Halfway House

by Katharine Noel

One day, Angie Voorster — diligent student, all-star swimmer, and Ivy League-bound high school senior — dives to the bottom of a pool and stays there. In that moment, everything the Voorster family believes they know about one another changes. Set in a small town in New Hampshire, Halfway House is the story of Angie's psychotic break and her family's subsequent turmoil. Each of her family members responds differently to the ongoing crisis: Her father Pieter, a professional cellist, retreats further into his music; her mother begins a destabilizing affair with a younger man; her younger brother, Luke, first pushes away from her then later drops out of college to be closer to her. Though the Voorsters manage for a time to maintain a semblance of the normalcy they had "before," it is not until Angie is finally able to fend for herself that the family is able to truly fall apart and then regather itself in a new, fundamentally changed way. With grace and precision rarely seen in a first novel, Noel guides readers through a world where love is imperfect, and where longing for an imagined ideal can both destroy one family's happiness and offer redemption.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Family, Novels

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2006

About the author

Katharine Noel’s first novel, Halfway House, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and winner of a Ken/NAMI Award for "outstanding literary contributions to a better understanding of mental illness," and the 2006 Kate Chopin prize for fiction. Her second novel, Meantime, will be published in November 2016. She has been the Writer in Residence at Claremont McKenna College and the Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, where she held Wallace Stegner and Truman Capote fellowships. Katharine lives with her husband, the writer Eric Puchner, and their children in Baltimore, Maryland, where she teaches at Johns Hopkins University.

photo by Anna Carson DeWitt

Reviews

[Adrienne Kiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of my own diagnosis of bipolar disorder, it is very hard for me to read books dealing with the issue and not be judgmental of the depictions. The result is that I had a hard time separating the fiction of the story from the actual reality of mental illness. If something is depicted in a way I don't feel is "right", it's extremely difficult for me to look past it. Unfortunately for me, there IS no objective reality when it comes to mental illness so I can't claim to be definitively right at pretty much any point. :)

With that said, this was a well-written story and I found myself growing quite fond of the characters. Several times I found that the circumstances of the narrative were affecting my own feelings - I was anxious in the tense situations, I was pleased when things normalized, I went through a whole spectrum of emotions right along with the characters. A book that can make you feel is a good book indeed.

I was displeased when I was done with the book, not because of the story but because I wanted to know MORE, I wanted an exploration of life-after-page-365! Admittedly, the author was right to stop when she did but that doesn't keep me from selfishly wanting to know what happened next.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Voorsters are a typical American family. The patriarch, Pieter, is an immigrant from The Netherlands, but he found his home here while studying cello in college. Pieter never made it as a professional cello player, but he did manage to find true love with his professor's daughter Jordana, a beautiful woman fourteen years his junior. Together, they have two children. The youngest Luke is wandering, somewhat unsure of what he wants to do with his life. The oldest Angie is a talented Olympic-level swimmer seeking scholarships that might take her away from the one-horse New Hampshire town they live in.

In the middle of her senior year, Angie becomes manic, scattered, unable to complete coherent thoughts. The family accepts it as stress until Angie dives into the pool at a meet and refuses to get out. Clearly, there is something wrong.

Initially, diagnosed as schizophrenic, Angie is assigned to a work farm where she lives with other schizophrenic teenagers. But it soon becomes clear that she is not schizophrenic, just severely bipolar and possibly damaged by the medications she did not need. When she returns from the work farm, she sees that her own issues are not being being handled so well by the family. Her father has become reclusive, finding solace in ice skating and classical music. Her mother has found solace in a young photographer who clearly doesn't love her as much as she loves him. Her brother remains aloof but eventually quits school to be closer to her, causing unspeakable turmoil in several romantic relationships. Angie, rather than seek more help and create more problems, she decides to manage her illness herself. This tactic, obviously, will have disastrous results.

This is a fascinating novel. Simultaneously about mental illness and familial bonds, it is one of the best debuts I've read in a long time. It manages to take an issue as difficult as mental illness and keep from becoming melodramatic. Yes, some sequences are harrowing in their depictions of Angie's turmoil. But the author never stoops to making us feel sorry for her. Instead, it presents her as a human character with flaws, flaws as easily relatable to the sane as they are to anyone who has been there. Even better, the author manages in alternating points-of-view to give each of the characters a distinctly different voice. This is an achievement that few writers can master.

This novel is a stunning debut and highly recommended.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the kind of book I normally read unless I have to, and this was no exception (it was assigned -- incidentally -- by a person with severe psychological problems, but that's really not the point here).

Anyway, this was a surprisingly solid little (well, biggish) family drama, which begins when an overachieving teenager experiences a manic episode culminationg in in an apparent psychotic break in the middle of her swim meet. The oldest daughter of a mother who works at an abortion clinic and much-older musician father is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and the rest of the book deals with her own, her parents', and her younger brother's efforts to deal with the effects of this illness on their lives.

The strengths of this book were its characterizations of the family members and the relationships between them; the author's talent for description; and finally -- most obviously -- the realistic and responsible depiction of what severe mental illness is like, and how it affects not just the diagnosed party but also everyone around her. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in mood disorder and a fictional view of its impact on a white, middle-class, New England family, and to any reader who'd enjoy a respectable, well-written novel about family life (the book begins when the kids are in high school, and ends when they're in their mid-twenties).

This book was not without its frustrations. I felt like it pulled back from the sister later on in the story, and spent too much time with the brother, who for me was the weakest of the characters (he was crazy about his sister and quite the ladies' man, but other than that I never quite got what the point of him was). I also didn't get the full logic of the parents' marital breakdown, almost like there were some important chapters I missed reading. On the whole, though, I found this exceptionally well-written. The opening scene in which the father is getting milk out of the refrigerator instantly made me feel I was in these characters' home and their world, and this sense was sustained throughout the book. This writer is very talented -- it's one of those books that made me think jealously, "Damn, I wish I could write this well" at several points throughout -- and I'd definitely be interested in reading more of her stuff in the future.

[Sally Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly assured debut, "Halfway House" isn't, to my mind at least, the story of a teenage girl being diagnosed with bi-polar, as many reviewers have suggested. This to me utterly reduces this brilliantly observed chronicle of middle class suburban American family life.

It takes a very talented writer to be able to so acutely recognise and depict the minutae of relationships in such a real and compelling way.

One of Noel's greatest strengths is that she DOESN'T focus solely on the mental health issues (although these are throat achingly well described) but she creates four complex characters within the family and allows us to view all of them in equally painstakingly flawed detail. I may not have particularly liked all of them at all times, but it's impossible not to empathise.

There are certain lines from this novel which I need to write down and keep - because they simply depict heartache and grief ("hours hollowing out ahead"), and the confusion of mental illness ("feeling homesick for herself") so beautifully perfectly.

At times it brought to mind Lionel Shriver's "We Need to Talk about Kevin" and Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys" in terms of assured style and characterisation.

Superb.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm surprised to see so many negative reviews of this book. While many people deemed it "too depressing," I didn't think so at all; to me, it was very real. It's the story of how a teenage daughter's mental illness affects her family. Told from a third-person point of view from each of the four family memebers, the writing is so full of intricate, nearly poetic details that I was saddened to leave these characters. To me, the story's focus was that no relationship is perfect--brother/sister, mother/daughter, husband/wife--and there are always things left unsaid. Things fall apart, and sometimes they come back together, but really it's what happens in between that's interesting. And Noel does a fantastic job of examining those intricacies. Highly recommended.

[Recynd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family relationships; crazy sibs...what's not to like?

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have worked in mental health for over 20 years and am currently working as a social worker inpatient. I am also diagnosed with depression and have been on the gamut of meds since I was 14 (43 now). While my depression tends to be more on the dysthymic side, I remember thinking the author was definitely a family member or intimate observer of someone with MI. (though the manic episodes seem over the top from what I have experienced or what we know as very rarely bi polar is the euphoric type and way more of the irritable type). The weight gain from psychotropics, the loss of identity, the oppressive and overbearing family and their feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, the loss of dreams and hope is all captured so well. The writing is honest and raw and you feel the writer has observed this firsthand. A beautiful portrait of a crumbling family in which the blame lies on the MI of the daughter, which is the scapegoat. Complex and multi layered novel.

[Blaire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to like this book better than I did. The subject is manic depression and the effect on a family when the daughter falls victim to it. I'm sure it is well-researched and a realistic depiction from the point of view of the person affected. The main character, Angie, was pretty well drawn, I thought. My problem with the book is that I found her family members and other supporting characters to be flat and uninteresting. Their circumstances changed over the course of the book, but they didn't seem to undergo and real internal change in understanding. I also found the book to be much too long.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another random buy at Barnes & Noble. It starts out light enough, but quickly dives into the depths of despair. It’s the story of a 17-year-old girl who comes apart at the seams and is eventually diagnosed as highly bipolar with suggested schizophrenic tendencies. The story revolves around her and her family, and what her disorders do to their relationships. It’s always dark, always depressing, and while well-written and fairly engaging, I just wanted it to be over with so I could move on to something happier.

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out with such great promise. I even commented to some one that it made me feel the overwhelming sense of mania with the words rushing and colliding to get out. But then it started to drag a little and it took me a while to finish. It wasn't a book I'd stay up all night to read. Plus, it was an advance reading copy and uncorrected proof marked nit for resale (I guess that is why it was on clearance). There were a lot of spelling errors that stopped the flow if writing. Since I own it, I corrected them in ink (gasp!).

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book quite compelling at times, but wasn't that impressed with the story overall. The book centers on a family and the ramifications they face when the daughter, Angela, becomes mentally ill. Some of the passages are quite interesting, but overall, the story seemed flat.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I'm not sure why I actually finished this book... maybe because I had nothing else to read?? Anyways, I was not a fan of the writing style, and the plot (which could have been a great one) of how a family deals with mental illness did not do anything for me.

[Judy Mann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bored out of my mind here. Lifeless.Dull. You'd think a book about someone who over reacts to everything would at least be INTERESTING.Not a chance.Over written - and dull as dishwater. I'm packing it in.JM

[Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel about how a teenage girl struggles with her mental illness (bipolar) and the effects it has on her family as well as her hopes and dreams for a sane life.

[Erin Lindsay McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a lovely novel.

[Nicole]

I can't rate this book because I hated it too much to give it a good rating, but it's too good for me to give it a bad rating.

Overall, the writing is fine - good, even - and same with the characters. The portrayals of mental illness are realistic. It checks most of the boxes of a good book. But I hated it for three reasons, one of which is analytical and two of which are personal.

1. It was boring. This is one of the cardinal sins of a book, IMO. Even though the writing made me feel the things that the characters were feeling and it packed an emotional punch, I still didn't actually care about any of the characters or what happened to them. I just wanted it to be over. Not a lot happens in the book; it's mostly showing every day life for these people, so there's not a lot of plot to start with. And since I didn't care about the characters, there was really nothing motivating me to keep going.

2. This is possibly the bleakest book I have ever read. And as I mentioned, the writing is good enough to make me feel what the characters were feeling. So the entire time I was reading it, I just felt miserable and hopeless. There was nothing hopeful or uplifting about it.

3. Mildly spoilery... The infidelity really bothered me. Initially it was because I felt like the book was normalizing infidelity, although not glorifying it. In the end, I'm not sure I still think that it was normalized, but I still found it unpleasant and disturbing to read. Being inside the mind of someone who's cheating made me feel icky, in part because the writing was good enough to convey it so clearly.

On the whole, I finished it out of a feeling of obligation, but I really just wanted it to be over starting from about page 18.

[Brooke Vanderheyden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Katharine’s writing style for the most part. She captured the characters and their individual personalities exceptionally well. It was a nice change of pace reading a fictional book on a girl, Angie, who struggles with mental illness (bipolar) and seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly of her story as well as how it affects her family dynamic as a whole. It was a touching, relatable, and heartwarming as well as heart wrenching story. I loved the honesty and details that went into the personal story of Angie regarding her bipolar disorder. I was rooting individually for each member of the family to have a positive outcome of their life, given the choices they made, but Katharine wrote in a way that didn’t sugar coat or didn’t tie everything up with a bow. I would have loved to keep reading further into the future of the Voorster family to see if everyone ended up content but that would have been more far fetched. The only complaint I had with this book is that I wish there weren’t so many gaps between what happened from one chapter to the next; it jumped a little too much. Overall, this book was well done and I recommend all people, whether you have or don’t have a mental illness, to read this book for a relatable insight.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

COOL!! Everyone is characterized so well, and even though there are so many characters, all of them felt complex and unique. I loved the relationship between Pieter and Jordana, how Jordana's confidence and keen eye helps Pieter process the world. Even though Pieter is much older and this makes their relationship asymmetrical, his indecision and passivity give Jordana power over him. The way Katharine Noel writes romantic relationships is so cool!! I love how she includes so many different relationship dynamics and contrasts them in ways that are surprising and reveal things about the characters (like Khamisa and Kristen and Wendy, or Ben and Pieter)! And how each person kind of has their archetype (like Wendy as the studious and polite rule-follower) but also has desires that break out of the qualities we assign to them.

I've never heard someone describe noses as having wings, but I kind of love it. And Wendy's politeness being described as so severe that it bends backward into almost rudeness (it sounded better in the book)!! I love Wendy!! Although I found it confusing that the first time we meet her, it says Luke was "going to Wendy's" and I was totally expecting the next scene to be chicken nuggets or something.

[Sumedha · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is used to and enjoys polishing off a book a day, this book was so wildly different - rich, heavy, and full of things that make you put the book down and think, reflect.

This book focused on Bipolar Disorder (BPD) and how it impacted a typical, All-American family: A father, a mother, a daughter, and a son. It did such a great job at illustrating in painful detail how devastating this condition can be not just to people having it but their friends, family, romantic partners, colleagues, acquaintances, employers, and even strangers.

There was no climax to build up to, no mystery to be solved; it was just like a passive observer writing down what they saw in the lives of these 4 people. There was a sense of nostalgia and sentiment throughout, and yet also hope and joy in short spurts.

A really well done novel!

[Addie BookCrazyBlogger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a heart breaking description of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the mid to late 90’s. A time when mental health disorders weren’t understood and patients were feared, this book opens up with Angie, a dedicated swimmer in high school. At a swim meet, during a manic high, she tries to drown herself while under the manic idea that she can breathe underwater. It follows her and her dysfunctional family throughout 6 years while she struggles to get her disorder under medicated control. What I love about this novel is that it doesn’t just focus on Angie but it focuses on how hard it was on her family as well.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed almost everything about this wrenching account of a family when its older child, Angie, first suffers a psychotic break and the ensuing years of her mental illness. The only thing I found curious was how unmoored from a specific time it was. It's clear that it's not taking place in 2006, when the novel was published (no cell phones, for instance), but I was never sure if this was meant to be the 80s, the 90s, when?

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as part of an annotation project with my book club.
Mental health effects everyone.
Angie was the plot of this book.
How her diagnosis effects not only herself but all the people she is associated with.
The multiple POVs were nice, but I wish we had spent more time with Angie.
Moral of the story: EVERYONE needs therapy.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting read chronicling mental illness and the way it can break apart a family yet bring them back together. You could feel the depths of emotions that each member of the family was experiencing.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt

Easy to love these characters for their brokenness and imperfection. Theyre stuck in the past as the present slips away. Not understanding they got what they were seeking. When others change we can't base ourselves on who the other was. Only who we and they are now

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a more serious book for a more adult audience. This book is about a girl named Angie who attempts suicide through drowning on multiple occasions. As she becomes more and more manic, she is in and out of psych wards and group homes, and nothing seems to be working for her. This book demonstrates the pull on Angie's parents as well as her brother, and how her condition is affecting their lives. Her brother, Luke, seems to care about her more than anyone, and becomes a good friend as he fights with Angie through her mental illness.

This book was interesting, but very slow-paced. I enjoyed the main character, Angie, and Luke was interesting too, but there was a lot of back story and details about the parents that I, as a reader, just did not care about that much and did not involve Angie directly, but did lead into where the family ends up in the end. I wouldn't recommend this book to just anyone, rather, I would suggest this book for people 14-18+ who are either going through a similar experience like Angie, or who have a friend or family member who are experiencing and going through a similar experience, because these kinds of things can often be misunderstood and hard to understand; you never know what is going on in someone's head, or what their life may be like, but the best thing to do is find a way of accepting and understanding, in the way that this book demonstrates.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the way the family dynamics were written

[Tanis Buckton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Definitely gives the reader an insight to mental illness and how it affects everyone - not just the person who is afflicted. I found this book hard to put down.

[Helen Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cannot remember thing one. Really liked the title. The rest must have been a major disappointment.

[Susan]

Library free shelf Dec. 2019

[Hihi1234 · Rating 5 out of 5]

good job