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Falling Back to Earth
Eve Spencer had always been grounded--her role as wife and mother, her role in the community, her role as Eve Spencer--all certain, firmly planted in her own mind.
Until the day she remembers who she really is.
And it is not Eve Spencer.
Memories, like glass shards, shred through her mind, dismantling her world as the reality of her past threatens to rip apart her present: the memory of being lost as a child, then found, taken, and forced to play her role, a role she adopted as her own for over thirty years.
Eve's name is Lilli--and she remembers. All the people in whom she trusts tell her she's deluded, yet they all hide something about her, about Lilli, as she becomes more determined to reveal secrets that everyone seem privy to--except her.
Only Orvis Dunn, a jaded, curmudgeonly local attorney believes her, the only person willing to help her excavate her past. As Orvis investigates, Lilli struggles to dig deeper into her own mind--while simultaneously trying to hold onto it. The fissure in her once-grounded world is becoming a chasm: everything and everyone she cares about starts slipping through her fingers, her grip on reality threatening to collapse, as she seeks the truth.
Falling Back to Earth is both a mystery, and a journey of self-discovery; an examination of how we all see truth differently, and how beliefs may blind us. It's a story of loss, grief, love, parenting, and madness; one woman's trek through them all, and her ability to ultimately find solid ground, and redemption, through forgiveness.
Until the day she remembers who she really is.
And it is not Eve Spencer.
Memories, like glass shards, shred through her mind, dismantling her world as the reality of her past threatens to rip apart her present: the memory of being lost as a child, then found, taken, and forced to play her role, a role she adopted as her own for over thirty years.
Eve's name is Lilli--and she remembers. All the people in whom she trusts tell her she's deluded, yet they all hide something about her, about Lilli, as she becomes more determined to reveal secrets that everyone seem privy to--except her.
Only Orvis Dunn, a jaded, curmudgeonly local attorney believes her, the only person willing to help her excavate her past. As Orvis investigates, Lilli struggles to dig deeper into her own mind--while simultaneously trying to hold onto it. The fissure in her once-grounded world is becoming a chasm: everything and everyone she cares about starts slipping through her fingers, her grip on reality threatening to collapse, as she seeks the truth.
Falling Back to Earth is both a mystery, and a journey of self-discovery; an examination of how we all see truth differently, and how beliefs may blind us. It's a story of loss, grief, love, parenting, and madness; one woman's trek through them all, and her ability to ultimately find solid ground, and redemption, through forgiveness.
- GenresFiction
288 pages, ebook
First published September 28, 2010
2 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
J.A. Carter-Winward
19 books118 followersJ.A. Carter-Winward is an award-winning writer, poet, and visual artist living in the mountains of northern Utah and the author of five poetry books, six novels, two short-story collections, and a stage play.
Her most recent publications include Work in Progress: Dialogues & Poems, and If it Stings...that means it's working - a poetry story, available Limited Edition print hardback and Kindle.
Her latest novel, Wade, won Best Literary Fiction novel of 2021 in that category by IndieReader's Discovery Awards.
She's also co-founded a non-profit organization to help raise awareness for the often-overlooked dangers of over 800+ FDA-approved medications on the market today.
blackboxwarn.org
J.A.'s work can be found in various print and online journals, anthologies, and publications.
Check her official Author Page for upcoming releases coming in 2022.
www.jacarterwinward.com
https://www.facebook.com/jacarterwinw...
Her most recent publications include Work in Progress: Dialogues & Poems, and If it Stings...that means it's working - a poetry story, available Limited Edition print hardback and Kindle.
Her latest novel, Wade, won Best Literary Fiction novel of 2021 in that category by IndieReader's Discovery Awards.
She's also co-founded a non-profit organization to help raise awareness for the often-overlooked dangers of over 800+ FDA-approved medications on the market today.
blackboxwarn.org
J.A.'s work can be found in various print and online journals, anthologies, and publications.
Check her official Author Page for upcoming releases coming in 2022.
www.jacarterwinward.com
https://www.facebook.com/jacarterwinw...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 8, 2018
**Caution: spoilers ahead**
When I first finished reading Falling back to Earth, I felt denied a satisfying ending with Lilli. Here I’d spent all this time becoming invested and liking her as a character—I wanted HER to succeed and have the happy ending. I connected with her story, her personality, her pain, not Eve.
After ruminating on it for a bit, I realized what JA has done is brilliant. She was able to make her readers (at least I did) believe in Lilli, who is clearly haunted by mental illness we discover at the ending, and see things from her perspective. Even though Lilli/Eve seemed to have some sort of condition she was dealing with for most of the book, I bought into her reality.
With the Lilli/Eve character, JA has helped us to come as close as we can to experiencing what it’s like to be mentally ill; to believe the sky is red when everyone else believes it’s blue; to have everyone treat you like you’re crazy when you believe you are not.
What made it even more interesting were the metaphors peppered throughout the book, the Eve/Eden allegory, and of course the mystery of her identity that hooked me into the story and kept me guessing.
Ultimately, it was an education for me in what it’s like to have a mental illness. Well done.
When I first finished reading Falling back to Earth, I felt denied a satisfying ending with Lilli. Here I’d spent all this time becoming invested and liking her as a character—I wanted HER to succeed and have the happy ending. I connected with her story, her personality, her pain, not Eve.
After ruminating on it for a bit, I realized what JA has done is brilliant. She was able to make her readers (at least I did) believe in Lilli, who is clearly haunted by mental illness we discover at the ending, and see things from her perspective. Even though Lilli/Eve seemed to have some sort of condition she was dealing with for most of the book, I bought into her reality.
With the Lilli/Eve character, JA has helped us to come as close as we can to experiencing what it’s like to be mentally ill; to believe the sky is red when everyone else believes it’s blue; to have everyone treat you like you’re crazy when you believe you are not.
What made it even more interesting were the metaphors peppered throughout the book, the Eve/Eden allegory, and of course the mystery of her identity that hooked me into the story and kept me guessing.
Ultimately, it was an education for me in what it’s like to have a mental illness. Well done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2018
*I recieved a copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway*
I loved the handwritten note and wax seal stamp from the author in the front of my copy, thank you!
The opening was gripping, and immediately had me interested in the story - both an investment in Eve and the Child.
The novel was truly a mystery, constantly leading me to mistrust new characters and kept me inclined to figure out the truth.
At times it felt repetitive, but the thrill and suspense kept me going.
It tackles issues of mental health and grief, which were intriguing but at times explained poorly.
I loved the handwritten note and wax seal stamp from the author in the front of my copy, thank you!
The opening was gripping, and immediately had me interested in the story - both an investment in Eve and the Child.
The novel was truly a mystery, constantly leading me to mistrust new characters and kept me inclined to figure out the truth.
At times it felt repetitive, but the thrill and suspense kept me going.
It tackles issues of mental health and grief, which were intriguing but at times explained poorly.
January 24, 2018
A capti
February 4, 2018
Great characters, good story, lots of action
January 26, 2018
*I recieved a copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway*
I loved the handwritten note and wax seal stamp from the author in the front of my copy. And I want to give an honest review to say thankyou.
The novel opens with the line "I remember the first time I lost my mind" and I was intrigued. I'm very interested in mental health so I thought this would be an interesting one. The main character, Eve (or "Lilli"), comes out of a shopping centre and, upon seeing a child alone crying in a locked car, calls the police... except it's her child.
Things get messy. Eve doesn't know who she is, or who her two children and husband Ben are. She remembers that she is "Lilli". But who is that? Child protection services and the media get involved. She doesn't feel like she can trust those closest to her, and the professionals she deals with are each rather flawed. I was left guessing who she could trust (and who I could trust as the reader).
This book frustrated me. It seemed repetitious, and often confusing. (I thought it was going to morph into a romance at one point.) But I wanted to know: has she "lost her mind", or is she really Lilli? The plot and building suspense drove me on.
Not sure that it's my kind of read, and I don't think it dealt with the issues of identity, mental health or grief elegantly. The premise had potential, but it didn't quite deliver.
I loved the handwritten note and wax seal stamp from the author in the front of my copy. And I want to give an honest review to say thankyou.
The novel opens with the line "I remember the first time I lost my mind" and I was intrigued. I'm very interested in mental health so I thought this would be an interesting one. The main character, Eve (or "Lilli"), comes out of a shopping centre and, upon seeing a child alone crying in a locked car, calls the police... except it's her child.
Things get messy. Eve doesn't know who she is, or who her two children and husband Ben are. She remembers that she is "Lilli". But who is that? Child protection services and the media get involved. She doesn't feel like she can trust those closest to her, and the professionals she deals with are each rather flawed. I was left guessing who she could trust (and who I could trust as the reader).
This book frustrated me. It seemed repetitious, and often confusing. (I thought it was going to morph into a romance at one point.) But I wanted to know: has she "lost her mind", or is she really Lilli? The plot and building suspense drove me on.
Not sure that it's my kind of read, and I don't think it dealt with the issues of identity, mental health or grief elegantly. The premise had potential, but it didn't quite deliver.
February 24, 2013
Great book !fun read ! If you like Jodi Picoult books you will like this book !
abandoned-dnf
November 1, 2017Well, that was...something.
Even if I wanted to put up through first person and present tense--which is never likely--this story simply isn't going anywhere worth following. There's some nice turns of phrase here and there, but 12% into it, I find myself bored and not even curious about what's going on.
Even if I wanted to put up through first person and present tense--which is never likely--this story simply isn't going anywhere worth following. There's some nice turns of phrase here and there, but 12% into it, I find myself bored and not even curious about what's going on.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews