Charisma

by Barbara Hall

In the aftermath of a violent incident and near-death experience, Sarah Lange is plagued by heavenly voices and dogged by a desire to return “home.” Frightened by her desire to terminate her existence on earth, she checks into a trauma center in Malibu, California, and meets Dr. David Sutton, an intellectual, scientist, reductionist, and someone who believes in nothing beyond his immediate experience. David’s world is as divorced from mystery and magic as Sarah’s is alive with and animated by it. Their sessions open up a dialogue about the separation of worlds―one easily defined and explained and one unknowable and waiting on the other side of human experience. Even as his faith in his profession fades, David struggles to bring his disturbed patient back to the real world. In a desperate effort to define herself, Sarah “escapes,” and David must decide how far he is willing to go to save a patient, and ultimately, himself.

Genres: Psychology, Paranormal, Fiction

250 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

To TV audiences she may be better known as a four-time Emmy-nominated writer and producer (Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy) and the co-Executive Producer of Homeland, but to avid readers she’s a novelist with 11 published works whose imagination has been honored by numerous institutions, including the American Library Association in both their Best Books and Notable Books categories.

Reviews

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the TV series Joan of Arcadia, so when I read that this novel by the Emmy nominated writer and producer was on sale for $1.99, I decided to take a chance. Was I ever glad. A most excellen writer and storyteller, Ms Hall gives us the tale of Sarah Lange, a young women suffering from PTSD, who has voluntarily signed herself into a psychiatric facility. She hears 'guides,' voices which tell to kill herself and come 'home.' We learn her story through her interactions with her psychiatrist and also his own story is gradually revealed.

Altogether a most satisfying book.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Lange is self-committed in a institution trying to recover from the aftershocks of a near death experience from a post traumatic attack, becomes the patient of Dr. David Sutton the psychiatrist helping Sarah. The two main protagonists contradict and confirm each other in convoluted ways surprising them both.

Charisma provides cerebral vexing dialog while exploring the meaning of life, PTSD, spirituality, spirit guides, and charisms, art. The will to live, love and devotion also approached.

Sarah and David see the world very differently. They share different beliefs while both on a quest - one known, one unknown as a result the exchanges that ensue give the reader so much to consider and mull over. Charisma is a page turner on matters of introspection, theology and existential exploits.

I thought for sure Charisma would be a let down, I glanced the summary and figured ugh, let me see what THIS is all about BUT don't expect much, I am happy to say I was wrong - pleasantly pleased with this book. I am woman enough to admit this was quite the brain teaser, love it when a book forces one to question and ask poignant questions. My brain was stimulated not only by the content but the writing was very well done - straightforward. Everything with Charisma worked, once I started I couldn't stop.

The premise in which Hall introduces the somewhat scholarly topics is shrewd. The topics could have been weighted down and difficult to discuss bordering on boring but Hall's characters and storyline streamlined subjects and ease for dialog - managed expertly.

Fabulous way to depart from the everyday hum drum of ordinary life. Highly recommend Charisma, it's good for your brain. Very inspiring story from the very talented Barbara Hall.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Crazy people have color and imagination and the thing is, some of us aren't crazy, we're just right."

Sarah Lange is in a Rehabilitation center sizing up her psychiatrist who she knows better than he knows himself. All her life Sarah has had 'Guides' that tell her things. Ever since a terrible 'accident' she has had trouble turning off her guides and they are making her feel homesick, homesick for Heaven, that is.

An original tale of self-discovery (for patient and psychiatrist) that leads down an unsuspected path. This book was very refreshing I and enjoyed that it was heavy on dialogue both inner and outer; this made for well-rounded and relatable characters. I thought this novel was going to wrap up a little too neat and tidy for me at the end, but there was a little twist that kept me smiling. I would enjoy knowing what happened to the secondary characters of Kit and Willie, but overall Charisma was a fast-paced enjoyable read!

This book was provided for free from the publisher in return for an honest review. See the blog tour for this book on December 9-13 at stephaniesbookreviews.weebly.com.

[Susan Sherwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this novel because I knew of the author, Barbara Hall, a four-time Emmy nominated writer and producer of Joan of Arcadia and Judging Amy and co-executive producer of Homeland.

After Sarah survives a near-death experience she hears heavenly voices and becomes obsessed by death and the unknowable. Checking herself into a trauma center in Malibu, she begins therapy sessions with a psychiatrist, Dr. David Sutton. What ensues are discussions of the real world vs. the possible one on the other side. As the therapist begins to lose faith in his profession and his personal life Sarah takes an action she thinks will fix her but it endangers her once again.

There is some interesting discussion between therapist and patient and their relationship impacts both of them. It makes you wonder about the line between sick and normal.

[Marcia Brineman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was really great until it wasn’t

I felt like on too many pages there was this contradiction: it was really great until it wasn’t. “Of course I already knew that, but I didn’t.” She did that so many times that it wasn’t just confusing, it was frustrating. I didn’t like or care about the characters, especially when they did and then they didn’t. I finished it but ho hum...I didn’t really care...or maybe I did. :)

[Mary Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued because I really, really liked the Joan of Arcadia series, which she wrote. And I did enjoy this a lot. Actually, wanted it to go longer. But the conclusion was as it should be, so there we are. Read it and you will see. It is a quick read.

[Susanmu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

The conversation is witty but honest, as is the unfolding of Barbara Hall's characters in 'Charisma'. I loved it - read it all in one night.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charisma
By
Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall’s novel “Charisma” is aptly titled. The heroine is named Sarah Lange, and she’s a charismatic new patient at a mental institution. Unlike most of her fellow guests, she’s there by choice. She’s come to Oceanside because the “guides”—advising voices she alone hears—have been talking to her a lot recently, and she’s getting homesick.
Her psychiatrist is Dr. David Dutton, a rather staid, uninteresting curmudgeon who has very little patience for spirit guides, inner-child issues, or other such nonsense. To him, the brain is an organ that gets sick, and it’s his duty to diagnose and cure it.
Something about Sarah baffles Dr. Dutton, though. She’s a little too calm, too flip, not nearly intimidated enough. Odder still, she seems to know things about him—private things—without him having told her. These guides, they’re impossible, of course…right?
Dr. Dutton goes so far as to consult Sarah’s former counselor—one of the New Age types he loathes—and his spiritual advisor, an old college friend who’s now a Jesuit priest.
While Dr. Dutton tries to get a handle on the preposterous “guides,” Sarah waltzes through Oceanside. She does crafts when it’s crafts time, meets her psychiatrist when it’s appointment time, makes a couple friends—just being a compliant patient.
One friend she makes is a huge man named Willie. They bond over cigarettes and art class. Willie is an extraordinary artist, showing a great eye for beauty and surprising sensitivity for someone so big and clumsy. Willie suffers from Bipolar II, and is at Oceanside for a course of Lithium and Electroconvulsive Therapy, the latter of which leaves his memory with giant holes.
Sarah has a good feeling about Willie. She senses the artist trapped inside him, and she’s convinced that if she could just get him away from all the meds and shock therapy and doctors, that he’d be all right again.
When Sarah stops hearing her “guides,” that’s when trouble starts. Sarah starts down a dangerous path that could see her injured or even killed, until help arrives in the damnedest form possible.
“Charisma” is a good book. It’s a fast read, and I was quickly drawn into the story. I liked the way Ms. Hall set up the narrative: during Sarah’s chapters, we were inside her head. When we followed Dr. Dutton, we were more distant, a bit colder.

Also, I loved the interplay between the free-spirited Sarah and her staid psychiatrist. They say opposites attract, but these two were a bit too opposite to end up together. It was fun watching Sarah punch his buttons, while the hapless Doctor tried to maintain his professional composure.

The third act is where I thought “Charisma” ran out of steam. The action was fine as long as everyone was at Oceanside. When the story moved beyond its borders, the writing began to feel forced. The climax was a little, well, anticlimactic, but I liked the denouement, where everyone ended up. I thought that was especially nice.

“Charisma” has its flaws, but for the vast majority of the time, its characters—real and…supernatural? Imaginary?—hold our interest without lapsing into cliché. It’s a good book for a road trip, say up the California coast to Big Sur. (Read “Charisma,” and that will make sense)

(nb: I received an advance review copy from the publisher via Edelweiss)

[Jane Geddis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charisma is a novel about a girl named Sarah who can hear the voices of heaven. She has suffered a violent attack in her apartment and been left for dead, strangled. She is dead for 45 minutes when paramedics revive her. This begins her experience where she can hear voices which come from heaven. And she has been given a near death experience that makes her want to reconnect with the place she now feels is her home. She fears that she will hurt herself and she checks into a mental hospital.

There she meets Dr. Sutton who doesn't believe in heaven or anything he can't quantify. This begins a conversation which carries most of the book. The book has extended dialogue between Sarah and Dr. Sutton which while a little claustrophobic tells Sarah's story, as well as displays the workings of her experience with the heavenly voices.

The novel is a humorous and enlightening read on the deepest issues of existence, and as Barbara Hall has dealt with the issues in her previous novels and the TV show "Joan of Arcadia", she is masterfully adept here a building characters and realities that make the reader question his own character and reality.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible to categorize this fine small novel into any genre niche. It starts out like one of the quieter Stephen King novels, with a young woman who may or may not be "crazy"--the word doesn't mean much by the time the novel ends--and the therapist who's ostensibly treating her but is actually dealing with his own demons. Barbara Hall's traversed some of this turf before, especially in her work with the Joan of Arcadia TV series; the original Joan makes a significant cameo here. Her strength, as always, is insight into the way people's psychology and social circumstances interact. I've been revisiting some Sixties classics recently and in a way you can look at Charisma as a cross of The Bell Jar--women in the psychiatric mill--and The Crying of Lot 49--a quest that may or may not be grounded in "reality."

Close to a five star, but I found the last section anti-climactic and didn't fully buy the ending.

[Rosemary Dreyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is crazy? Someone who hears voices? Someone who doubts the existence of anything beyond that which can be explained by science? This is the crux of this novel - a crisis of faith and finding one's way back "home." There was so much I liked about the book, with interesting characters; moral dilemmas; and an interesting look into the world of myth, faith, and psychiatry.

[Kate Belt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quintessential Barbara Hall – read in razor thin slices so as not to miss munching all of the flavor from the marrow. Felt like being inside of the charism that created Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy ....

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, kind of all over the place. Not a fan of the religious aspect. Good for those who like a character-driven story and philosophy.