Tilt

Elizabeth Burns, first time author of "Tilt: Every Family Spins On Its Own Axis" is described as a poet in her biographical short for the novel. Once you've read "Tilt", you'll understand, for the quality of her prose is so lovely and her words so well-chosen and evocative, they could only come from the soul of a poet. Once I became a parent, I began to advocate to other young parents that they stay within the reach of their nuclear families, because I'd not realized, at first, how much it "takes a village". Part of the saga of Bridget Fox, the young mother at the heart of "Tilt", is her removal, by marriage and relocation, from family and things known and comforting. She's alone with her family in Minneapolis when things begin to unravel. Her journey through the devastation of her husband's manic depression and the slow-motion truth of daughter Maeve's autism will leave you emotionally bereft, in the same pattern that it leaves Bridget. Insights into her childhood, her friendships, her first marriage - all of them give credence to your belief in Bridget as a survivor, a woman too strong to give up....."Why would someone be grateful that a child with disabilities died early? Listen. We're wrestling with a deity who's pulled aside the curtain and peered right into our souls. There are no secrets left. We're just here, breathing or gasping...."Written in the first person, you get the feeling that Burns' own world has spun in similar directions from time to time. You can feel her fear through your own skin. Elizabeth Burns has a skill that far exceeds the boundaries of fiction alone, and you get the feeling that she will be around to share her gift with us for a long, long time.Given 5 stars, because 6 were not available. Without a doubt, the best book I've read this year!

From reading the other reviews I worried that this book would be one long overwrought melodrama, but luckily the author's voice is honest, wry and familiar. It's like hearing an old friend tell you the unbelievable events that have happened in her life since you last met. As a special needs mom myself, I can only say, my life looks pretty good compared to Bridget's, and I do find that comforting. Parts of this book moved me to tears, as the author really captures the sometimes terrifying loneliness and numbing exhaustion of coping, day in and day out, with a very different child.

This beautifully written narrative is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to better understand both family life with a child with a disability, and the devastation of mental illness. As the mother of a special needs child, I can attest to the fact that Elizabeth Burns completely captures the roller coaster ride of despair, denial and hope we go through with our "less than typical" children. It often seems there is not enough of the right kind of help for our children and our families, and it is easy to feel the despair that leads the heroine to the depths of depression. The author shows great courage in disclosing what I suspect is some personal experience with the issues in the book.

This book is written in a sustained vocabulary of optimism despite the fact that it is about unmitigated horror of various kinds. The author has a lightness of tone that never runs contrary to the seriousness of her concerns. It's incredibly readable--I read it at one sitting--and is above all a kind book, a generous one. It tells you about bad things but makes you glad to be alive.

Burns' beautiful yet very natural prose brings you on a wild (not in the fun sense) jorney into the life of a woman dealing with a seriously autistic daughter and manic depressive husband. After reading this I will seriously reconsider using the word dysfunctional to describe the average overbearing mother or distant father.The author beautifully and convincingly tells the story of a dislocated woman -- from a rich and otherwise normal life in NY and Boston to the lonliness of being in the midwest with an uncommunicable child and an unreliable husband, both suffering from mental illness or disability. I won't ruin the story by telling of other tragedies that occur. It is primarily a story of total aloneness without the benefit of reclusion. The main character's life is a whirlwind of despair. At every chapter you can't believe that it will get worse.When all hope is gone, the story is at is richest in descriptiveness. The reader feels like he is in the room with her, locked in the basement trying to escape her own personal hell which takes place in front of the backdrop of the sunny disposition of midwesters.I recommend this book to anyone who has dealt with a mentally ill or disabled family member or friend, but also to anyone who just enjoys a "good" story being told through beautiful use of language.It is hard to describe to people how such an emotionally deep story could also be a "page-turner." Read it.