Every Visible Thing

This was a very dark and dismal novel which I found in the bargain book section at B&N. The story is told from two characters, Lena and Owen, alternating chapters. Lena is obsessed with finding her brother or at least finding out who he was. She finds his old camera and lots of undeveloped film. She takes a photography class to learn to develop it herself. As she sees the places and people that Hugh shot, she seeks them out looking for answers. This leads her down a dangerous trail as she skips school, becomes involved in drugs, and searches for her identity. Owen is ten and struggling with his sexual development and feelings for his best friend Danny. Some of these chapters were sexually explicit uncomfortable as they occur between two show more young boys and did not seem necessary to the story. At this point, I was ready to put the book down. But I continued because I was intrigued by Lena's story. Owen's story improved from there and focused on him be ostracized from his peers and he begins to pay attention to his sister and start looking for his own answers to Hugh disappearance.
I'm glad I stayed with the book. Though it was a melancholy story, it brought home the reality of what happens to a family when one of it's members is lost and what can happen if they then lose each other. Lisa Carey writes well though graphically at times but a tragic tale can not be sugar-coated. This is not a novel for the faint of heart, and not a light read but it has real depth and worth the emotional drain. show less

This is another one of the books that I read for Elle Magazine's Grand Jury. I still have two more to go, but am leaning towards this as my favorite of the ones I've read so far. A study of a dysfunctional family, made dysfunctional by the disappearance of eldest son Hugh five years prior to the events told within. How hard must it be to lose one child, yet still have two more to care for? Especially when each of those children chose to start acting out in different ways at approximately the same time.

A dark, somewhat disturbing, yet absorbing story which held my attention throughout. Lena's quest to discover her brother's fate and Owen's discovery of the darker side of his sexuality were both affecting in different ways.

Lisa Carey has crafted a mesmerizing tale of a family that is struggling ‘out of synch’. When the Furey’s lose one of their members, the family begins to sputter out of control… like an engine misfiring when all the cylinders aren’t functioning properly. I was especially impressed with the character development of each family member. Ms. Carey does a remarkable job of ‘getting into the head’ of each character. She is particularly successful at depicting the fears, torment and confusion of young Owen Furey. The story glides along at a reasonable pace and you are drawn into the emotional circumstances that develop. Lisa Carey is certainly a young author to watch.
Note: This mini-review was printed in the literary anthology show more 'hoi polloi - A Literary Journal for the Rest of Us'. show less

This is a story about the Furey Family: a family broken, obsessing, neglecting and in pain.

Ninth grade Lena searches for what happened to her brother Hugh, who left the house 5 yrs ago and never returned. At the same time, Owen, a fifth grader, is experimenting with his sexuality. They live in Brookline, Mass and the story takes place in 1985.

I found the book way, way too long and to be honest, I thought Lena was an awful character and I have very little sympathy with her teen age angst antics. I also found both her and Owen's "explorations" to be way too unprobable for their age.

Did this family live in a bubble? The parents clearly had a breakdown after their son never returned, but did they have no family or friends? I found it hard show more to believe that there was no one else around at all (did the kids not have friends with parents either???) that the kids took care of themselves for so many years.

An unsatisfying read. show less

I read other works by this author and loved them...but this one was just too difficult and depressing. The story of a "regular" loving family that changes radically after the death of the eldest son. Told from the point of view of the 2 remaining siblings, their fears, anxieties and acting out was too difficult to observe, and not redeeming. I got only halfway through the book and couldn't finish...but I recognize it could be because of the challenges in my own life right now. I might need a little more escape than this.

This book is not for anyone who is easily offended. It involves a family in which the oldest brother goes missing. The parents fall apart and basically leave the 2 remainng children to fend for themselves (an older girl and a younger boy). The brother is gone so long that he is basically presumed dead, but no one in the family will talk about it. The kids have questions and no one to turn to. The sister finds rolls of the brother's film and enrolls in a photography class. She follows a trail of clues to try to find out what happened to her brother and finds trouble instead. The younger brother has trouble with a bully and some gay issues. He has no one to turn to or talk to and he goes through some very difficult times. I enjoyed the show more book, but it definitely wasn't an easy read. show less

Every Visible Thing is told from the point of a pre-teen (in this case, two of them). The subject matter is fairly deep - a missing sibling - but the book's realism and point of view makes the writing succeed. This isn't a great book, but it's a good one.