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The Olive Tree
Gritty coming of age drama.
What if one day your life changes and you are forced to close the door on all your hopes and wishes. Your whole life is left behind you, and you find that all that you ever desired came and went in the blink of an eye, and you missed it.
That day found me earlier than most, I suppose it comes to everyone in the end. We all outlive our dreams. I was only in my early twenties when I found out there would be no castles in the skies or rainbows in the puddles. I guess you could say there is always hope, but what reason is there to hope when all you ever cared for has been stolen.
If my yesterday is lost, and my tomorrow never comes, then perhaps the sorrow of my today will last a lifetime…"
What if one day your life changes and you are forced to close the door on all your hopes and wishes. Your whole life is left behind you, and you find that all that you ever desired came and went in the blink of an eye, and you missed it.
That day found me earlier than most, I suppose it comes to everyone in the end. We all outlive our dreams. I was only in my early twenties when I found out there would be no castles in the skies or rainbows in the puddles. I guess you could say there is always hope, but what reason is there to hope when all you ever cared for has been stolen.
If my yesterday is lost, and my tomorrow never comes, then perhaps the sorrow of my today will last a lifetime…"
244 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2015
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2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 18, 2015
Warning: This book does handle controversial subjects and may not be for the faint hearted.
From the very first line I was torn from my reality and dragged onto a never-ending carousel ride that Deborah Anderson has created. “The Olive Tree” is a visceral story of abuse and living with bipolar, with close accounts of the suffering and self-destruction it can cause. It is a realistic portrayal of heartbreak, dreams lost and found, and the ugliness of people’s actions.
In spite of this novel being fiction, Sindy, the main protagonist, felt as real as myself. She will burrow deep into your psyche and expose life’s flaws; obliterating the façade of life being like the fairy tales you read as a child. She intimately retells her devastating story, until you all but climb inside her skin and experience it in the first person. You live through her struggle to maintain her sanity; her battle of whether life is worth living and the betrayal from both her loved ones and her thoughts.
Anderson has the makings of a great writer, through her ability to hijack your emotions, whether it be euphoria or devastation, she is able to make each experience more poignant and heart-rending than the last. Making you realise how much of life you take for granted, how you should enjoy any glimmer of happiness you are privileged to have, and that mental illness and abuse does not define a person.
Most importantly, as Anderson wrote, from Sindy’s point of view, “you have to take the material life weaves for you and make the best outfit you can with it.” and alter it depending on what life brings.
This is a tempestuous story of sorrow, faith and finding one’s self. If there is one book that should have a permanent place on your shelf, it’s “The Olive Tree”.
From the very first line I was torn from my reality and dragged onto a never-ending carousel ride that Deborah Anderson has created. “The Olive Tree” is a visceral story of abuse and living with bipolar, with close accounts of the suffering and self-destruction it can cause. It is a realistic portrayal of heartbreak, dreams lost and found, and the ugliness of people’s actions.
In spite of this novel being fiction, Sindy, the main protagonist, felt as real as myself. She will burrow deep into your psyche and expose life’s flaws; obliterating the façade of life being like the fairy tales you read as a child. She intimately retells her devastating story, until you all but climb inside her skin and experience it in the first person. You live through her struggle to maintain her sanity; her battle of whether life is worth living and the betrayal from both her loved ones and her thoughts.
Anderson has the makings of a great writer, through her ability to hijack your emotions, whether it be euphoria or devastation, she is able to make each experience more poignant and heart-rending than the last. Making you realise how much of life you take for granted, how you should enjoy any glimmer of happiness you are privileged to have, and that mental illness and abuse does not define a person.
Most importantly, as Anderson wrote, from Sindy’s point of view, “you have to take the material life weaves for you and make the best outfit you can with it.” and alter it depending on what life brings.
This is a tempestuous story of sorrow, faith and finding one’s self. If there is one book that should have a permanent place on your shelf, it’s “The Olive Tree”.
October 5, 2015
When it was brought to my attention that The Olive Tree contained some strong themes, I simply thought it would contain a few isolated pages of this; it didn’t. The opening sentence sets an immediate tone that lingers on throughout the entire book. Written in a first-person style, you instantly enter a fictional mind that seems splintered, broken and bitter. Inside this head, you come to learn of the dreams and ambitions that once excited and inspired them, eventually discovering how sometimes in life, things change.
For the first few chapters I was certain about what was occurring in the character's mind, but as the chapters stretched on, my certainty was challenged. It became more deluded and frightening, where I struggled to be sure on whether such events were actually happening, or if they were something the mind had simply blown out of proportion. Some were euphoric and otherworldly, while others consisted of abuse and pain. There were moments throughout the book where I could see this change start to happen; the beginning of the sentence was full of sadness and regret, but by the time it reached the end, the emotions had twisted often turning to irrational anger and hate. In parts, I would slow my reading down and uncomfortably go from word to word, hoping the character didn’t experience one of their manic episodes. You see how the mind starts to develop and break, attempting to find reason when confronted such terrible life events. It allows the reader to see the thought process of a bipolar sufferer, and how they can shift instantly, often going against their initial feelings.
This brings me to the author, Deborah Anderson, who deals with some very real and very dark issues that some people cope with throughout their entire lives. One in particular is mental health. The topic of mental health can be difficult for people to understand if you have not experienced it, or something similar yourself. It is not as obvious as a physical illness to both the general public and also to the sufferers themselves. The Olive Tree helps highlight how people with such issues think and behave, with what feels like a very authentic insight into a character that has manic episodes and suffers from bipolar disorder.
Overall, Anderson takes into focus how mental health and abuse changes the behaviour of people, both in action and thought. It is a distressing story, but one full of insight and awareness to these important issues. The writing style forces you to become engaged with the book as if you were experiencing it yourself. It doesn’t allow you to watch from the back row of a theatre; instead, you are on the stage and in the mind yourself. The Olive Tree is ultimately tragic, with a real feel to both the world and characters throughout. I would recommend this book to those interested in a gripping, yet painful story, that at times shows a glimmer of hope.
For the first few chapters I was certain about what was occurring in the character's mind, but as the chapters stretched on, my certainty was challenged. It became more deluded and frightening, where I struggled to be sure on whether such events were actually happening, or if they were something the mind had simply blown out of proportion. Some were euphoric and otherworldly, while others consisted of abuse and pain. There were moments throughout the book where I could see this change start to happen; the beginning of the sentence was full of sadness and regret, but by the time it reached the end, the emotions had twisted often turning to irrational anger and hate. In parts, I would slow my reading down and uncomfortably go from word to word, hoping the character didn’t experience one of their manic episodes. You see how the mind starts to develop and break, attempting to find reason when confronted such terrible life events. It allows the reader to see the thought process of a bipolar sufferer, and how they can shift instantly, often going against their initial feelings.
This brings me to the author, Deborah Anderson, who deals with some very real and very dark issues that some people cope with throughout their entire lives. One in particular is mental health. The topic of mental health can be difficult for people to understand if you have not experienced it, or something similar yourself. It is not as obvious as a physical illness to both the general public and also to the sufferers themselves. The Olive Tree helps highlight how people with such issues think and behave, with what feels like a very authentic insight into a character that has manic episodes and suffers from bipolar disorder.
Overall, Anderson takes into focus how mental health and abuse changes the behaviour of people, both in action and thought. It is a distressing story, but one full of insight and awareness to these important issues. The writing style forces you to become engaged with the book as if you were experiencing it yourself. It doesn’t allow you to watch from the back row of a theatre; instead, you are on the stage and in the mind yourself. The Olive Tree is ultimately tragic, with a real feel to both the world and characters throughout. I would recommend this book to those interested in a gripping, yet painful story, that at times shows a glimmer of hope.
October 4, 2015
Deborah Anderson's debut novel 'The Olive Tree' isn't my typical choice of reading material. I craved for an adventure and instead Anderson taught me a harsh reality with her novel. I have to admit that I found it hard to read, not because of its writing style - which is quite wonderful for a first timer - but purely because the story takes you into the fragile and mentally ill mind of Sindy, and what a journey it is. I had to stop reading at times because of how heavy the whole story was. I felt like happiness was being sucked out of me but still kept coming back because I hoped that something good will come Sindy's way.
If someone knows what pain and suffering is, that person is Sindy. Deprived to see the only person who ever care for her, and living in a house full of abuse and hate, it only meant this poor girl will end up being mentally unstable. Pretty much anything bad that could happen to someone, it happened to her, things that you wouldn't wish on anyone.
Written wonderfully in the first-person style, you do feel like you are Sindy, and your mind gets as confused, crazy, manic, loving, sad, as Sindy's goes. It's a journey of abuse, but also of self discovery, and how to deal with things when life is just a total b*tch.
In the end I felt like I learned how the mind of a Bipolar with Manic episodes works, and how an early diagnosis is key to better yourself quicker.
It's heavy and when you finish you feel like you need some anti-depressants (or maybe just some chocolate ice-cream...with extra sprinkles!) but it's the kind of story that will linger in your heart for quite some time.
If someone knows what pain and suffering is, that person is Sindy. Deprived to see the only person who ever care for her, and living in a house full of abuse and hate, it only meant this poor girl will end up being mentally unstable. Pretty much anything bad that could happen to someone, it happened to her, things that you wouldn't wish on anyone.
Written wonderfully in the first-person style, you do feel like you are Sindy, and your mind gets as confused, crazy, manic, loving, sad, as Sindy's goes. It's a journey of abuse, but also of self discovery, and how to deal with things when life is just a total b*tch.
In the end I felt like I learned how the mind of a Bipolar with Manic episodes works, and how an early diagnosis is key to better yourself quicker.
It's heavy and when you finish you feel like you need some anti-depressants (or maybe just some chocolate ice-cream...with extra sprinkles!) but it's the kind of story that will linger in your heart for quite some time.
January 20, 2016
My full review can be seen here: http://copyhousepress.com/blog/archiv...
This was totally enriching and engaging. I love how this is a fictional reality, something that probably happens to quite a few people around the world, and many consequences for themselves and their families. Deborah Anderson really captured my heart in her story, and although the thoughts and views are of our main character, who is totally an unreliable narrator, we can't help but see them from her point of view and agree completely.
The main character has a mental illness, and it's rare we ever get to hear their points of view. This totally helped me to understand what they go through, and I believe it would help many other people too.
My problem with the book was that it was slow going at times, and not enough interesting and engaging stuff was happening to keep me reading and involved. But this is the thing about fictionalised reality stories, everything just feels too real to keep me interested in the story itself.
However the writing style does allow this story to progress, and as soon as I started reading, I couldn't stopped, I was gripped in seconds.
This was totally enriching and engaging. I love how this is a fictional reality, something that probably happens to quite a few people around the world, and many consequences for themselves and their families. Deborah Anderson really captured my heart in her story, and although the thoughts and views are of our main character, who is totally an unreliable narrator, we can't help but see them from her point of view and agree completely.
The main character has a mental illness, and it's rare we ever get to hear their points of view. This totally helped me to understand what they go through, and I believe it would help many other people too.
My problem with the book was that it was slow going at times, and not enough interesting and engaging stuff was happening to keep me reading and involved. But this is the thing about fictionalised reality stories, everything just feels too real to keep me interested in the story itself.
However the writing style does allow this story to progress, and as soon as I started reading, I couldn't stopped, I was gripped in seconds.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews