Flame Vine: His Voices

by Charles Porter

Charlie Porter's prequel to the award-winning, Shallcross (2014), Flame Vine is a deep dive into living with the chaos of hearing voices and the search for safe places to shelter from the storm.

A tightly-woven tale with themes of self-erasure, fear, hallucination and the joys in between, Flame Vine carries the reader through the life of Aubrey Shallcross which happens to be punctuated by schizophrenic episodes shared by Triple Suiter and Amper Sand, the voices in Aubrey's head.

In a masterful way Porter transports the reader into the world of voice hearers, introducing us to the good voices -- and the bad -- to self-medication through addiction, and acting out on impulses.

The condition of hearing voices is not always pathological, and many voice hearers do not come forward or tell anyone for fear of being discriminated against. This is not a story about paranormal powers, nor is it fantasy or magic realism. This fictional piece is taken from the real world, the scientific world, and South Florida's cultural landscape, except Porter's theory about slippers-voices one hears in their head that live on the neuronal roads and in the vast, unknown spandrels of the brain. The reader does not have to believe in slippers, but the author does.

338 pages, Paperback

Published June 12, 2017

About the author

Charles Porter was born in 1944 and grew up in Stuart, Florida, on the St. Lucie River. The family home was the same old wooden house in which his father was born. He went to work in his father's lumber yard following his father's untimely death in 1963. In 1988, he sold the lumber company and pursued his interested in the sport of dressage, an Olympic equestrian discipline. He now devotes much of his time to the schooling, coaching, buying and selling of imported horses. He continues to write poetry and music, but in 2012 turned to prose. Shallcross: The Blindspot Cathedral, won Kirkus Best Book of 2014 award. In 2017 he published Flame Vine: His Voices, to critical acclaim, and in 2020 he published, Shallcross: Animal Slippers and won Best Books of 2020 from Kirkus again. Porter lives in Loxahatchee, Florida and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He has one son, Michael, who is a circus performer and lives in Las Vegas.

Reviews

[GrnEyed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flame Vine by Charles Porter gave a greater insight into Aubrey Shallcross as an individual. We learn about him from the early age of eight and follow him into his forties. Charles Porter tells us all about his friends, and we get a bit of a picture into his moles, which his grandmother considered his angels. His largest mole, under his arm, is Triple Suiter, his most impressive of his angel moles. Triple Suiter is also one of the most vocal of all of the voices in Aubrey’s head, at least from my perspective.
There was almost an extremely dark and hard to read element to the book which revolved around Sonny and the killings. There were passages that I found hard to stomach and honestly did not understand the relevance to the book. Perhaps that was another insight into mental illness. I’m not entirely sure. I’m just not typically a big fan of what I consider unnecessary violence. The passages related to Sonny committing murder were a bit too much for me.
As a whole I felt this was a rather enlightening and telling book. It showed how someone with multiple voices in his head still had the ability to be a functioning member of society, even if he wasn’t the most “normal” person around. Like I mentioned after reading Porter’s other book, Shallcross, these are books that need to be read more than once to fully appreciate everything contained within their pages. If you are looking for an incredible read that is eye-opening and a tad on the dark/disturbing side, this is the book for you.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily doing this review.

Overall I found the book depressing. The story was interesting and good. I liked the very different way the 'voices' the individuals with schizophrenia hear was portrayed. It was an interesting review of American history and the way the common person experienced it. Love, life, loss.

[Kerry-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book truly fascinated me, I was hooked and in some parts I was crying, a couple I laughed (but didn't feel right for doing so, but mostly I was just desperately hoping that someone could do something to help
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

[Grayson Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be depressing overall, despite finding the story interesting and good. I particularly appreciated the unique portrayal of the 'voices' that individuals with schizophrenia hear. The book also provided an interesting review of American history and the way in which the common person experienced it