never returned. After two years of exhausting and fruitless searching, his parents, estranged by grief, try to put the tragedy behind them. His mother recovers from an emotional breakdown by losing herself in a new career. His father, having lost his faith as well as his position as a theology professor, takes on the role of caregiver for their remaining two children with lackluster effort. Owen and Lena, left to fend for themselves, hold on to the memory of their brother with increasingly self-destructive obsessions. Ten-year-old Owen, prompted by the iconic angels in his father's former study, calls on Hugh as a guardian angel as his own sexual experimentation turns dangerous. Fifteen-year-old Lena explores drugs, boys, and truancy, and begins a search for Hugh—and for herself—through the lens of his old camera. As she spirals increasingly out of control, she forces the family to face their past . . . and find a future. A moving, lyrically written novel that captures the darkness of adolescence and the complex relationships within a family, Lisa Carey's Every Visible Thing is a story born of grief and disillusionment that is ultimately a testament to the power of hope, faith, and love.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 27, 2006
15 people are currently reading
436 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Carey
8 books221 followersLisa Carey was born in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish-American parents. She grew up in Brookline and later moved with her family to Hingham, Massachusetts.
She attended Boston College and received a B.A. in English and Philosophy in 1992.
Pursuing her MFA in Writing, she took a semester off and lived in Inishbofin, Ireland for six months. There, Carey began her first novel, The Mermaids Singing. This novel was her creative thesis for her MFA and she graduated from Vermont College in 1996.
For five years, Carey divided her time between Ireland and New England, where she wrote her next two novels, In the Country of the Young and Love in the Asylum.
In 2003, she married Timothy Spalding. They moved to Portland, Maine, where she finished her fourth novel, Every Visible Thing. They live there still with their son, Liam Patrick. She returns to Ireland whenever she can.
She recently finished her fifth novel, The Stolen Child, which will be published by HarperCollins in January, 2017.
She attended Boston College and received a B.A. in English and Philosophy in 1992.
Pursuing her MFA in Writing, she took a semester off and lived in Inishbofin, Ireland for six months. There, Carey began her first novel, The Mermaids Singing. This novel was her creative thesis for her MFA and she graduated from Vermont College in 1996.
For five years, Carey divided her time between Ireland and New England, where she wrote her next two novels, In the Country of the Young and Love in the Asylum.
In 2003, she married Timothy Spalding. They moved to Portland, Maine, where she finished her fourth novel, Every Visible Thing. They live there still with their son, Liam Patrick. She returns to Ireland whenever she can.
She recently finished her fifth novel, The Stolen Child, which will be published by HarperCollins in January, 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
August 4, 2010
"Thats an emo book, thats for you." My friend raised his brows when I handed him this book. He is indeed right, the book is emotionally compelling. Rarely do I ignore a books title, I read the summary at the back first, this book is one of the few incidents.
What I like about this book the most is it is mainly centered on teen angst with loss, grief, denial revolving around it making an emotionally chaotic plot. Speaking of the plot, it is simple, teenage siblings facing adolescence and trying to deal with a loss, a loss that had wreck their ideal family for five years. And of course there's gender crisis, drugs, stereotyping and school. The author presented the plot in two narrations with occasional flashbacks that made the story more comprehensive and not mixed up.
I immediately recognized the Catcher In The Rye mood of it, lets set aside the obvious common theme of teen angst, it turned out JD Salinger had a big influence on the authors writings.
Also I have to love the book for mentioning some of most favorite things like The Beatles, Where The Wild Things Are, Sex Pistols and the Clash.
Without knowing the author yet, you will immediately notice the that the main character Lena had every bits of her, there is that eerie personal attachment to it, the kind you also get with the character. The characters are well written and the scenes are graphic. Halfway through the book I wanted to call Lisa Carey and tell her how much her book will haunt me.
What I like about this book the most is it is mainly centered on teen angst with loss, grief, denial revolving around it making an emotionally chaotic plot. Speaking of the plot, it is simple, teenage siblings facing adolescence and trying to deal with a loss, a loss that had wreck their ideal family for five years. And of course there's gender crisis, drugs, stereotyping and school. The author presented the plot in two narrations with occasional flashbacks that made the story more comprehensive and not mixed up.
I immediately recognized the Catcher In The Rye mood of it, lets set aside the obvious common theme of teen angst, it turned out JD Salinger had a big influence on the authors writings.
Also I have to love the book for mentioning some of most favorite things like The Beatles, Where The Wild Things Are, Sex Pistols and the Clash.
Without knowing the author yet, you will immediately notice the that the main character Lena had every bits of her, there is that eerie personal attachment to it, the kind you also get with the character. The characters are well written and the scenes are graphic. Halfway through the book I wanted to call Lisa Carey and tell her how much her book will haunt me.
January 5, 2023
i read this book december 2021 after i found it in a thrift store, and man was it a good find. there's a lot of crazy shit that happens, and when i first read it, the ending made me sit back and go, "really? that's it?" but i get it now. i cannot stop thinking about this book. months will go by and i still randomly remember scenes from this book and all i can do is sigh because i'll never read a book like this again. it made me feel SO much in such a short span of time. i'm open to exploring her other novels if they're written the same way. i think it's hard to write a book that deals with a lot of heavy topics without making it read like trauma porn, but lisa carey does exactly that. the characters feel real while somehow going through every worst-case scenario imaginable.
April 18, 2017
3.5 stars. A very readable book about a family dealing (most not-dealing) with the disappearance of the oldest son, Hugh. It verges into teen angst / melodrama, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Protagonists Lena and Owen deal with emotionally absent parents, questioning their sexuality, and their relationship with others. My main critique is that the ending feels a little too neat and tidy, skipping all the difficulties of healing that a tragedy like this would actually entail.
July 19, 2010
As a huge fan of Lisa Carey’s books, I was looking forward to reading Every Visible Thing. I was really hoping for something in the same vein as the other Carey books I have read, The Mermaid’s Singing and In the Country of the Young… well developed characters, a thread of mythology that ran through the story – supporting and enhancing the more realistic plotline, and a flavoring of Irish or Irish immigrant culture.
But Every Visible Thing felt a little lacking in comparison. The story, about a family still in crisis after the mysterious disappearance of their oldest son, veered a little into the melodramatic for my tastes. In fact, the book seemed like it could have been written by Jodi Picoult… if that gives you any sense of what I am talking about. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t well written and interesting… (from the perspective of an arm-chair psychologist, it was fascinating to see how Hugh’s disappearance translated into the various dysfunctions in the family) it’s just it didn’t live up to the high expectations that I had going into it.
But Every Visible Thing felt a little lacking in comparison. The story, about a family still in crisis after the mysterious disappearance of their oldest son, veered a little into the melodramatic for my tastes. In fact, the book seemed like it could have been written by Jodi Picoult… if that gives you any sense of what I am talking about. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t well written and interesting… (from the perspective of an arm-chair psychologist, it was fascinating to see how Hugh’s disappearance translated into the various dysfunctions in the family) it’s just it didn’t live up to the high expectations that I had going into it.
September 26, 2007
This book is beautifully written and so easy to read that it was hard to put down. I was so affected by this family, and it really drove home how often we don't say what we really mean to the people we love, either because we don't want to hurt them, or because we do, or because we can't. It made me want to believe in Angels.
May 1, 2009
A melodramatic coming of age tale that I didn't find all that interesting. Shades of drug use, homosexuality, and suicide all add to the melodrama. Two teenagers follow paths of self destruction after the disappearance of their older brother and the parents are too overly involved to notice.
February 26, 2017
This is one of the worst books I've ever read. I'm not bothered by dark subject matter, but going into a 10 year old boy's sexual experimentation was over the top. I could never figure out what the hell his sister was finding out about her older brother's disappearance because it was SO SLOW!! The whole idea of her older brother's disappearance just got lost someplace because she was just skipping school and developing pictures that didn't mean anything. I gave up half the way through. This read like Fifty Shades of Gray (which was the worst book ever written solely for the horrible writing) for teenagers. I threw it against the wall and took a shower. What a collosil waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2020
I read this as a teenager and then again in my twenties after the disappearance of my sister lead my mind back to it. I think a lot of the time books we read in our youth aren't nearly as good in adulthood, but this one hit home in more ways than one and it was a catharsis I desperately needed.
There are tones of being lost, and longing, and a family made distant by secrets. It's an emotional ride, but a good one.
There are tones of being lost, and longing, and a family made distant by secrets. It's an emotional ride, but a good one.
May 19, 2018
After reading many books about missing/murdered children, it would be interesting to read one that wasn't the same as all the others. Are families that try to recover from these tragedies not as interesting as ones that fall apart.
August 8, 2019
*3.5 Another great book by Lisa Carey. Carey is a versatile author, as Mermaids Singing was my first, and it’s hard to believe both books were written by the same woman. Slow at the beginning, but I couldn’t put it down halfway through. Sad, but beautiful story.
January 7, 2020
Powerfully written, great Gen X coming of age story, and the emotional journey of PTSD.
March 11, 2020
Sad but compelling and masterfully written. Set in the 80s.
March 27, 2020
This book was well written and powerful - definitely not a light summer read. It was a realistic take in what could happen to a family after a tragedy if no one deals with it.
Read
June 19, 2020Read this years ago. Don't know why it showed up here. Like Lisa Carey's writing,
September 10, 2020
Good fast read about a family's experience of loss and healing after a son disappears.
October 25, 2020
Pretty good, beetje saai soms. Ergens tussen 3 en 4 sterren
January 9, 2025
It is just not my cup of tea. I think the book is well written, but the story is just brutal and not my normal type of read.
February 5, 2025
My favorite book I've ever read and the book that really peaked my reading interest ☺️
December 11, 2010
I just loved this book and couldn’t put it down even after trying several times to make tea in between chapters, BUT...the story won out every time!
Five years ago the Furey’s eldest son, Hugh, disappeared without a trace. His parents are naturally grief stricken and trying hard to put this senseless tragedy behind them. Hugh’s mother has an emotional breakdown and hunkers down in her bed rarely getting up. This leaves Hugh’s father to care for their two youngest children, Owen 10 and Lena 15 but due to his own grief, this is a half-hearted effort often leaving Owen and Lena to fend for themselves.
Their father, once a theology professor has completely lost his faith and has seemingly left his job and for awhile, tries to put his energy into his two young children but falls far short of the goal.
Owen and Lena are trying to hold onto Hugh’s memory as neither parent will even so much as say his name. For Lena especially, Hugh becomes more than just a brother disappeared. She sets out to find out what really happened to him and meets Sebastien, a rough and tumble drug addict. Through this meeting, Lena ends up experimenting with alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes, and as a result, ends up having sex for the first time.
Owen, in the meantime, becomes involved with Danny, a bad boy who introduces Owen to masturbation which they begin experimenting with. Danny eventually turns on Owen, making up stories about him at school and now the entire school is calling him horrible names and chasing him down. Terrified, Owen keeps two thermometers in his room to fool his mother with so he can stay home from school on the pretense that he is just too sick to go with such a high fever. By now, his mother has recovered from her mental breakdown and is training as a nurse. The thermometer game works gloriously well for Owen until one night he sneaks out and is trapped in the cemetery by Danny, who has a gun, and couple of his friends. What transpires in that cemetery will devastate Owen for the rest of his life.
Finally, this totally dysfunctional, damaged and grieving family are forced into counselling to try and repair their shattered lives.
Five years ago the Furey’s eldest son, Hugh, disappeared without a trace. His parents are naturally grief stricken and trying hard to put this senseless tragedy behind them. Hugh’s mother has an emotional breakdown and hunkers down in her bed rarely getting up. This leaves Hugh’s father to care for their two youngest children, Owen 10 and Lena 15 but due to his own grief, this is a half-hearted effort often leaving Owen and Lena to fend for themselves.
Their father, once a theology professor has completely lost his faith and has seemingly left his job and for awhile, tries to put his energy into his two young children but falls far short of the goal.
Owen and Lena are trying to hold onto Hugh’s memory as neither parent will even so much as say his name. For Lena especially, Hugh becomes more than just a brother disappeared. She sets out to find out what really happened to him and meets Sebastien, a rough and tumble drug addict. Through this meeting, Lena ends up experimenting with alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes, and as a result, ends up having sex for the first time.
Owen, in the meantime, becomes involved with Danny, a bad boy who introduces Owen to masturbation which they begin experimenting with. Danny eventually turns on Owen, making up stories about him at school and now the entire school is calling him horrible names and chasing him down. Terrified, Owen keeps two thermometers in his room to fool his mother with so he can stay home from school on the pretense that he is just too sick to go with such a high fever. By now, his mother has recovered from her mental breakdown and is training as a nurse. The thermometer game works gloriously well for Owen until one night he sneaks out and is trapped in the cemetery by Danny, who has a gun, and couple of his friends. What transpires in that cemetery will devastate Owen for the rest of his life.
Finally, this totally dysfunctional, damaged and grieving family are forced into counselling to try and repair their shattered lives.
December 19, 2012
Three and a half stars. I was hovering around 4, but couldn't bring myself to do it.
Starting this book, I had my doubts because it didn't pull my interest right away, but I pushed on, because like I've said before, I hate not finishing a book. However, as I read more of this story, it got better and more emotional.
When I say emotional, I mean it was moving. I could see the different sides to Owen and Lena. There was one extremely powerful part in this book, one that not every story has but should. I had to put the book down for a few minutes just to gather my thoughts on what just happened. It occurred at the end of the last part of Lena's point of view, when Hugh was in her mind but portrayed as being there. Throughout the story, it is a constant question as to what happened to him, and because he ran away, I assumed it would be left an open-ended question, but it really wasn't. When we find out what happened (and that perhaps the family knew all along), it was written in a moving way that almost brought me to tears. We see Lena going from this tough, fifteen year old to what she really is underneath: a confused girl who wants nothing more than for her brother to come home.
The character of Owen was a little unbelievable to me, honestly. He's ten/eleven years old, and he's smoking pot and drinking every other day? I understand it was part of his dynamics as a character but still. I didn't even know what any of that stuff was when I was that age, but maybe the eighties were different; I wouldn't know. I did like his character though at times.
Two characters that really intrigued me (well three actually) were ones that were not written deeply enough for my liking, nor was there any really background story given, and those characters are Sebastian, Lionel, and Jonah. I know assumptions and rumors were said, but nothing sounded definite.
I gave it three and a half stars instead of four because while it was emotional and well written, I don't see myself reading it again.
Starting this book, I had my doubts because it didn't pull my interest right away, but I pushed on, because like I've said before, I hate not finishing a book. However, as I read more of this story, it got better and more emotional.
When I say emotional, I mean it was moving. I could see the different sides to Owen and Lena. There was one extremely powerful part in this book, one that not every story has but should. I had to put the book down for a few minutes just to gather my thoughts on what just happened. It occurred at the end of the last part of Lena's point of view, when Hugh was in her mind but portrayed as being there. Throughout the story, it is a constant question as to what happened to him, and because he ran away, I assumed it would be left an open-ended question, but it really wasn't. When we find out what happened (and that perhaps the family knew all along), it was written in a moving way that almost brought me to tears. We see Lena going from this tough, fifteen year old to what she really is underneath: a confused girl who wants nothing more than for her brother to come home.
The character of Owen was a little unbelievable to me, honestly. He's ten/eleven years old, and he's smoking pot and drinking every other day? I understand it was part of his dynamics as a character but still. I didn't even know what any of that stuff was when I was that age, but maybe the eighties were different; I wouldn't know. I did like his character though at times.
Two characters that really intrigued me (well three actually) were ones that were not written deeply enough for my liking, nor was there any really background story given, and those characters are Sebastian, Lionel, and Jonah. I know assumptions and rumors were said, but nothing sounded definite.
I gave it three and a half stars instead of four because while it was emotional and well written, I don't see myself reading it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2010
This book was very interesting to read. Told by 2 siblings a brother and a sister years apart but both fucked up because their older brother Hugh went missing and his body was never found. The family who once was happy and cared and was loving now are ghosts with shells. They work but pay no attention to their teenage daughter going thru a crisis bc her hero in her life is missing. LENA wants to find him and goes on this drop out, drug, drnking, smoking, boy look like, jounrney to find him. She changes her appearance and becomes a shadow of what her brother was turning into before he left. She thinks she was the last to see him and on her journey discovers she wasnt. Her younger brother Owen is in the fifth grade and in love with his bestfriend. In playtime his friend uses a gun to intiate sex playtime. It turns bad when dannys mom comes in and sees Danny giving owen a bj. Owen avoids school for weeks to months bc he is afraid danny will kill him. Once his parents make him go back to school he has an ugly meeting in the cemetery where danny makes todd get naked and owen go down to give him a bj but a teacher walks up. The family doesnt care about owen, doesnt see he is gay. They dont care about Lena and see how many times she tried to kill herself. But at the end when lena goes missing and it seems the beginging of the story is a repeat the family finally buckles to thearpy to deal with Hugh being dead.
I liked thiss story bc it was fucked up and I could relate to some of it. I also like thinking i am not the only one with a fucked up childhood. not everyone has is perfect. angels are there to watch it all.
I liked thiss story bc it was fucked up and I could relate to some of it. I also like thinking i am not the only one with a fucked up childhood. not everyone has is perfect. angels are there to watch it all.
August 9, 2017
I was not expecting this book to be so enticing after I read a few chapters. It overall was a good book. I don't think I would read it again but I'm glad I read it at least once. I often had to re read some paragraphs to make sure I got it right. It is very descriptive of some things that are not suitable for children. Sometimes very intense things came out of the blue. I do have to applaud authors who are able to make me feel the emotions of the characters myself. I do like the characters and how their relationships were. I loved Lena! She was a great character. I really enjoyed how she did things and thought. She was a good character including how much she went through. Owen was also a good character. I enjoyed his point of view. But it really irritated how he stayed home for being "sick" for what seems like months. This brings me to the parents. I highly disliked the parents honestly. Sure they went through a lot and it was traumatizing, but the some things they did was beyond not having common sense. First of all letting Owen stay home for months when he was obviously faking it. SPOILER!!~And at the end walking Lena down the stairs to the hospital when it could have been so much quicker and better to carry her! And I officially hated the Mom when she made a snooty remark to her overdosed daughter hallucinating!! ~
But in conclusion I would recommend reading this book if you're not sensitive to very descriptive sexual advances, abuse of drugs and horrible parents.
This is not a passive aggressive way of saying not to read it. I honestly enjoyed the book and think you should read it if you're not sensitive about those things.
But in conclusion I would recommend reading this book if you're not sensitive to very descriptive sexual advances, abuse of drugs and horrible parents.
This is not a passive aggressive way of saying not to read it. I honestly enjoyed the book and think you should read it if you're not sensitive about those things.
August 13, 2009
This was a very dark and dismal novel which I found in the bargain book section at B&N. The story is told from two characters, Lena and Owen, alternating chapters. Lena is obsessed with finding her brother or at least finding out who he was. She finds his old camera and lots of undeveloped film. She takes a photography class to learn to develop it herself. As she sees the places and people that Hugh shot, she seeks them out looking for answers. This leads her down a dangerous trail as she skips school, becomes involved in drugs, and searches for her identity. Owen is ten and struggling with his sexual development and feelings for his best friend Danny. Some of these chapters were sexually explicit uncomfortable as they occur between two young boys and did not seem necessary to the story. At this point, I was ready to put the book down. But I continued because I was intrigued by Lena's story. Owen's story improved from there and focused on him be ostracized from his peers and he begins to pay attention to his sister and start looking for his own answers to Hugh disappearance.
I'm glad I stayed with the book. Though it was a melancholy story, it brought home the reality of what happens to a family when one of it's members is lost and what can happen if they then lose each other. Lisa Carey writes well though graphically at times but a tragic tale can not be sugar-coated. This is not a novel for the faint of heart, and not a light read but it has real depth and worth the emotional drain.
I'm glad I stayed with the book. Though it was a melancholy story, it brought home the reality of what happens to a family when one of it's members is lost and what can happen if they then lose each other. Lisa Carey writes well though graphically at times but a tragic tale can not be sugar-coated. This is not a novel for the faint of heart, and not a light read but it has real depth and worth the emotional drain.
March 8, 2018
I'm revisiting some of my favorite stories to inspire my writing this month. I just finished re-reading Carey's Love in the Asylum before reading Every Visible Thing for the 3rd time.
The story still holds up for me, especially the tough voice of our female protagonist, Lenaf. Carey writes a mean 1st person and I like her use of non-traditional dialogue. It's fun to get inside her characters' heads to experience their reactions and train of thought! She also does a nice job of telling the story of Lena's exploration and experimentation with gender roles as a means to an end.
I frequently had a tough time reading the male protagonist's part of the story, likely due to his youth and the sexual violence and bullying he faces at the hands of his best friend and classmates. Still, Owen is a multidimensional character treated with an awareness that writers often discount when writing a character as young as 10.
Carey does an excellent job of exploring the effect of loss on the family unit as a whole,as well as its effect on each of the individual family members. Like Love in the Asylum, the end again feels a bit rushed and, as a result, tertiary character Jonah is shortchanged, which is a bummer because his character was so interesting!
The story still holds up for me, especially the tough voice of our female protagonist, Lenaf. Carey writes a mean 1st person and I like her use of non-traditional dialogue. It's fun to get inside her characters' heads to experience their reactions and train of thought! She also does a nice job of telling the story of Lena's exploration and experimentation with gender roles as a means to an end.
I frequently had a tough time reading the male protagonist's part of the story, likely due to his youth and the sexual violence and bullying he faces at the hands of his best friend and classmates. Still, Owen is a multidimensional character treated with an awareness that writers often discount when writing a character as young as 10.
Carey does an excellent job of exploring the effect of loss on the family unit as a whole,as well as its effect on each of the individual family members. Like Love in the Asylum, the end again feels a bit rushed and, as a result, tertiary character Jonah is shortchanged, which is a bummer because his character was so interesting!
February 10, 2012
I normally find things that become important or special by accident, this book was one of them. I was strolling along the library looking through movies when I saw this book next to the movie I wanted at the end of the shelf. When I looked at the back and saw that the author, Lisa Carey, also wrote a book called "The Mermaids Singing" I thought of putting the book back down right then and there but there was just something about it that made me want to at least give it a chance and maybe it wouldn't be about fictional creatures being harmonious.(I don't know why I forgot to look at the summary) So, I sat down and started reading...little did I know that the next time my head was going to look anywhere outside of the book was when I heard someone accdidentaly drop the books she was holding litteraly FIVE HOURS LATER. I stood up, ran to the librarian, got the book, and ran out as quick as I could. That day I was yelled at by my parents for a decade, "Who stays at a library for five hours?! You said you were only going to be there for fifteen minutes!! You were at a club wern't you?! Oh, Chris shes doing drugs isn't she?!" After at least a half-hour of that, they let me go to my room and I haven't been able to put the book down since.
October 5, 2012
Carey writes beautifully - it had been a few years since I had last picked up one her novels, but a few pages into this one, it struck me again what a gift she has. I really enjoyed reading this book. It initially took me a little bit to get into it, though that may be more to do with the last few books that I’ve read than anything else (they were all rather humourous essays, rather than an actual novels)! Once the plot unfolded, it became a very sad but engrossing story. Despite its rather depressing subject matter, Carey did a good job writing it, and the ending felt very satisfying. There weren't too many loose ends left over. All in all, I will continue to look out for this author’s work. And while I thought that her debut novel, The Mermaids Singing, was a much stronger piece of fiction, her talents are certainly not wasted in this latest novel. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
June 17, 2013
Quote to keep:
"Everything is the same. Each thing he sees makes him remember it, as though these objects and smells have been there all along, locked in a cubby of his brain, and now that they're out he can't imagine not remembering them. It scares him, the fact that things can hide in your own mind. Fool you into believing you don't remember them, then reappear and pretend they've been right in front of you all along."
(I know that feeling and understand JUST what the writer means!)
This book is about a family whose oldest son and brother has gone missing. The narrative perspective shifts back and forth between the two remaining children, who are now 10 and 15 years old, 5 years after Hugh's disappearance. The parents are largely uninvolved in their children's lives, having been traumatized by losing their oldest son and unable to move through their grief. Hugh's name is never mentioned, and the kids turn to dangerous and lonely ways to try and process their emotions.
"Everything is the same. Each thing he sees makes him remember it, as though these objects and smells have been there all along, locked in a cubby of his brain, and now that they're out he can't imagine not remembering them. It scares him, the fact that things can hide in your own mind. Fool you into believing you don't remember them, then reappear and pretend they've been right in front of you all along."
(I know that feeling and understand JUST what the writer means!)
This book is about a family whose oldest son and brother has gone missing. The narrative perspective shifts back and forth between the two remaining children, who are now 10 and 15 years old, 5 years after Hugh's disappearance. The parents are largely uninvolved in their children's lives, having been traumatized by losing their oldest son and unable to move through their grief. Hugh's name is never mentioned, and the kids turn to dangerous and lonely ways to try and process their emotions.
December 16, 2008
Every Visible Thing is a heartbreaking novel about the loss of a child and how that affects the rest of the family.
Alternating between the two siblings, Lena and Owen tell the story of their family's struggle to deal with the loss of the oldest child, Hugh, missing and presumed dead. The inability of the parents to deal with the loss of Hugh allows the two remaining children to slip further and further into trouble. As they struggle to deal with this loss in addition to the normal problems of childhood, the lack of guidance creates situations where the two feel alienated and alone. Bad choices are made, situations spiral out of control and eventually the family faces the potential loss of another of its children.
Although the structure of this book felt off to me, alternating between first and third person, I still enjoyed and was affected by this novel.
Alternating between the two siblings, Lena and Owen tell the story of their family's struggle to deal with the loss of the oldest child, Hugh, missing and presumed dead. The inability of the parents to deal with the loss of Hugh allows the two remaining children to slip further and further into trouble. As they struggle to deal with this loss in addition to the normal problems of childhood, the lack of guidance creates situations where the two feel alienated and alone. Bad choices are made, situations spiral out of control and eventually the family faces the potential loss of another of its children.
Although the structure of this book felt off to me, alternating between first and third person, I still enjoyed and was affected by this novel.
August 21, 2014
This book has been sitting on myself for years. I've decided to read it based on a whim and I am glad I did. It is also scary the hell to me as a parent! Teenage years are the hardest thing to get through. Their thought processes are completely out of whack and you can really feel it throughout this book.
Losing a child must be completley horrifying for parents and how could you ever bounce back? It must be so hard to push and to stay strong for your children but this story shows that however you feel you must change for the better. Owen and Lena really went through some terrifying things and it is mainly because they felt alone and unloved. They needed their parents more so than ever and were neglected.
This was such a meaningful book and quite a learning expierence. It may not be a true story to the writer but it is a true story in itself.
Losing a child must be completley horrifying for parents and how could you ever bounce back? It must be so hard to push and to stay strong for your children but this story shows that however you feel you must change for the better. Owen and Lena really went through some terrifying things and it is mainly because they felt alone and unloved. They needed their parents more so than ever and were neglected.
This was such a meaningful book and quite a learning expierence. It may not be a true story to the writer but it is a true story in itself.
July 17, 2008
The reviews I read on this book consistently cited Carey's narrative style as a negative feature in this book. However, for this story, it worked particularly well. I particularly like bildungsroman novels, and while this one isn't exactly true to that genre, it has some elements nonetheless. The narration is split between the two children, Owen and Lena, and they expose the reader to life in the shadow of an older brother's unexplained disappearance. Both children struggle with identity--Owen explores his sexuality, Lena explores gender-roles--and neither character seeks out conformity. The parents in this story are largely absent, hung up, still, on the loss of their eldest son (presumed dead).
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