Songs Without Words

This story, by Ann Packer, was mostly focused around Liz and Sarabeth, two friends from high school. The book starts with the girls in high school, when Sarabeth lived with Liz and her family after her mother committed suicide. Flash forward to present-day, when Liz is a mother of two and Sarabeth lives alone. They get together often.

When Liz’s 16-year-old daughter Lauren falls into a depression, Liz and Sarabeth’s relationship hits a rough patch. The rest of the book follows the Liz’s family and Sarabeth separately and together as they deal with Lauren’s depression. The book speaks from the perspectives of Liz, Sarabeth, Lauren and Liz’s husband Brody.

I liked the book, but it wasn’t those ones that I couldn’t put down. I wasn’t extremely attached to the characters, so I wasn’t absorbed in how I wanted it to end, or how I didn’t want it to end. However, the issues the book raised did make me think. It focused a lot on depression, particularly teenage depression, but also adult depression. I’ve always felt this is a real illness and it’s so important to treat if possible. So, it was informational to read about these situations, even if it was in a fictional book.

The book also studied Liz and Sarabeth’s relationship deeply. This was interesting to read about because, as a woman, I’ve always been fascinated by the way we manage relationships. Many of us have a hard time telling our good friends if they make us mad, if they hurt our feelings. Then we steam and stir to ourselves, act indifferent, cut off communication, etc. Why do we act this way? It’s hurtful to everyone involved and it really doesn’t solve anything. I even just read an article online the other day about ending friendships – that sometimes giving your friend the cold shoulder is the only way to break off a friendship, even if she never learns the reason why.

The book and the article made me think back to previous friendships I’ve had that didn’t work out in the end. Sometimes my intuition just told me to let it go, sometimes distance did it, sometimes a boy. Oftentimes I ended these relationships by just stopping contact. It just seemed easier – but it never provided closure. Obviously. I still think about them to this day. But, both the book and the article also made me value and thankful for the true friendships I have now.

If for only that reason, it was a good book.

The Dive From Clausen's Pier

I'm currently reading Ann Packer's second novel, Songs Without Words. Before I post about this book though, I thought I should post about her debut novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and which had me anxiously awaiting her next novel. Here is the review from Publisher's Weekly:

Packer's engrossing debut novel begins without ostentation. On Memorial Day, Carrie Bell and her fiance, Mike Mayer, drive out to Clausen's Pier for their annual ritual, a picnic with their friends, a trip they make the way a middle-aged couple might, in grudging silence. Before their resentments can be aired, Mike dives into too shallow water, suffering injuries that change their lives. If Mike survives, he will survive as a quadriplegic, and Carrie faces unexpected responsibilities. Ultimately, Carrie does what is both understandable and unthinkable. She leaves her hometown of Madison, Wis., and shows up on the doorstep of a friend in New York City. There she discovers a different world, different friends and a different self. The hovering question what will Carrie do? Abandon Mike or return to him? generates genuine suspense. Packer portrays her characters both New Yorkers and Madisonites deftly, and her scenes unfold with uncommon clarity. But if Packer has a keen eye, she has an even keener ear. The dialogue is usually witty; more important, it is always surprising, as if the characters were actually thinking one of the reasons they become as familiar to the reader as childhood friends. The recipient of several awards, Packer is also the author of Mendocino and Other Stories. Clearly, she has honed her skills writing short fiction. What is unexpected is the assurance she brings to a larger canvas. In quiet but beautiful prose, Packer tells a complex and subtly constructed story of friendship, love and the hold the past has on the present. This is the sort of book one reads dying to know what happens to the characters, but loves for its wisdom: it sees the world with more clarity than you do.

Can you imagine the dilemma? She's feeling restless in her relationship and thinking about leaving and then - wham - he's in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I think it's very brave of her to move on without him. So many people had to think she was hugely selfish for making that move, but seriously, if she stayed with him, that could've meant a lifetime of unhappiness. It's a wonderful story - not a necessarily happy one - and it's written well and studies interesting issues.

Fun Fact: It took Packer 10 years to complete this novel, and it's partly autobiographical, for her father suffered a paralyzing stroke when she was young.