The Sound of Us

My mom picked up this book for me thinking I would be able to relate to it because I grew up near Cleveland, I'm deaf and have worked with many interpreters and I've also been a foster parent (this book was definitely written for me). I couldn't believe how accurately the author portrayed the emotional ups and downs of being a foster parent, the struggle between foster mother and biological mother and the whole legal system. The characters are so real and the writing so powerful. I loved the use of ASL (American Sign Language) conversations between the main character and her foster child, as well as between other deaf characters. I didn't want this story to end.

By the time I reached page 4 of this book, I had to look again at the book jacket to confirm it wasn't an autobiography. Sarah Willis achieves such a sense of reality so quickly that it is almost impossible not to believe her story is real. This is not a novel of easy answers where the story turns out the way you want it to. This is a novel that changes you, and makes you turn out the way the story wants you to. No simple answers, no pat endings. Just an eloquent, musical, and incredibly deep story about real life. You will read it in a day, but you will think about it for a long time. This is a classic.

"The Sound of Us" is one of those novels I finish reading and think, "It all looks so simple, so natural. Why couldn't I write that?" Well, it isn't so simple and I couldn't have written it. This is the essence of Sarah Willis' craft: creating characters both real and memorable, stories compelling and satisfying. Her latest novel is the story of a good deed--coming to the aid of a young girl who was left alone by her mother--that might, in fact, have done more harm than good. Neither the situation nor the characters are unambiguous, and that is the essence of powerful literature. Readers are left to ponder the truth of things for themselves.

Willis offers the best novel I've ever read on foster care--especially as it relates to interracial issues. Her main character, Alice Marlowe, is a bit of a stiff old maid who comes ALIVE when she rescues (is rescued BY, actually), little Larissa, an adorable child abandoned (maybe) by her mother. As a deaf sign language interpreter, Alice has been able to live one step away from Life, merely translating the frustrations and anger and joys of others. Now, with the recent death of her twin brother and the entry of Larissa into her stagnant life, she becomes engaged with the joys and passsions that life brings, must go through one of those "life passages" that make it all worthwhile. It's about love--love for others most of all, but also love for oneself I can't recommend this novel highly enough.

In Cleveland, fortyish Alice Marlowe lives life alone except for her cat Sampson. She dates, ahs friends, and her parents still live in Columbus, but the sign language interpreter expects she will die alone. That has been her feelings since her twin brother died Vince, who still "converses" with her. In the middle of the night the phone rings. On the other end is a very young sounding voice desperately asking for Aunt Teya. Alice informs her she dialed the wrong number. The frightened kid hangs up. Alice worried about the girl uses 69 to insure the kid is safe, but instead learns the child's mommy has not come home in quite a while; Alice tries Teya's number only gets a message. Unable to leave six years old Larissa by herself, Alice coaxes the child into giving her the address even as she calls the police. They bond, but the child has turned mute since foster home placement. Alice applies to become her foster mother, which she succeeds in doing, but worries how lonely she will be when the mother of her beloved Larissa returns. Sarah Willis writes a fabulous inspirational tale that focuses on everyone's needs to love and be loved regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, sexual preference or other divisive isms. The story line grips the audience from the moment Larissa dials the wrong number and continually provides the reader with an inside look at the soul of Alice and through her that of Larissa and the missing mother. Mindful of Losing Isaiah, THE SOUND OF US is a strong thought provoking tale. Harriet Klausner