Unsaid

If you are an animal lover, UNSAID is a great book for you. No, it's not great literature. But it's a great novel about animals and their people. The best word I can think of to describe it is "sweet."

The narrator of the story is a dead veterinarian, Helena. The main character is her devastated husband, David. She also left behind a household full of animals, both inside and outside.

David is a lawyer. A little more than halfway through the book David takes on a case unlike any other he has defended before. Helena's dear friend Jaycee, another veterinarian, may go to jail because she tried to kidnap a chimpanzee, Cindy, that belonged to the government.

Jaycee had been in charge of an attempt to teach Cindy to communicate by sign language. show more Jaycee raised Cindy for four years, from the time she was an infant. But now the government wants to put her back in the general population, where she may be subjected to experiments and torture. According to the government, this communication experiment with Cindy has failed; according to Jaycee, it hasn't.

According to the author, Neil Abramson, there's a difference between unspoken and unsaid. And that is one of David's defenses.

My only criticism of this book is that Abramson doesn't make clear whether Cindy's communication abilities are ever publicized. It would be nice to think so. show less

I started this novel on the last night of my vacation in Philly. I felt drawn in from the first page and hoped that I would remain "rooted" to this book. Now I'm home and just wrapped up the book. I didn't just cry. I bawled. My face hasn't felt a flood of tears rolling down in so long. There is so much love in this book. The love a grieving man has for his deceased wife. The love a scientist has for a chimpanzee. The love vets have for the animals in their care, both sick and dying. But learning to let go is a huge part of love, something that so few of us want to acknowledge because it leave us feeling empty. The animals teach us so much in the short time they have with us. We learn to live, laugh and love, but at some point, we also show more have to learn to let go. show less

It's very rare that a book reduces me to tears, but Unsaid had me reaching for the tissues as I read, curled up in the corner of my lounge. To be fair I was also recovering from a nasty illness and rather emotionally vulnerable, but even in hindsight the novel is a powerfully moving and beautiful piece of storytelling.
Helena Colden drifts around the life she has left behind after her death from breast cancer, unable to do anything except witness the grief of her husband, friends and beloved pets. She is reluctant to move on, wracked by guilt over the secrets she has left behind and fearful of the price she may have to pay for her involvement in euthanising animals in her veterinarian practice. Helena narrates the story with a painful show more longing for what she has lost and left unfinished. While she mourns the loss of her relationship with her husband David, it is her relationship with the animals she has cared for that preoccupies her and is a focus of the story.
Abramson explores the connection between humans and animals and the value each has to the other as companions. David is left to care for Helena's menagerie of animals with whom he has only a tenuous bond but caring for the pets gives him a means to honour Helena and their presence helps him to heal. Abramson's theme makes the case that a humans and animal life have equal value, both deserving of dignity and love.
Ultimately, it is Helena's connection to a chimpanzee that provides the catalyst for both Helena and her husband to move on from her death. Cindy, a four year old chimpanzee who has been the subject of a language study, is threatened with being returned to the general pool of animals available for experimentation. Jaycee, Helena's former lab partner, asks David to serve as her lawyer to prevent that from happening. Observing, Helena hopes that David will be able to save Cindy and therefore atone for her college sins. Couched in such a highly emotive story, Abramson creates an emotionally compelling case for the respectful treatment of animals and this novel has the potential to re-ignite debate on the ethical treatment of animals.
Beautifully written, Unsaid is a stirring and poignant debut novel that will touch the soul of animal lovers and compassionate readers alike. show less

Every living thing dies. There's no stopping it. In my experience – and I've had more than my share – endings rarely go well. There is absolutely nothing life affirming about death. You'd think that given the prevalence and irrevocability of death, whoever or whatever put the whole thing together would've given a little more attention to the process of exit. Maybe next time.

So begins the novel Unsaid. A young veterinarian who has died of cancer looks down on her life knowing that she did some things right and some things very wrong. Especially wrong is what happened to the bonobo named Charlie. And what may happen to Cindy, a chimp who seems to be able to “speak” at the level of a 4-year old. Her husband is unwillingly drawn show more into the battle to protect Cindy.

Helena seems to be unable to leave this world, haunted by what happened in her lifetime, by her husband's grief, by the lives that she, as a vet, took.

If you believe my present predicament is merely the product of overreaction or perhaps cowardice, you may be right. But then I only have one question for you. How many lives have you taken?

The crux of this novel is whether we have the right to intentionally cause great pain and suffering to sentient beings in order to try to alleviate some of the suffering of mankind. And does it make a difference if that animals in question are more intelligent than other animals? If they are capable of communicating with humans? Does the end justify the means? Most people who have given the subject any thought stand firmly on one side of the fence or the other, knowing that there are valid arguments on the other side.

For the first few pages of the book, I thought it was going to be too agenda-driven for me. I'm better informed than many people on the subject of animal research and vivisection, and I didn't want to hear a sermon. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the message of the book was wrapped up in a good and very entertaining story. A quote that made me smile because it hits close to home is:

My first serious boyfriend in college had a sky-blue Triumph TR7. I didn't really care for the boy, but I loved the car. What can I say in my defense except tell you that the car could go from a dead stop to sixty miles per house in less time than it took me to move his hand out from under my shirt.

What makes that all the more entertaining is this quote is used to compare the car to Collette, Helena's surprisingly fast-moving pig who scares husband, David. I could also relate to:

...Thanksgiving dinner at our house was all about carbohydrates – mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, bread, a vegetable or two, and very good wine.

And while speaking of one of her dogs:

If that description of my relationship with Skippy strikes you as too anthropomorphic, then you have both my apologies and my pity.

The reader who is easily moved to tears while reading emotionally charged books should have a box of tissues or an eco-friendly hankie handy. The writing was good but not stellar. Those who love animals will find some parts very hard to read. And everyone will come away with food for thought, whether or not they care to pursue those thoughts.

I was given an advance reader's copy of the e-book by the publisher through NetGalley.com, for which I am grateful. Quotes may have changed in the finished edition. show less

This book smashed into my heart like no other, and I freely admit that I sobbed uncontrollably through the last 25 pages or so. This is a story of great love, great mistakes, great grief and greater happiness.

Helena has died from breast cancer but cannot leave this world yet--her guilt holds her. She has to make amends, and she tried to do so until her dying breath, but didn't attain her goal. She must rely on her grieving husband to finish what she started, but that means that he must first find out about the horrifying mistake she made years ago, a hidden pain that has haunted her life, and now her death.

The role of animals in the lives of humans is a constantly reoccurring theme in this book--Helena was a vet and also, secretly, show more involved in exciting research regarding communication with animals. Her death sets into motion a series of people to people meetings as well as animal to people connections, that steamroll into the ending that left me in tears.

I don't want to tell you more--I want you to read the book. Keep the tissue box handy and just let yourself fall into the spell of this remarkable, unforgettable, stunning debut novel. show less

I had never heard of either the book or the author when I picked "Unsaid" up out of the bargain books box at Kroger. What can I say? I'm a sucker for animal stories, and the cover blurbs punched all my buttons.

I couldn't put it down. It kicked me in the gut, made me cry, and left me thinking deep thoughts. A delightful, heartwarming read it was not. It was, however, one heckuva ride for $5.

The Good: Oh. My. Gawd. This book has some of THE most beautiful sentences ever written. The language was not just beautifully written but there were a few sentences I shivered with how much I felt while reading them. I love the simple sentiment of this sentence, "In a long relationship, there are just some night when you're more in love than others. Whatever it is, you realize that you not only love him, but you're proud to be with him." It's not a complex sentence, but it's simplicity stands out among the complexity of the scene it's in. I don't know why, I just loved seeing it there. I loved the way this book was written from Helena's perspective. It reminded me of Lovely Bones except Abramson did such a brilliant job of weaving show more Helena's observations, thoughts and opinions along with dialogue from the other characters. So it didn't feel like I was being talked AT or only getting a one-sided perspective. Abramson takes a lot of somber themes and makes the reader really think about them. This is the first novel I've read that made me wonder...what would it feel like for the person who died if they had to watch over us? We always focus on what the living feels like, how they should respond to grief or the mourning process. But what about the dead? Not just the broad questions of grieving and healing but how would someone who is dead feel watching their spouse pack away their clothing from the closet or witness a intimate kiss after they've moved on? Even further is to wonder how deeply the yearning for human interaction, intimacy and the senses would be. These are feelings Abramson attempts to rouse in readers during this novel.One of the biggest questions Abramson brings up is that of Animal Rights especially when it comes to primates. I have not read many novels with this as the main premise and I have to say it was very heartbreaking and eye opening.

The Bad: There is not much I can say about this novel that is negative. I genuinely thought it was a great novel. It was different than some of the other books I've raved about. It didn't have much "action" per say but it was more of a thinking novel. Sometimes I felt like Helena was narrating about things that really had no relevance to the novel and some could have been cut out. I also wish that Abramson would have fleshed out some of the characters a little more. I felt like he was just about to give us some more so that we REALLY knew them, but then never did.

Other than those few nit picky details, I enjoyed this novel immensely. Neil Abramson is a brilliant crafter of language and creates a vivid and remarkable story.

**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. show less