Come from Nowhere

by Ellen Greenfield

In the tradition of Homer’s Odyssey and Joyce’s Ulysses, Come From Nowhere explores the concept of home – defining it, creating it, defending it and finding one’s way back to it in the face of New York City’s most infamous blackout. In the early hours of July 13, 1977, seven female characters – ranging from a nine-year-old girl and her Greek immigrant mother, to a young chef who is losing her vision, to a brown rat – share the same subway platform. They are unaware that the next 24 hours will see them struggling to find their way home, both literally and metaphorically, when a historic power outage hits the city. * * * "Written with grace and perceptive intelligence, the narrative that follows is humane, mysterious, tragic, compelling and beautiful. Come From Nowhere is a gift to thoughtful readers." Chuck Wachtel, author of the novels 3/03, The Gates, and Joe The Engineer

306 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2012

Reviews

[Gene Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a young teen in Upstate New York when the Great Northeast Blackout occurred. Swim practice had just started as I prepared to enter the pool when suddenly there was total darkness. But not to worry, the sweet instructors at the Y helped us to safety and soon my mom picked me up and took me home. I always felt safe because I always was safe. Ellen Greenfield's novel, COME FROM NOWHERE, brings me back to that experience with a twist as she tells how seven characters negotiate through the Blackout of 1977 in NYC. However, in this blackout where looting and fires occurred, not all children nor adults were safe. Greenfield is such a gifted writer that she can manage several sub plots and bring them all together in an intellectual feast. One doesn't just walk through the book-- one both learns and experiences unique situations with unique characters through her stories where life changing epiphanies due to the dramatic surroundings, occur. Also advancing her stories is an inherent connection to the poetic which colors and describes her characters. This is not just a read. This is an experience.

[Adriana Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellen Greenfield is a virtuoso New Yorker. She holds that city so lovingly within her that every story she writes about it seems to emanate from the glow of a votive candle. She sees the city’s flaws, its grime and glitter, its threatening shadows and moonlit nights, and still embraces it all as only a real New Yorker can.
Her first novel, Come From Nowhere, took us into New York City during the Big Blackout of 1977, and though White Roses takes place mostly in Africa, the core of the story grows from New York City’s most recent and most brutal wound, the devastating 9/11 disaster. Amid the beautiful landscape and surprising events of an African safari, we are taken into the mystery of one victim’s life, pieces that didn’t fit together, and cannot be forgotten. We meet friends and wonder if they can be trusted. We bond with our heroine and worry for her safety. So far from home. We try to read the clues. Are we getting closer to learning the truth? Is it safe to proceed, or do we want her to give up the search?
The story held me captive. Ellen Greenfield’s writing is so fluid, so smart, and so experienced, we trust her to give us a powerful ending. Even if it may be an ending we won’t like, nobody’s going home until we get what we came for.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betrayal, revenge, hate, love, cowardice, heroism, secrets, and abandonment are some of the varied themes explored here. This tale can be described as almost a reverse romance novel. A couple in love, tragedy, then a search for meaning and understanding of a life cut short. We travel from New York to Tanzania, and are accompanied by adventure, mystery, and peril. We are also given a glimpse into the savagery and beauty of the African savannah.

This is a page turner, that is well written. Some secrets are slowly revealed, keeping you engaged, while a few are saved for the last several pages.

[Elizabeth W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traveling to Tanzania, Erica hopes to write the story of Cal, the man she loved, and thought she knew. Through an interconnected web of tales, the reader, no less than Erica herself, arrives at a place both surprising and true. In White Roses we are in the hands of a born story teller. Greenfield knows the power of stories to heal and transform — to hold within them the inexplicable, the mysterious and real.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written story about loss and grief. A New York City resident loses the love of her life during 911 and goes to Tanzania to learn more about him by learning about his time there. She finds lies, danger and frustration.

If you've lost someone this book will speak to you. If you've been to Africa, especially the Kenya/Tanzania area, the settings, people and animals will seem like treasured friends.

[Jessica Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A love story that shows us that we never really know someone. It took a tragedy to show Erica who she thought she loved was really an entirely different person. This story was a love story and a mystery all in one. Loved how it tied in New York, 911, and Africa.

I won this book for free on the Good reads giveaways.

[Jezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't live in New York during the blackout of 1977, but this book made me feel like I'd survived it.

Greenfield follows seven diverse female characters (six of them are women) through the day leading up to the blackout. She shows us their disparate lives, their struggles, hopes, and fears — and how they triumph over sudden, total darkness.

Beautifully written, and beautifully crafted (the seven stories weave together seamlessly), this is a book for anyone who is interested in women's lives, in New York City, or in the human struggle to control our fate.

[Ellen Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Set against the rich landscape and wildlife of Tanzania, White Roses is an irresistible read – psychologically astute, gorgeously written, and full of suspense. I was swept away.”
-- Jenny Allen, author of Would Everyone Please Stop?

“There is always a mystery at the heart of love, but the mysterious romance at the core of Ellen Greenfield’s elegant White Roses spans two continents, a family torn apart, and the enormous tragedy of 9/11. In this ardent page-turner, Greenfield deftly illuminates the tragic ambiguity at the heart of every love and every loss.”
-- MB Caschetta, author of Miracle Girls

“…a story that weaves together New York and Tanzania, 9/11, and the ongoing impact of colonialism, roses, and gems. One woman’s journey reveals the life of another, strangers, bound by love, betrayal, revenge – and heroism – set against the start beauty of a safari. A compelling meditation on grief and discovery.”
-- Julia Foulkes, author of A Place for Us: “West Side Story” and New York

“To read Ellen Greenfield’s second novel, White Roses, is to be filled with suspense, delight and terror. Filled with descriptions that startle and enchant, — the night sky in which a young girl imagines herself suspended, the elephant with its fringed eye – White Roses is a novel of relationship: our relations to one another and ourselves, revealed through the stories we tell.”
-- Lisa Andrew, author of Dear Liz

[Ellen Kahaner · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will be riveted to the journey the two main characters take, from the grim canyons of post 9/11 New York City to the lush savannahs of Tanzania, trying to find an explanation for the tragedies and mysteries that have befallen them. A page turner that will also give you pause to reflect on the unanswered questions in your own life.