The Invisibles

by Cecilia Galante

In the vein of Meg Donohue and Jennifer Close, comes Cecilia Galante's adult debut about the complicated and powerful bonds of female friendship--a compelling, moving novel that is told in both the present and the past.

Thrown together by chance as teenagers at Turning Winds Home for Girls, Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace quickly bond over their troubled pasts and form their own family which they dub The Invisibles. But when tragedy strikes after graduation, Nora is left to deal with the horrifying aftermath alone as the other three girls leave home and don't look back.

Fourteen years later, Nora is living a quiet, single life working in the local library. She is content to focus on her collection of "first lines" (her favorite opening lines from novels) and her dog, Alice Walker, when out-of-the-blue Ozzie calls her on her thirty-second birthday. But after all these years, Ozzie hasn't called her to wish a happy birthday. Instead, she tells Nora that Grace attempted suicide and is pleading for The Invisibles to convene again. Nora is torn: she is thrilled at the thought of being in touch with her friends, and yet she is hesitant at seeing these women after such a long and silent period of time. Bolstered by her friends at the library, Nora joins The Invisibles in Chicago for a reunion that sets off an extraordinary chain of events that will change each of their lives forever.

The Invisibles is an unforgettable novel that asks the questions: How much of our pasts define our present selves? And what does it take to let go of some of our most painful wounds and move on?

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Book Club, Contemporary, Friendship, Womens Fiction, Adult Fiction

373 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2015

About the author

Cecilia Galante is the author of several middle grade, young adult and adult novels. She also teaches 8th grade English at Wyoming Seminary Prep School, and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Wilkes University.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful portrait of resilience and the power of friendship. One of my favorite qualities of Galante's books is her compassion towards those who, for one reason or another, exist on the outskirts of society. I feel like I've found four new friends in Nora, Grace, Monica, and Ozzie.

[Raven Haired Girl]

Learning of each woman’s history is undoubtedly emotional. As the stories unravel you understand how their harsh and tragic upbringing effects their present and future, challenging overcoming events along with deep dark secrets mixed with trauma. Their backgrounds include sexual abuse, physical abuse, a parent murdered, mental illness.

The most compelling character is Nora. Holding back the most, including not sharing completely with her three friends, you feel her pain. She’s closed off, haunted by the past. Learning of her friends current lives is an eye opener, forcing her to examine secrets in-depth. By her behavior you know she is one tortured soul, she’s being devoured from the inside out. She hides the most, causing you to fear for her.

There’s a major reveal, it starts slowly with a bread crumb trail until it is fully exposed leaving you gasp. I knew it would be monumental but honestly not as extreme as it was presented. I can say it bothered me for days, yet it pulled both characters and narrative together, almost an ugly necessity of sorts. Very affecting, however, it resolves deep-rooted issues for all the women.

“Soft sobs filled the air, the plaintive sounds of grieving and loss, pain and grief, as it all came back again. It was for all of them, these cries, for everything they had lost—and everything that had just been found again.”

Visit Raven Haired Girl for reviews and giveaways

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review also found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...

**I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review**

You know what happens when you are driving along on the highway and there is an accident which cause traffic to slow down? And the reason it has slowed down is because everyone is straining to see if they can see what happened? That is what this book reminds me of. All of the characters are a complete train wreck.

I don't want to disclose any of the plot however you can guess from the synopsis that these girls have some serious emotional baggage stemming from their childhood circumstances. This story picks up in their adult lives and the drama continues in a reunion of sorts with the girls.

Let me tell you. You know how there is always the normal, stable friend? Not in this case! There is enough emotional scarring and unresolved issues among these four to keep me in designer shoes and purses for life if I were their therapists. This was both the high and low points for the book.

I will start with the high point. The fact that each girls had their own unresolved issues made you want to read on to find out what each was dealing with. Why did one of them attempt suicide? What happened that one night? Although there are no real surprises you do want to see how it plays out.

As a low point it all sort of unfolded for me like a late night drinking confession-fest. You know what it is like. You and your girlfriends have had a few too many and you start trying to solve the world and each others problems. No sooner did one issue appear and then we were on to the next one. It was a little bit draining.

Overall this was a story about friendship, overcoming adversity and self discovery. Although the characters were messed up, their bond was not and they were there for each other when it mattered. It really is a positive message to give.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when I read a book like The Invisibles, I end up feeling emotionally drained. I wasn't expecting this book to take me on such an emotional roller coaster, but it did. It's about four friends who became woman together in a girls' home. They relied on each other in every way that mattered. After graduation, they went their separate ways and lost touch. When one of the four women attempts suicide, her husband contacts the other three to come help her.

As I said, this book is pretty intense. Each of the women have turned into adults shaped by their experiences as children. Each of them harbors a secret that is slowly chipping away at their life. All of their secrets were surprising, but Nora's was the most heartbreaking. I was choked up as I read the truth behind what happened that last night at the home. The ending was left a little messy, but I was OK with it. It was like real life. Not everything always gets wrapped up in a neat little bow. The week that the women spent together was just each one needed to find the strength to end up doing the right thing for themselves. The reader has to have faith that they will follow through.

This is a wonderful, messy, and emotional book about friendship and secrets. I definitely recommend this one. I hope you are touched by it as much as I was.

[Kelly Hager · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This is an interesting concept and, as you know, I am a huge fan of books that feature friendship at their center.

I loved the friends and the idea that your friends from high school can still reunite after years and be there for you, even if you went for years without hearing from them.

However, there's one big aspect of the book that I had a problem with...except I can't really discuss it because of spoilers. (Suffice it to say that a character had an abortion and it was apparently a hugely traumatic thing, something that negatively affected that character for the rest of their life. And I know women who have had abortions and their lives are fine. It was a necessary thing, and they don't have any trauma because of it.)

That felt like a bit of a cheap stunt to me, and it really affected my enjoyment of the book.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would definitely give this book more than 5 stars if I could! The characters histories and how they overcame their pasts unfolded in such a natural and realistic way. I loved Nora and the other Invisibles and how even after years of not speaking they came together because they had an unbreakable bond. And the revelation of what happened on one of their last nights at Turning Wilds: gut wrenching.

It was a truly beautiful book and I know it will stay with me for a long, long time.

[Dkbbookgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read!
If you love books about books- you will love this one. Subtly book adjacent

Beautiful story of 4 woman friends- does a shared history equal a shared present??

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was very touching and made you really think about what some of our youth grow up facing and their experiences, especially those in the care of others and not family members. It made me think of the TV show, The Fosters, which is about a multi-ethnic family mix of biological and foster kids. The bonds between female friends is strong and can last a lifetime. It is an unspoken bond for females. Even if you lose touch with a friend, when they reach to you in their time of need, you make it a point to be there for them. You never know what someone has been through and this book shows you that the past can define who you are today.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wanted to be two different books: a book about when the characters were teenagers, and a book about when the characters were adults living with what they experienced as teenagers. It is my opinion that Cecilia Galante should have just chosen one and stuck with it, because she had too many ideas and too many things she wanted to do in a short amount of time. This created writing that was cluttered and inconsistent in tonal and character shifts, forming a novel that felt lacking from beginning to end. I wanted more from the characters. I wanted more from the two settings. I wanted expand upon the psychology of the different topics Galante addressed, rather than just doing an amazing job here and there and telling everything else.

Particularly frustrating were the characters. They felt like plug-ins for a John Green novel, in that they all had their one quirky thing and nothing else notable. With so many loaded topics being addressed, it was hard to forgive the lack of character development in both the present and the past. I didn't feel like I knew the characters, and found myself laughing in disbelief whenever they alluded to That One Quirky Thing. They felt like cliches--honestly, and they shouldn't. As characters dealing with some pretty heavy baggage from their past, there should be a vulnerability and honesty to how they are handled. I don't think that Galante is incapable of this; I just think she could've done some more extensive character planning. There are several moments--particularly when Nora and her boyfriend break it off--that felt beautiful and real, and showed what the novel could've been. Yet ultimately I was disappointed, and concerned with where the two settings reflected on and built towards--another cliche, the one night where everything fell apart.

When I finally found out what happened that one night, it was not what I expected. With an event like this, the people involved need support. They need love. I thought it was inconsistent with the majority of the characters not to give it. Additionally, I was frustrated about how SPOILER ALERT abortion was addressed. It was the choice of the character that got it done. Although I understand why it might make another character feel like she didn't deserve motherhood for participating, I would've liked to see other characters stand up for the choice. The whole discussion of abortion made me uncomfortable, though it's hard to describe exactly why.

I feel as though the natural process of the characters growing apart would've been far more interesting than the cliched "one night" plotline. Galante addressed so many heavy topics in the novel that an additional one feels redundant--not to lessen the importance of addressing abortion, but to point out that it wasn't needed for the merit of its story, and could've reduced some of the clutter going on with the writing itself.

In the end, this book has potential. I don't think I quite addressed that in my review, but it DOES have some really good ideas and makes some good points. Unfortunately the execution is all over the place, and could've used some work. With a few rewrites, and some serious reevaluation of the laughable quirk forced down my throat, I think that this novel would've been a good one.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Galante's first adult novel, being primarily an author of Young Adult Fiction--and there lingers a Young Adult tone. Here she introduces four girls living as teenagers at Turning Winds Home for Girls. Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace have all come from dysfunctional families and have been placed here through a variety of circumstances. They form their own family, calling themselves 'the invisibles'. Upon graduation, the girls attempt to escape their histories and build new lives. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.
Fourteen years later, Grace attempts suicide and requests that the other three come for a visit as she 'needs to see them'. As the four of them reconnect, it becomes clear that they all have had trouble moving on from their pasts. The wounds left by their early upbringing (before and during Turning Winds) have left deep scars on their psyche.

This is territory that Gallante knows all too well. She, herself, was born and raised until the age of 16 in the Mount Hope religious commune in New York under the auspices of scholar, philosopher and cult leader Herbert T Schwartz. This was "a place where babies were separated from the parents at 6 months of age and raised in a mass nursery, a societal structure that preached, above everything else, that we as children, were nothing in the eyes of God." Galante began to break through her imposed silence in her mid-twenties after her family finally left the commune and after 10 years of intense therapy.

"The things we experience in our formative years are some of the most powerful and affecting we will ever experience, if only because nothing else at that point has made its mark." "It's like a stamp made in permanent ink on a blank page--afterwards, you can realize the mistake that was made by putting it there, but it takes a hell of a lot of effort to erase it. And sometimes it isn't ever erased."

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Mommy Booknerd's Review:
I loved this book from cover to cover! I feel like this book started with so much emotion and never let up. It was such an amazing book. It was a beautifully woven tale of the four women as separate people and a tale of them as a group of four. I loved that, as a reader, we were given bits and pieces of information about the past and the events that lead to the present circumstances! I never quite knew how all the pieces lined up and when all was revealed I was shocked! It was one of those reads that sticks with you long after you finish reading! I have told so many people to read this book. It is one of those reads that you want to talk with others about. I loved that Nora collected "first lines" of books! I may have to start doing that! I feel like that there were so many components of this that I just adored that I could go on and on about how much I loved it. It is a complex tale about how our past can mold our futures, but only if we let them define us. 5 out of this world stars!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed and other parts that were a bit boring or confusing to read. The parts that annoyed me the most was how the main character Nora doled out advice to her three friends but yet never took any of the advice for herself, until the very very end, which she never really had any big revelations, just kind of a sudden change. Also for four women who grew up in a foster care type home, why didn't any of them have court mandated therapy? Each had issues in their lives but no one got any sort of help, which boggled my mind. There was a big secret that was referenced but never actually talked about until the very end, so it made me want to the book to see what exactly was the secret. I didn't like how the book ended. Each woman in the book made a statement about their futures, and I would have liked to see if those statements came true. The book just kind of ended.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this story of 4 friends, all so different in personality yet sharing a common brokenness. They come back together to support one another after 15 years. An emotional page-turner of loss and friendship and how these women were able to move on with the support of one another.

Loved this line at the end of the book: "Maybe that's the beauty of it after all. Maybe it wasn't about how few holes we ended up with, but how we taught ourselves to see through them, how we learned to look at our lives from another angle, maybe discovering a light that had not been there before."

[Kaitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't usually write negative reviews but this book may be one of the worst things I ever read. It's 400 pages devoted to explaining that an abortion will ruin your life and the lives of everyone around you. Absolutely no time is given to any exploration as to why a character would make that decisions. She just has a miserable life until the end when she finally comes to terms with the fact that she did a terrible thing. Literally all the other characters plots didn't get an ending. Complete garbage. Do not waste your time.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful exploration of 4 friends who lived in a group home together, then decided not to talk once they graduated high school until circumstances brought them back together 15 years later. Great insights on friendship but also the secrets we keep from ourselves and others. It kept me engaged and guessing the whole time as to whether the characters would grow and heal or retreat into themselves. Highly recommended.

[Janet | purrfectpages · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time connecting with the characters in this book. This was one of those stories where you knew demons would be exorcised, it was just a matter of when and how. When the past finally did start to reveal itself, I felt it all happened too neatly. Also, without giving too much away, I didn’t feel like these characters stories, with the exception of Nora’s, had any real closure.

[Carla Row · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was such an unexpected amazing read. The characters will stay with me for a very long time. I would highly recommend this to anyone!

[Gaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

People come together and form friendships for all sorts of reasons, and often being in a terrible circumstance together builds a connection that is rock solid. Such is the case for Monica, Ozzie Nora and Grace, friends since their teens, while their lives never quite seemed to ‘work out’ there is support and comfort in their unbreakable friendship.

There is not a real introduction into this story: you jump right into the action, and background information and secrets are revealed through flashbacks and from current interactions. Each character comes with a unique set of issues, some from their traumatic past, others from mistakes that seem to be as a result of it, and the reveal of these issues is slowly doled out in drops, bite by bite. For this is a story to be savored, you wonder what issues are because of their pasts and what they have overcome in spite of it. Emotionally available, the women are intriguing and interesting.

Primarily, this is a work that celebrates friendship and survival as these women are struggling to move forward in their lives, knowing that the other three will always be there. Far from their troubles and time disrupting their friendship, their bonds remain strong as they confront the ultimate question: how much does trauma and adversity you faced as a child impact your adult life, and can you ever move beyond the problems. A wonderful read that will keep you engaged and intrigued.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

[Samantha Trillium (Just Reading in the Rain)☂ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually finished this book a week ago, but it left me so underwhelmed that I couldn't be bothered to even change my status on here to finished reading.

The book started off really strong. Four friends grew up together in a support home. Each girl had their own story of how they had ended up there, but together they were able to help each other heal and become happy again.

The book starts off with Nora, the only girl who stayed in the small town the friends grew up in. It was easy to see she hadn't yet been able to movie on from the final night the girls spent together, and it seems they've all be estranged since then. When she receives a call and finds out one of her oldest friends has just attempted suicide, she, against her own reserves, packs up with the other two friends, and they meet up again years after their final night together.

Throughout the book there are flashes back when they were teens and we get to know how they became strong friends. We constantly hear references to "that night" but we don't find out what that night entailed until pretty much the last few pages.

The twist in this book was almost insulting, it was so obvious. In fact, I would be surprised if anyone hadn't figured it out before even a quarter of the way through this book. I found the ending really lackluster, and was really tempted to just flip to the end, (something I have NEVER done) just to get this book over with.

The story started out strong, but I didn't warm to any of the characters so by the end it was more of a relief than anything to just be done with it.

[FMR Book Grind · Rating 5 out of 5]

ERIN'S REVIEW
6 STARS

I LOVED this book! It was such a departure from the romance books I read on a daily basis. These characters will latch on to you and not let go. The author did an amazing job with this story and I will most definitely be looking for future work from her!

Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace couldn’t be more different if they tried. They have very different and distinct personalities. But they were thrown together out of circumstance and became the best of friends. The Invisibles. This story is told in past and present tense.

This story is about 4 friends that have been through a terrible ordeal together. They moved away and started their own lives and kind of just forgot about each other. They are all struggling with their past and each with their current situations. These women come together again when one is struggling very hard to come to grips with her life. Friendships are tested, renewed, and strengthened.

There is a wide range of emotion in this story. You will laugh and cry with these characters. The emotion pours from every word and you can’t help but feel everything they are going through. The story is written so well that I didn’t see the ending coming. I kept thinking I had it figured out and I was completely off base. I love when a book does that to me. I love the unpredictability. I think that every woman out there should read this story at least once in their life. It is not to be missed out on.

[MacKenzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely review books aside from giving them a star rating but I wanted to provide an alternate opinion to all the 4- and 5-star reviews this book has.

I made it about 150 pages into this book before I gave up. It's clear that this is the author's first adult novel. Her writing is much more effective when she's describing the teenage girls' lives when they're at Turning Winds, a group home. When the author is writing about the women in the present-day, the characters are one-note. It's possible that I might have been able to identify with the characters more if I had continued reading, but the author did not do enough to entice me into wanting to learn more about them.

Once I realized that the four main characters had reunited to help their friend get through her depression because she felt she "didn't deserve to be a mother" because of a previous abortion, I knew that was it for me. And I'm going to lose it if I read one more book where the main character is a frumpy, spinster librarian. THIS IS LAZY CHARACTER-BUILDING. Please find a new stereotype.

I'm glad that so many people were able to enjoy this book and identify with the characters in it, but it just wasn't for me.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story but there were a few things that bugged me. There were inconsistencies in the girl's personalities from the past to the present. I didn't see any signs of Monica's compulsive stealing in her past story and the notion that since her father was a criminal then so was she was unconvincing. And her gift of cooking that she shared at their meetings was abandoned in adulthood just like that? I don't believe it. And they were at Grace's house for 2 days and not one of them ever saw the baby? But the husband was taking care of the baby by himself and making home cooked meals with multiple courses and served them on china? Um, I don't think so. I could go on but I won't. The fringe characters were so undeveloped they hardly seemed worth writing about at all. But at the end of the day I wanted to know about the girls and their club and how their relationship evolved, or dissolved, as the case may be.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But maybe that was what saying things out loud did sometimes: it made a situation tangible, forcing you to look at it in a way you never had before. Maybe for the very first time."

I picked this up from a "free" box at my local library and I'm so glad I did. The premise is fairly standard: 4 girls that were friends as teenagers come back together 15 years later and embark on a roadtrip where they learn secrets about their lives now -and their lives before.

The storyline is where the mediocrity ends though. The characters in this book are PHENOMENAL. The emotions and the dialogue are masterful. You forget about the sometimes cliche and corny situations they find themselves in because you are just so invested in these women.

[Dawn Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It was breathtaking in it's perfection. The characters, each one so real I could feel them sitting right next to me. The story, so beautiful in it's telling - the pace was perfect, the small insights that were revealed only when necessary. The writing - I could have dog-earred every single page. How did Galante write so many gorgeous sentences in one book?? I just loved everything about this, including the ending, which was (also) perfect. The background of the girls and the name of the book, their group, was just magic. Love. Right up there with my top books. Definitely one I want to own.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got hung up on minor annoying details:

1. A top-of-the-line Escalade would have a built-in GPS.

2. A lighter in the dark basement? My iPhone has a flashlight. Any phone has a flashlight.

3. $400 for an 80-mile cab ride (160 since I doubt he'd have a return passenger)? I paid $60 for a 10-mile ride in Minnesota so that seems really, really low to me.

4. They split up around age 18. Ozzie dated Cesar for "a few years" then Gary for "a few years", but got married at 20.

I also hated the no-contact clause. Useful as a plot device, but so sad in practice.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of 4 women who met at the Turning winds home for girls. Nora is my favorite as the group who called themselves the Invisibles meet almost 15 years later. They have all grown, several are happily married but all have a past they need to address. Well written and great ladies who are so different but tied by the bonds they forged as teens. It's nice to see them grow and accept their future based on their past.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora, Monica, Ozzie and Grace lived in a home for unwanted children during their high school years. Finding each other and forming a bond, they lose touch after a traumatic incident, only to reunite to help one of them cope. Their stories are absorbing and pull you in until you feel part of their group.

[Sanaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a First Reads copy of this book from William Morrow. It was a quick read, and kept me engaged and interested in finding out what happened to the group of girls that went from being inseparable, to not seeing each other for 15 years. It was slightly cliched, but a good summer read.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I don't usually cry when I read books, but I was sobbing at the end of this one. I was captivated from the start and had a hard time putting it down. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I loved the messy rawness of the characters. My heart breaks for all that they went through.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing read full of magical friendship! one of those books that moves you and reminds you of how powerful friendship can be.