Nearer Than the Sky

by T. Greenwood

In those days, there were no words to describe the nature of my mother's tales. No diagnosis for her tendency toward fiction. No names for women who make accidents happen to their children. No terms for imaginary heroes. And so we listened to my mother's stories in silence and tried to believe.

Indie Brown is a woman haunted by a childhood he's rather forget. As an adult, Indie has moved far away from her parents and created a new life with her longtime companion, Peter, a sensitive and steadfast partner. But a late-night phone call from her younger sister sends her reeling back into the chaos of her troubled family. In this luminous and terrifying novel, Indie is forced to confront the nightmares of her childhood and reevaluate her relationships with her mother, her sister, and Peter.

Genres: Fiction, Mental Health, Contemporary, Family Drama, Adult, Novels, Adult Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

T. Greenwood is the author of sixteen novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won four San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been IndieNext picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award and KEEPING LUCY was a Target Book Club selection.

She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer's Ink and The Writer's Center. She and her family split their time between San Diego and Vermont. She is also a photographer.

More information on T. Greenwood can be found at her websites: http://www.tgreenwood.com

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was a page turner for me. I don't want to say what this book is about because the synopsis doesn't either, just that Indie wants to run from her family and childhood memories. It's a good one. Recommended!

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐
Genre ~ family fiction
Setting ~ Maine & Arizona
Publication date ~ May 26, 2011
Est Page Count ~ 306 (unnumbered chapters)
Audio length ~ 9 hours 6 minutes
Narrator ~ Hillary Huber
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ 4 parts, child abuse, child neglect, child death, multiple timelines

Indie tells the story of abuse and neglect her and her sister, Lily, and brother, Benny, endured. Now, their mom is sick in the hospital and she's forced back into a world that she escaped from many years ago.

I wasn't overly in love with this one, I mean how can I be when there's child abuse involved. But I did appreciate how the author handles Munchausen Syndrome by proxy with care and it seems like the research was done well.

Munchausen Syndrome by proxy definition ~ a mental illness and a form of child abuse. The caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick

Narration notes:
I did not listen to this one, but am just giving the info above for reference. No doubt it was good though with Hillary narrating.

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[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is definitely my favorite by this author so far. it's just so sad and pathetic, a story of Munchausen's syndrome! this is an absorbing tale and family is complicated!

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I should have listened to this on tape. I got this feeling half way through that I wanted to know what happened but I didn't want to watch, like closing your eyes during a scary movie, but that is impossible to do when reading. I powered through because I had to know what would happen to everyone. this is a powerful book about a powerful disease. Being a social worker, I have had one experience with Munchausen by proxy and it was devistating. This book is a very realistic portrait of the disease and what it can do to a family and the difficult way to prove it. It is a very serious book, it is raw with emotions and you need to be ready to step into the emotions whole-heartedly, but read it, embrace it and know that it has a great deal of truth within it.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this must be my week for disturbing fiction. Indie brown's memories are coming back to bite her as she remembers fuzzy disturbing memories about her own mother that loved her younger, prettier sister Lily with suffocating obsessiveness. Too, Indie is still questioning the death of her special needs much loved older brother. Now with Lily's newborn Violet's mysterious illness and Indie's cold mother's strange poisoning sickness, she returns home and to the many questions left unanswered. Since surviving a lightning strike at age 4 due to her mother's neglect in a grocery store parking lot, Indie can taste sounds, specifically all the lies that roll of her mother's tongue. Rooting through the past, she slowly brings into clear focus the picture of the puzzle that has haunted her for years.

This novel was wonderfully written, and it's the first of T. Greenwood I have read. It both saddened me and disturbed me.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow is this a stinkeroo. The writing just flat is not very good. that it is rife with cliches is bad enough, but it's also full of small, unbelievable moments and bits of dialogue that popped me right out of the story thinking, "That would NEVER actually happen." I am ashamed to say I marked up the library's copy of this one with lots of pencil comments. Sorry, Hennepin County Library system, but I wanted to save those who come after me time. Trust me: skip this.

[Judy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long- time fan of talented author, T. Greenwood, she delivers another compelling story of an unexplained mental disorder, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, and it’s devastating effects surrounding this troubling illness and the family members with NEARER THAN THE SKY.

This is my eighth book by Greenwood, a "master storyteller", she is not afraid to tackle highly-charged topics, social issues, and heartfelt emotions of the heart with compassion, insight and depth—once again delivers a profound an absorbing tale.

At age 33, India is residing in Maine with her lover of fourteen years, who owns a restaurant and film theatre. Her dreaded phone call comes once again from her younger sister, Lily informing her of her mother’s hospitalization. This time it is lead poisoning and it appears to be self- inflected. Her mother has a habit of thinking she is sick and crying wolf and is paranoid of all diseases and illnesses. Lily has an infant daughter, Violet which is sick and needs Indie to return home to Arizona to help with the care of their mother.

So many tragic events and unpleasant memories in Indie’s life as she reflects back to the disturbing truths, and haunting childhood; starting when she was struck by lightning, and her older brother’s death. Her younger sister had so many illnesses and now baby Violet? Lily and her mom were close and then it was India and her special needs’ brother. India was not close to her mom and loved her dad, until one day he left as assume he could not handle his wife’s problems any longer.

Indie believes after the encounter with the lightning, she has possessed special abilities and is more intuitive as we learn more about her childhood layer by layer. Is this condition, genetic and has Lily developed her mom’s illness and what if she harms her own child, and what about herself and her future?

A well- written and heartbreaking exploration of one family’s journey, and as adults, seeking desperately to cop and overcome a severely dysfunctional childhood and a broken past. A book of acceptance and forgiveness and of courage; a battle of mental illness with deep emotional human dynamics. I listened to the audio version and Hillary Huber delivered an engaging performance with a tragic, disturbing, yet beautiful story.

After reading an advanced reading copy of Greenwood’s upcoming latest book, THE FOREVER BRIDGE , highly recommend coming Feb 24, 2015, I realized I had missed this title and one other, “Undressing the Moon”,which I plan starting next.

If you have not read any of T. Greenwood books, would urge you to take the journey, as she captivates you with her lyrical and magical prose, like no other! Highly recommend.

Judith D. Collins Must Read Books

[Ayla Dahlia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel that this book could have been very good, but simply fell short of my expectations. There is no denying the writer has a way with words and a great ability to paint extremely emotionally relatable pictures, but the story was at slow and at times it felt like there was no real story. What was happening was quite mundane, what held my interest most of the time was the flashbacks but they were fleeting and as the book progressed became shorter and less interesting. I struggled to get through to the end of it because I didn't really expect there to be anything happening, since there really wasn't anything happening through out the book. One page for an exciting incident, four for a pointless conversation. I honestly didn't finish the book, I made it most of the way through and skimmed until it was the end. Still, credit needs to be awarded for the descriptions, I wouldn't write this author off but hope for better in the future.

Also the entire lack of urgency regarding Violet was bothersome, irritating and extremely unrealistic. There would be no "we were thinking of calling CPS but you look like a nice guy.." they would have been called at the point that the mother has stopped the baby from breathing multiple times. Rich barely reacted when he realized there was nothing wrong with Violet and backed out of his plans to rush her off because he simply seemed to 'feel bad' and she didn't realize she was killing her daughter. Oh okay. Still shaking my head over this. The same can be said for the doting/loving father simply walking away from his children when he knew what their mother was doing to them. How can Indy have no resentment towards him for that? How good of a father can he be?

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a moving story about a family affected by Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. A mother will cause and exaggerate medical illness in her children for attention herself. As you might imagine, this can severely affect the lives of the children. It is written from the perspective of one of the children who observed the abuse, but did not receive it, other than neglect.

The story moves back and forth from her adult present to the past, as a means of her piecing together and more fully understanding her dysfunctional childhood. The authors writing style is very vivid and uses a lot of imagery, but sometimes I find it to be overdone. The tasting of sounds and voices used intermittently after the protagonist was hit by lightning as a child sounded forced. Other parts were wonderful. The story was complex and the relationships between the characters was interesting. I enjoyed the book and am interested in reading more by the author. Others describe later books as more well developed.

[Liz Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terribly disturbing and compelling at the same time. I found this book hard to read and impossible to put down. And I found myself thinking about it constantly.

This book is about the scary and unexplained mental disorder Munchausen by proxy, which causes women to harm their own children at whatever cost, and destroys families in the process. It's about overcoming the terrible odds of a severely dysfunctional childhood and dealing with skeletons of a broken past.

I really enjoyed this author's writing style, how genuine all of the characters seem and how real the storyline feels. I definitely recommend it!

[Jes Singer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this author! Her writing is just beautiful - the descriptions and metaphors pull you right into the pages - truly with the characters. I have read her other novels but not this early one because it wasn't yet on Kindle. T. Greenwood has a remarkable and disarming way of approaching disturbing topics and creating sympathetic, soulful characters to untangle and examine them. But still, this story of Munchausen syndrome by proxy is heartbreaking and disturbing ... T. Greenwood does a great job of putting the reader right on the fine line between sympathy and discomfort. I only wish she had followed through on some of the story lines a little longer - I would have gladly read several more chapters to hear how Indie does with Violet, where she ends up working ... and I found Lily's promises in the end a little unbelievable without more context and explanation - having come this far on that fine line I would have liked to hear how Lily would reflect on Ma and examine herself ... This is really 3.5 stars, probably would have been 4 had I not already read and preferred some of her later works. Great read.

[Manik Sukoco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of Indie Brown, a woman who wishes that her childhood had never happened. But in the way of all life, nothing is ever completely over and done with. Happily settled into adulthood with her loving and steadfast husband, Peter, Indie begins to be drawn ever so slowly backward into her past when she begins to suspect her sister Lily of causing harm to her own newborn baby. Upon this discovery, Indie realizes that their mother is the one responsible for Lily's illness, as Lily is responsible for her own daughter's mysterious sicknesses.
Writing with poetic insight and incredible subtlety, Greenwood wraps the reader up in the darkness of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, illustrating its far-reaching effects and ultimately destructive force. Greenwood's characters are multi-dimensional and real, reacting to each crisis in wholly human ways, flawed and believable. With each breathtaking revelation, Greenwood captures the moment with startling clarity and brilliant depiction. Add "Nearer Than The Sky" to your reading list immediately, and grab the tissues. You'll need them.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book because I loved the last two books I read by this author. This story was not that interesting and at times hard to follow. There were quite a few typos which went along with the way this story seemed thrown together. It was a tad boring and difficult to finish. Glad to be done with it so I can move on to something else. I will still give the author's other books a shot.

[Charleigh barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Really interesting and would recommend

[Britta · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He sleeps so deeply sometimes that his silence wakes me up..."

"My childhood is like an amputee's phantom limb. It's not something someone intact can understand."

"There's something nice about having a shared childhood with someone. You don't have to explain a lot of things to each other."

"In a year it is easy to forget how cold winter is. Seasonal amnesia is the only way to survive in climates liek this. It is almost impossible to remember the realities of winter when the sun is shining and the sky is bright."

"Even far away his posture was as familiar as my own hands."

"I kissed him and felt everything grow weak and warm. [He] still has the ability to make me feel the way I used to feel when we first met. Most people wouldn't believe it. Fourteen years is a long time to share a life. And there are times, of course, when one of us grows bored or annoyed. What used to be butterflies may now be something less striking than the orange and black of a monarch. Something more common and predictable, a loping gray moth with slow beating wings. But its wings still flicker."

"... his voice softer than a July moon, more gentle on my tongue than a spoonful of night. "You know I love you." And the light filled my entire mouth, glowed and warmed my throat."

"That's what people REALLY do when they care for each other. They say what they're supposed to say. They'll say anything to keep the balance even..."

"But what he didn't understand, and I had no words to articulate, was that we inevitably inherit our mother's gestures. The certain sway of hips or slow blink of an eye. The way of buttoning a child's sweater or leaning into a man's chest. What he didn't understand was that the subtleties she passed onto us were what he should fear."

"[She] is beautiful in a way that suggests complete ignorance of her effect on the eye. She blushes easily. She has bad posture and will not take a compliment. She is enthusiastic about everything. Trusting and eager and sincere."

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was essentially a long character study, but so beautifully written that it captured my attention on every page. I’m not usually a fan of reading about someone’s daily minutiae, but the minutiae here was intricately brought to life in a way that totally immersed me, along with the constant undercurrent of quiet tension because you never knew when something would break. Just as the characters never knew, always teetering on the razor edge of their mother’s illness. In these small moments are when the darkest things happen.

[Leah Iannone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't read it. It was hard to finish and kind of boring. The characters were dull and I never really felt for them. I also think it was an awful portrayal of Munchausen by Proxy syndrome. It's such a fascinating topic but the author did it no justice.

[Sherree Gaskell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just simply loved this book. T Greenwood writes with such honesty and beauty. Her words have me living in the moments she creates.

[Book.Teti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Książka zainteresowała mnie ze względu na opis. Daje wrażenie, że ,,Bliżej niż niebo" to naładowana emocjami i tragicznymi przeżyciami powieść, której długo bym nie zapomniała. Niestety otrzymałam coś zupełnie odwrotnego i czuję się bardzo zawiedziona.

Książka zainteresowała mnie ze względu na opis. Daje wrażenie, że ,,Bliżej niż niebo" to naładowana emocjami i tragicznymi przeżyciami powieść, której długo bym nie zapomniała. Niestety otrzymałam coś zupełnie odwrotnego i czuję się bardzo zawiedziona.


Najbardziej szokowały mnie te wszystkie rzeczy, które zostały opowiedziane w książce. O chorej miłości matki, która robiła krzywdę dzieciom nawet nie zdając sobie z tego sprawy. A może jednak robiła to celowo? Sama nie wiem. Ale to wszystko co się działo wykraczało poza granice normalności i wychowania dzieci. Wszystkie te zaistniałe sytuacje były chore. Czytałam z lekkim zszokowaniem i wykrzywieniem na twarzy, bo nie mogłam tego pojąć.

Autorka poprowadziła książkę dwutorowo, dzięki czemu wiemy co się działo w tragicznej przeszłości, która odbiła swe piętno na przyszłości dzieci. To prawda, książka bardzo szokuje i ma podłoże psychologiczne. Czytelnik po takiej lekturze, może być lekko skonsternowany. Zabrakło mi trochę akcji, lub czegokolwiek co sprawi, że bardziej się wciągnę i zagłębię w lekturę. Książka była bardzo monotonna, nic się nie działo, główna bohaterka ciągle chciała tego samego, przez co wprawiała mnie w irytację. Nie była to co prawda okropna lektura, ale mimo wszystko i tak czuję się zawiedziona. Z pewnością niektórym osobom może spodobać się ta historia, więc polecam zapoznanie się osobiście.

[Almira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, T. Greenwood has woven an intriguing story around a dysfunctional family.

Indie Brown was struck by lightening when she was 4 years old - she should not have been struck by lightening, if her mother had not been more concerned about her younger daughter, leaving Indie in a shopping cart in the parking lot in the middle of a thunder storm! But her mother did and that's why Indie was struck by lightening, and LIVED.

Indie's younger sister in Arizona phones to say that there mother is in serious condition and that Indie needs to fly to Arizona to assist with the situation. Well, that doesn't go over well, with Indie or Peter, her partner. Indie does travel to Arizona and faces all the "ghosts" of her youth, her mother's disorders, and the loss of her brother Benny.

T. Greenwood unravels the Munchausen disorder in this "wonderfully" written story of what it means to be a family and how we survive.

I really enjoy T. Greenwood's writing, regardless of the fact that her stories are not light and fuzzy!
Keep writing, I will keep reading! Thanks.

[Mackenzie Denner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearer Than the Sky is a novel that concerns mental illness. As the book cover states, this story depicts the disorder of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a disorder known to few but still affecting many.

This novel depicts the disorder in great detail, portraying how it affects each member of the Brown family, as told by Indie Brown. The emotions are described and feel life-like to read as well, drawing the reader into the story even more.

I think this book does a great job of displaying Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, and how it can truly affect not only the person diagnosed but the family involved as well. In my humble opinion, this book definitely deserves more attention!

[Mar XX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobra książka, porusza ważny temat i jest naprawdę subtelna, jedyne co mi w niej przeszkadzało to fakt według mnie nie dokończonej historii, miałam nadzieje dowiedzieć się więcej co się działo w ich dzieciństwie, szczególnie z Lily. Jest ona postacią którą najmocniej dotknęły te wydarzenia i sama też znęcała się nad swoim dzieckiem więc liczyłam że w pewnym momencie autorka mocniej skupi się nad nią. Historia kręci się jednak głównie nad Indie, która oczywiście nie raz oberwała i na którą zrzucona została opieka nad starszym niepełnosprawnym bratem, jednak często miałam wrażenie jakby była głownie obserwatorem. Ale mimo wszystko uważam że lektura warta czytania.

[Gato Negro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note to self: only begin a T. Greenwood novel when you have TONS of free time as it will be the ONLY thing you’ll want to engage with, animate or inanimate, until you’re done reading it.
This was so well written, again, as Greenwood is wont to do, with truth and beauty juxtaposed against lies and evil deeds. I was drawn in from the very first chapter. The author, one of my absolute favorites, is a master of the time shift in her writing. Another masterpiece, so perfectly done, one can only imagine where the author gets her ideas. Every book I’ve read of hers involves the most unspeakable abuse of those most vulnerable.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the 2nd book I read by this author. Once again, I was blown away by her talent! Her writing style is excellent! She has an extensive vocabulary that she uses with perfection. Her storytelling keeps up a perfect pace and her characters are well developed and relatable. This book dealt with subject matter that too many can relate to: surviving childhood abuse. In this case it's in the form of a mentally ill mother.

It's been awhile since I read the book, but I wanted to put out a short review recommending it. I'm making my way through this author's work, and I've loved each and every one of her books so far!

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a meh for me. I like Greenwood's writing style, she's got a way with words, but the plot just didn't come together. It was supposed to be about Indie's mom having Munchausen by Proxy and inflicting it on her younger sister, Lily, but that angle never really went anywhere. Neither did Lily's MbP. It was like Greenwood was too afraid to get into that idea, so she only surface referenced it. I'm also not sure on Indie's name...you find out late in the novel that it's short for Miranda, but I've never once heard of a Miranda being called Indie for short.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was horrific at times. The story is told about growing up in a home where the mother does unimaginable things to her children to draw attention to what a wonderful mother, she is in spite of having children that are always sick. The story gave me the willies thinking about what she did. The pattern repeats itself in the life of one of her daughters. The other daughter is haunted by the past. This book will stir all types of emotions in the reader.

[Kathyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for a book that was compelling and interesting. Well written. The only things I don’t like were the fact that Barney has no ears....( petty I know, but I can’t ) and the names Indie and Esme are so ostentatious... (see what I did there).

Anyway I love dark stories that haven’t been told before. And this one is nearly flawless. Poetic,beautiful , heartbreaking.

[BB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inconsistent, liked it a lot, then it dragged. Liked the male characters across the board but the ladies were justifiably insane.
Munchausen by proxy, very sad and difficult to read. Lots of turning of blind eyes. Story moved back and forth in time and I preferred the current day story.
Indie heads to Arizona from Maine to help her mother who has been poisoning herself.
Don’t recommend.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

I love the way this book is written. It is heartbreaking and yet there is hope. I loved the ending. So many book endings fail. I know there are so many children and families in our country that are broken just like this. How in the confusion of life no one gets down on the child’s level and sees how they are hurting. I highly recommend this book .

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love this author but this book just wasn’t my favorite. I can’t seem to put my finger on what the issue was. It just wasn’t holding my attention. Doesn’t change my thoughts on T. Greenwood....she’s still one of my favorites!