Nearer Than The Sky

Beautiful and heartbreaking story revolving around a family with a secretive and abuse mother who does the unbelievable to her children. The writing is poetic and touching. It is told so well that I thought it was based on a true story. I plan to read more of her work!

Never has a book inspired so many conflicting emotions within me as "Nearer Than The Sky". T. Greenwood, author of "Breathing Water", has penned an incredibly nuanced story of a family beset by an insidious and dangerous mental illness: Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. This relatively unknown illness goes unreported in so many cases, mostly because it's almost impossible to detect (especially in it's subtler forms), and is hard to prove in a court of law. But it's very real...as real as your baby's next breath. This is the story of Indie Brown, a woman who wishes that her childhood had never happened. But in the way of all life, nothing is ever completely over and done with. Happily settled into adulthood with her loving and steadfast husband, Peter, Indie begins to be drawn ever so slowly backward into her past when she begins to suspect her sister Lily of causing harm to her own newborn baby. Upon this discovery, Indie realizes that their mother is the one responsible for Lily's illness, as Lily is responsible for her own daughter's mysterious sicknesses. Writing with poetic insight and incredible subtlety, Greenwood wraps the reader up in the darkness of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, illustrating its far-reaching effects and ultimately destructive force. Greenwood's characters are multi-dimensional and real, reacting to each crisis in wholly human ways, flawed and believable. With each breathtaking revelation, Greenwood captures the moment with startling clarity and brilliant depiction. Add "Nearer Than The Sky" to your reading list immediately, and grab the tissues. You'll need them.

I absolutely love it when I find a new author and she's as goodas T. Greenwood. It doesn't happen often. Certainly not every monthand not even once a year. I remember when I discovered CathiePelletier and read all of her novels, one after the other. IfT. Greenwood had more than just NEARER THAN THE SKY and BREATHINGWATER, they'd be on my bookshelf or stacked next to my bed. In NEARERTHAN THE SKY, not only does she handle a delicate subject in a waythat no one ever has, but she brings a sense of enlightenment to thoseof us who might not understand the behavior of Indie Brown's motherand sister. Everyone hurts the ones they love, but most of us don'tdo it by attempting to smother them. As Indie reveals her own fears,she is released from them at the same time. This is a remarkable bookthat you won't be able to put down once you begin or forget once thelast word is read...

Indie Brown, the narrator of this achingly beautiful story, recalls that finding joy in her family was hard work. Beginning with the recollection of being hit by lightning as a child, she slowly pulls back the curtains on a childhood filled with secrets and lies, with the legacy then handed down to the next generation. Despite having moved across the continent to remove herself from the drama, she is pulled back to help care for her ailing mother, and there the poignant story unfolds. Highly recommended -- I can't wait to read T.Greenwood's previous novel!

I loved T. Greenwood's first novel, Breathing Water, so I was very excited to read her newest book, Nearer than the Sky. In this latest work she has created a very moving story with characters who come to life in a twisted story of a family skeletons. The story is unique and unpredictable. I could not put this book down.