Night Navigation opens on a freezing-rain night in upstate New York: the kindling gone, the fire in the woodstove out. Del’s thirty-seven-yea...
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reviews
Jul 11, 2009
Tina DC
rated it: 
In Ginnah Howard's "Night Navigation", we feel the turmoil connected with loving a person who has bipolar disorder and a drug addiction. Del is the mother of 37-year-old Mark (her husband and other son also had mental problems and commited suicide years before the story begins), and she suffers from anxiety due to all she's had to put up with. Medicated and clean, Mark is a sweet and loving person, as witnessed by the love and attention he gives the family dog; off meds and using, he's
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Aug 24, 2009
Alice
rated it: 
Harrowing story of addiction narrated by a son and his mother -- explores not only addiction but also co-occurence of mental illness. Gorgeous writing held me spellbound from start to finish. A must read for anyone who has dealt with addiction...
"The strength of this story pulls Howard's readers along, unable to turn away from a fierce mother and son who are determined to negotiate the future without having to "detour around every moment of their past."
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"The strength of this story pulls Howard's readers along, unable to turn away from a fierce mother and son who are determined to negotiate the future without having to "detour around every moment of their past."
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Jun 17, 2010
Michele
rated it: 
This is a story of the pain and despair of drug addiction. This is the story of a mother's worst nightmare: caught between the love for your child and the knowledge that you cannot fix them.
Meet Del, a middle-aged widow, and her grown son Mark. Mark is an addict. Del wants nothing more than to save her son. The odds are against them both. Suicide, mental illness and family dysfunction are all an important part of this story that takes you into the depths of a family's anguish.
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Meet Del, a middle-aged widow, and her grown son Mark. Mark is an addict. Del wants nothing more than to save her son. The odds are against them both. Suicide, mental illness and family dysfunction are all an important part of this story that takes you into the depths of a family's anguish.
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Dec 03, 2009
Cynthia
rated it: 
There were many good things in this novel. The writing was good, it held my interest enough to keep me reading. Howard sets a unique tone and atmosphere. Mostly the story is about a mother's attempt to cope with her adult son's drug addiction and mental illness while still `recovering' from losing her husband and younger son to suicide. She's managed to move on enough to have a long term relationship with her lover and express herself through her artwork but she can't quite separate enough from
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Mar 28, 2010
Gigi
rated it:
I LOVED Night Navigation! I read it last summer, each morning on the dock, at our camp in the Adirondacks and I couldn't get enough of it - Ginnah Howard is a wonderful writer, I was with her every step of the way. She created a world that I was compelled to revisit.
Jun 01, 2009
Jess
rated it:
Tackles the part of the story that other novels on this subject miss - the stage when the children are well into adulthood and the parents are aging, and about the new boundaries they are forced to draw as they figure out how to take care of themselves.
Dec 26, 2010
David
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book, but I think it was definitely a case of not being the right read for me. I think this book might appeal to an older demographic...personally, I didn't care too much for reading about 60 year-olds getting it on with oral sex and lubricant. The subject matter was dark, which normally isn't a problem for me, but I guess reading about rehab and inflicting pain on mothers was a little much for me.
Again, this would be a great read for other people...it ju More...
Again, this would be a great read for other people...it ju More...
Oct 24, 2009
Tenli
rated it:
Painful and absorbing story of a mother and her adult son grappling with a family history of mental illness and the son's addiction. Emotionally difficult but gripping account that rings very true to experience, Night Navigation has some moments that made me want to avert my eyes. Highly recommend for those who are willing to go there.
Jun 27, 2010
Barbara
rated it:
Could not finish this book right now....hits way too close to home for me.
Mar 13, 2010
Thom
rated it:
A must read for anyone who wants to read of the hell of bipolar disorder addictive behavior from the point of view of parents or caregivers who must, like a good friend of mine, either move in again and again to pick up the pieces and aid their loved one--or give up in dispair.
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