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Celia's Journey
The Strane family has it all figured out. They have a life they love in a world they have created for themselves that is filled with harmony and happiness and a touch of chaos too. Then a tragic accident stops their world on a dime. Peace is shattered. Everything is torn asunder as a child is lost—a son and brother—and those left behind are thrust into the darkness of grief and guilt. Celia’s Journey takes the Stranes from the pit of despair through the tentative steps toward healing—testing the strength of their love, searching the depths of their pain, and finding the triumph of their spirit.
306 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2010
About the author
Heather Muzik
8 books148 followersAfter a childhood spent living in various northern states--New Jersey for half of that (South Jersey, exit 4, to be exact)--she struck out on her own. First stop, Atlanta, Georgia. After attending GA Tech to study Industrial Engineering, she settled down in a small town outside the city where she has remained ever since. She keeps house for one husband, two sons, and a thankless dog (who she adores anyway). The four dirtiest words she knows: wash, cook, dust, iron.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 28, 2012
Heart wrenching, poignant, emotional –– this novel will suck you in from the first word until the very last. This story could be any of us -- a happy family who's life is shattered one afternoon when a 6-year-old boy is tragically killed in the grocery story parking lot. This book follows the grief and raw emotion felt by this family for almost 9 months. While this book is one of utter sadness, it is also a book of hope –– Hope that a family can survive one of the worst and most painful losses anyone can imagine.
August 16, 2012
I was both in love with and terrified by this book. A parent's worst nightmare, no doubt. But I think the author did an OUTSTANDING job portraying the feelings and inner struggles of the three characters... no small feat considering the three characters were all very different: a man, a woman, and a 10yo boy! Even though I've never had this particular experience (and pray to God that I never do), I read this book KNOWING that if that were me, I'd be feeling exactly the same way. And I know that my husband would probably react the way her husband did. I can just see it in my mind exactly like that. It felt real and honest. And that's why I gave it five stars... real and honest and convincing... that's 5-star-worthy, as far as this reader's concerned! Also, I stayed up all night reading because I couldn't put it down; that also contributed to the rating.
May 28, 2012
WARNING: Have a box of tissues ready when you pick up this book! I am pretty sure there were tears in my eyes the entire time. I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads Program and based on the description, I had no idea what to expect. The main character, Lindsey, resonated with me from her first trip to the home improvement store through the last page. Because of that, I expected the book to be predictable, but it wasn't. I read the entire book from cover to cover because I had to see how the family overcame their tragedy- which completely blindsided me. Very realistic portrayal of a family in distress.
June 22, 2012
The book shows the grief process in a realistic way from different perspectives. I liked being able to recognize each individual's moments of healing and change. It was an okay book.
August 23, 2020
This family was nauseating.
I kept waiting for it to "get good", and it never did.
I kept waiting for it to "get good", and it never did.
July 20, 2012
This book was very well written. I can't say that I enjoyed reading it because it was very hard to read, but it was a very gripping story that stays with you. I am the mother of a 6 year old boy and my heart just broke for Lindsay with every passing page. I spent most of the book being very angry at Jerry. I'm sure losing his son was hard for him too, but it was so much harder on Lindsay and he should have been more understanding. If I lost my son, I couldn't imagine even getting out of bed ever again. I really liked how the book was written as weeks instead of chapters, that was very unique and I enjoyed how some of the story was written from Adam's point of view. It was interesting getting the story from the 10 year old's perspective. This is the second book I've read by Ms. Muzik and she is a very talented author. The first book I read by her was "Apathetic" and although it was completely different from "Celia's Journey", it shows how varied her writing can be. I am looking foreward to reading more from her.
March 22, 2012
Great book! I loved how the chapters were according to the weeks Lindsey was pregnant. I enjoyed how the POV changed from character to character, nice to get insight and perspective from each family member. While this specific situation is not one that I can exactly identify with, the passion with which Muzik writes makes it easy to sympathize with each character - whether you agree with their choices or not your heart goes out to them. Without giving it away, I was very pleased with the ending! I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys realistic fiction.
July 27, 2012
What a heartbreakingly beautiful novel. I was struck by the author's ability to capture the give and take of a great relationship between the Jerry and Lindsey. All of the characters were finely drawn and real. I came to love and care deeply for each person as they dealt with their grief and pain.
While reading this, I realized that ten years ago, I would not have believed that a couple could be so in sync and in love with each other, outside of fiction. But, having been blessed with a strong, loving partner, I could relate to Jerry and Lindsey's unshakeable bond.
While reading this, I realized that ten years ago, I would not have believed that a couple could be so in sync and in love with each other, outside of fiction. But, having been blessed with a strong, loving partner, I could relate to Jerry and Lindsey's unshakeable bond.
May 23, 2011
I won this book in the FirstReads contest. The beginning in the book was filled with a lot dialogue and not much look into the character's feelings, but once the incident takes place that triggers the rest of the plot, you can really feel what the characters are going through. The plot moves along nicely and makes you want to keep reading so you can find out what happens next.
May 19, 2011
This book was very hard to put down.
The story of not just one persons journey through an unthinkable hardship but a family's journey together.
The book had me laughing and crying throughout the book.
Heather Muzik tells the story through every family members eyes.
I was hooked. I found myself reading into late hours of the night.
Loved it.
The story of not just one persons journey through an unthinkable hardship but a family's journey together.
The book had me laughing and crying throughout the book.
Heather Muzik tells the story through every family members eyes.
I was hooked. I found myself reading into late hours of the night.
Loved it.
May 28, 2012
I won this book through Goodreads Giveaways. I found this book to be a realistic portrait of a entire family in grief. Usually we see the parents point of view and not the sibling left behind. I liked that there was an ebb and flow to the recovery and how everyone had to dig deep down into themselves to come up with a definition of their family as it now stands.
June 2, 2012
The beginning of the book was kind of irritating because they seemed just too perfect and too happy. Feeling this way made me feel guilty because I should be happy for happy people. Haha... Boy the guilt intensified as I read their pain later. If you tend to cry, make sure to have tissue next to you. Great book! Be ready to celebrate the gift of life. :)
June 7, 2012
I truly enjoyed this story. It starts out as a light, easy read. The characters are well written. I found myself in tears at several different points. The loss of a child creates such a whole in a family, Celia's Journey looks at that loss through the eyes of each member of the Strane family. It's raw, and it's real. I'm now off to read more by Heather Muzik!
July 12, 2012
Won this book through Goodread's first read.
Wonderful book; I needed tissues through this one. At one point in the book I think I read a whole chapter with my hand over my mouth because I couldn't believe what had just happened.
Wonderful book; I needed tissues through this one. At one point in the book I think I read a whole chapter with my hand over my mouth because I couldn't believe what had just happened.
May 20, 2012
This story was packed with emotion. I also like how the author gave each family members perspective through out the story. some authors would have ignored the kid in the story but she didn't and it really added to the emotional theme in the book. Loved it.
June 18, 2012
This was a hard book to read - not because it was bad writing, because it was such a devastating story. Perhaps it hit me differntly now that I'm a parent, but it was just such heavy and heartwrenching stuff. I'm glad it ended on an positive note, and it wasn't much, but it was something.
January 29, 2011
a fabulous find from a new author!! i loved this book and think you will too. a great story about love, loss, life and healing.
May 24, 2012
A very emotional book and well written. I had a hard time putting it down.
May 21, 2012
Read it in 3 days!! Cried, smiled, laughed!!
May 23, 2012
This book has it all tears, humor, believable characters! loved it
May 25, 2012
I really liked the storyline and the writing. I will read more by this author.
June 4, 2012
Good exploration of the rippling effects of family tragedy and the healing power of love, but difficult to read also, since so much of it was "down."
July 18, 2012
The book started slow, but once I got going, it was hard to put down. The book made me laugh and cry! Good book to read.
August 5, 2012
Hard book to read as a parent, so beware...however, great heartwarming story.
August 7, 2012
A look at how one family deals with loss and devastation. Will it destroy the family or can they over come it?
September 11, 2017
Absolutely point on about grief, pain, love
I feel like these people became part of my life and family as I read their travel through the emotional roller coaster of love, grief and loss. Sensitive and realistic in the telling.
I feel like these people became part of my life and family as I read their travel through the emotional roller coaster of love, grief and loss. Sensitive and realistic in the telling.
October 24, 2019
I have read a number of nonfiction books about life in a Russian gulag, and this book is based on one such surviver. The author did her research and packed in lots of information, but her writing style is just too obviously fiction.
March 25, 2022
Excellent read!!
August 21, 2016
I was expecting this book to be a difficult read for emotional reasons--I knew there would be a lot of loss and relationship trials and suffering and difficulty before everything came out (hopefully okay) in the end. I was hoping for deeply developed characters showing the complexity of humanity in horrific situations none of us would ever want to be in.
What I got instead was a couple touted in the words of the book as essentially the perfect match, deeply in love and two halves of a whole, but in the actions of the characters themselves a shadow of a functional relationship even before their son died in an accident and tragedy took over. Lindsey was painted as a flighty shopaholic with a renovation obsession, defiantly making purchases of paint and ottomans that she tried to keep from her husband (and everyone encouraged her to do so, apparently fearing his anger at her spending). Jerry was painted as someone to be feared by the other characters (over an ottoman, for crying out loud), and considered his wife largely some sort of hopeless damsel who constantly needed to be saved from herself--even as he praised her in words as independent and fiery. Lindsey's best friend, Shelley, is introduced to the story via her warning Lindsey about her spendy ways and accusing Lindsey of not having a job to pay for the things she's spending.
In fact, everyone seems to enjoy harping on Lindsey's lack of paycheck, and before any of the actual drama of the book hits we learn that Jerry is deeply insecure in his role as breadwinner, at once jealous of Lindsey's stay-at-home-mom status and wanting her to get a job...so that she can also feel badly for not being with the kids all the time? I don't know, it was a weird few pages.
Once the drama hits, Max dies and everyone spirals into their own grief, Jerry thinks he's doing the right thing by giving his wife space--for months, while she sits in a cloud of grief so deep she nearly aborts her (previously very much wanted) third pregnancy in her fractured state of mind. Now, I understand that in his own grief, he probably couldn't see what was right in front of him, but it is glaringly apparent that what this family needs is therapy, and lots of it. Couples therapy, individual therapy for the adults, and therapy for the remaining son, Adam, who is actually the one sane one in the entire story and seems to handle his own grief with a aplomb the adults should really have modeled themselves after. Then, of course, once all is outed, Jerry because an outright villain, heaping his insecurities and unresolved grief on his wife in such an abusive manner that any lingering sympathy I might have had for him went straight out the window.
Then, of course, the whole package is neatly tied up once the new baby is born. Jerry has some kind of bedside revelation, Lindsey declares it a new beginning, and Adam is relived that his family is back to normal.
Obviously I was not a fan of the way the story played out, but an equal portion of my gripes are reserved for more technical aspects of the writing--the character voices were inconsistent and tumbled over each other from random, mid-chapter POV switches that had no transition and no coherence. Adam, an 11-year-old boy, was clearly written in an adult voice. The interactions among the characters were all stilted and held no natural dialogue. The only people I felt were real were the hardware store owner and Lindsey's mother, peripheral characters that obviously had less thought put into them and paradoxically felt more three-dimensional for the lack of effort. There was a random Uncle Will dropped into the mix mid-stream, getting a C plot that petered out as fast as it had petered in mid-conversation, never to be resolved. The end of the story was way too neat to be believable. Jerry fully intended to leave his wife and sue for full custody of the children. The things he thought about Lindsey were appalling after a 16-year marriage supposedly full of love. Lindsey ended up taking the full burden of misplaced guilt on her own shoulders. and nobody got the therapy they so desperately needed, ensuring that this family is still headed for implosion.
Overall, my medium-high expectations for this book were dashed, I was emotional for all the wrong reasons, and this was clearly not a story for me.
What I got instead was a couple touted in the words of the book as essentially the perfect match, deeply in love and two halves of a whole, but in the actions of the characters themselves a shadow of a functional relationship even before their son died in an accident and tragedy took over. Lindsey was painted as a flighty shopaholic with a renovation obsession, defiantly making purchases of paint and ottomans that she tried to keep from her husband (and everyone encouraged her to do so, apparently fearing his anger at her spending). Jerry was painted as someone to be feared by the other characters (over an ottoman, for crying out loud), and considered his wife largely some sort of hopeless damsel who constantly needed to be saved from herself--even as he praised her in words as independent and fiery. Lindsey's best friend, Shelley, is introduced to the story via her warning Lindsey about her spendy ways and accusing Lindsey of not having a job to pay for the things she's spending.
In fact, everyone seems to enjoy harping on Lindsey's lack of paycheck, and before any of the actual drama of the book hits we learn that Jerry is deeply insecure in his role as breadwinner, at once jealous of Lindsey's stay-at-home-mom status and wanting her to get a job...so that she can also feel badly for not being with the kids all the time? I don't know, it was a weird few pages.
Once the drama hits, Max dies and everyone spirals into their own grief, Jerry thinks he's doing the right thing by giving his wife space--for months, while she sits in a cloud of grief so deep she nearly aborts her (previously very much wanted) third pregnancy in her fractured state of mind. Now, I understand that in his own grief, he probably couldn't see what was right in front of him, but it is glaringly apparent that what this family needs is therapy, and lots of it. Couples therapy, individual therapy for the adults, and therapy for the remaining son, Adam, who is actually the one sane one in the entire story and seems to handle his own grief with a aplomb the adults should really have modeled themselves after. Then, of course, once all is outed, Jerry because an outright villain, heaping his insecurities and unresolved grief on his wife in such an abusive manner that any lingering sympathy I might have had for him went straight out the window.
Then, of course, the whole package is neatly tied up once the new baby is born. Jerry has some kind of bedside revelation, Lindsey declares it a new beginning, and Adam is relived that his family is back to normal.
Obviously I was not a fan of the way the story played out, but an equal portion of my gripes are reserved for more technical aspects of the writing--the character voices were inconsistent and tumbled over each other from random, mid-chapter POV switches that had no transition and no coherence. Adam, an 11-year-old boy, was clearly written in an adult voice. The interactions among the characters were all stilted and held no natural dialogue. The only people I felt were real were the hardware store owner and Lindsey's mother, peripheral characters that obviously had less thought put into them and paradoxically felt more three-dimensional for the lack of effort. There was a random Uncle Will dropped into the mix mid-stream, getting a C plot that petered out as fast as it had petered in mid-conversation, never to be resolved. The end of the story was way too neat to be believable. Jerry fully intended to leave his wife and sue for full custody of the children. The things he thought about Lindsey were appalling after a 16-year marriage supposedly full of love. Lindsey ended up taking the full burden of misplaced guilt on her own shoulders. and nobody got the therapy they so desperately needed, ensuring that this family is still headed for implosion.
Overall, my medium-high expectations for this book were dashed, I was emotional for all the wrong reasons, and this was clearly not a story for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2012
I keep going back and forth on my feelings for this novel. It was a quick read. As a mother, the topic was tough to stomach. I appreciate that author tackled it. I think she injected a lot of truth throughout, which I would imagine would be a comfort to someone who has gone through this tragedy. I don't think I enjoyed the book, though I did get sucked in by the interesting mix of death and life. I wasn't crazy about the characterization; it often felt a little fake and idealistic- like even the characters flaws were perfect. I was annoyed by some of the banter; it felt hokey. But I am not a chick-lit reader typically and I struggle with my cynicism when I delve into this genre. I think this novel manages to be a little more than chick-lit and I like that. I've been really trying to broaden my literary horizons this year, so I'll probably give this author another try.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews