The Order of Things

by Lynne Hinton

An out of sorts librarian finds support and friendship in the most unlikely place—a new novel from the national bestselling author of Friendship Cake



Andreas Jay Hackett is a university librarian known for her love of keeping things organized. But one summer, she finds herself falling away from a sense of well being, depressed, “out of order.” Her work doesn’t give her pleasure, her friends worry about her, and her own voice begins to frighten her. Therapy, pills and doctors visits don’t help, so Andreas checks herself into a psychiatric facility. There, she finds herself in a room next door to a prison inmate who has also been hospitalized. As she talks with her new neighbor, Andreas begins to come out of her despair--ultimately finding the healing she needs through a friendship that develops in the darkest of circumstances, and despite boundaries of race, gender, education, and age.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2009

About the author

Lynne Hinton is the pastor of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The author of numerous novels including Friendship Cake, Hope Springs, Forever Friends, Christmas Cake, and Wedding Cake, she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little gem of a book. The story of a woman who seems to have everything in her life in order, but who finds herself falling into a hole and not knowing how to get out. She has had episodes of depression before, but this time she checks herself into a psychiatric facility, for as long as her insurance will cover (2 weeks). On her last night, she has a conversation with an unlikely person. They are in separate rooms and talking through walls. They talk all night, and she is able to break free of some haunting memories and deep pain. That conversation changed her life for the better, although the book ends with some unsolved mysteries.

[LInda L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book which explores mental illness, treatments, in-patient facilities, and the things which cause relapses. The librarian who needs help tries various aids, but ends up in a facility for 2 weeks which is what her insurance pays for. She tells her life story through a heat vent to a patient in the next room and this seems to be the thing which helps her the most. As it happens, that patient is a convict, who has attempted suicide. In return for his listening to her, he tells her HIS life story. Needless to say, they are very different, but both fairly awful. Beautifully written, as are all Lynne Hinton's books.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book, but I also thought there were a few tiny holes left out. But it was already finding me skimming a couple of middle pages, just trying to see poor Any saved from her deep depression. Her help does come from an unlikely hero talking to her through the walls and breaking her barriers. Still I wonder was this enough to truly save her? In real life depression isn't always due to suppressed memories.

[Mary LaBar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. So original and an insight into mental illness, reality, and healing. The dialogue between a women who committed herself to a psychiatric ward and a convict transferred to the same facility following his suicide attempt is unprecedented and miraculous event. It leaves lots of questions and mysterious suppositions.

[Debbie Rhines · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Easy/quick read about a girl and prison inmate in a psych hospital and the night they had together that changed the path of her (maybe his) life. Would love to talk about in a book club meeting. Would highly recommend.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was left wondering some things at the end....
A good read.

[Christel Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Different from other books I’ve read by her. She is a good storyteller.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. loved. this. book!!! read it in 2 hours!

[Thea Marlowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only got through a couple chapters, about crippling depression, too sad!

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, picked up at my library book sale, required "speed reading" and even then a little more than half way through I gave up and read the last chapter. But it says something for the book that I wanted to know how it ended for Andy, the main character who suffered with depression. She claims to have known depression since she was three years old. Seems a stretch, but we learn about her dysfunctional childhood in a long, meandering conversation she has with a fellow patient at a mental hospital she has admitted herself to as an adult. The idea is that the professional therapists and psychologists were not talented enough or cared enough to help her find the root of her pain. Rather an unexpected conversation with an unlikely fellow patient helps her re-visit the pain from her childhood and find healing. And it ends well enough for Andy.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Andreas is a thirty-something librarian at a college. Throughout her life, she has had several severe bouts of depression. She has fallen into one of these bouts again but nothing is working to help her fight it, including therapy. When it begins interfering with her life, and her coworkers begin to complain about her work, she decides to check into Holly Pines, a mental hospital. While she is there, a prison inmate, Lathin, is checked in and placed in the room next to hers. The majority of this story takes place during one night where they stay up for hours talking through the vents in their rooms about life, their childhoods, and the events that occurred in their life that changed them.

I finished up The Order of Things by Lynne Hinton a couple of days ago, but was not excited enough about the book to jump right into reviewing it. I found this book to be pretty dull and uneventful. There is not much plot, story, or action. Though the idea is a decent one, the story was just not as well executed as I’d have liked to see. The characters are just too unrealistic and it’s hard to care about them or get to know them. I understand that the beauty of fiction is that you can make it as fantastical and magical as you’d like it to be, but in this book, the author seems to want them to be realistic characters, which they are just not.

I wouldn’t say this book was unenjoyable; it has its moments, but it’s just not great. It’s only okay. Some of the lessons it strives to teach are good ones, but nothing too wonderful, touching, or unique.

I won’t be recommending this book to people, but I also wouldn’t strongly advise against anyone reading it either. For me, there was just not enough happening in the story to make it interesting or intriguing.

[Courtney Durrant Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6 stars
I liked this book, because it explores the mind of someone with depression/mental illness.
It wasn’t a life changing book. It was simple and straight to the point - which I liked.
It was a nice read about self healing/talking through your issues and I liked it since that is something I tend to do.

Does everyone need to read this book? Nope.
Am I glad I read it? Yup.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly good book about a librarian who suffers from Chronic depression and ends up committing herself to a sanitarium. While there she strikes up a conversation with her next door patient neighbor who is a convicted murderer.they talk through the ventilation system. They talk for several nights about their lives. Lathin, the murderer, finally gets Andreas to open up about the tradegy in her life that sunk her in to deep depression: the drowning of her Cousin PeeDee when they were 13 years old.

One day she wakes up in her room. The attendants tell her that her time with them is over. She asks about the guy next door, but everyone denies that there was ever anyone there. Andreas has to decide if there ever was anyone there or if she dreamed it all up. Regardless, she feels more her self that she ever has. She leaves the sanitarium and takes up her life with goals and objectives to accomplish.

This was a fairly good book about moving on with your life.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting and original premise-this book centers on a young librarian with a troubled past who become institutionalized with depression and connects during a late night conversation with the prisoner in the adjoining room. The beginning of the book was bleak and slow but the end was pretty interesting. There were some nuggets of wisdom here and there about redemption, relationships and forgiveness but I think the book was a bit superficial and could have been so much richer to me if felt unfinished. Like a draft.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a moving story of emotional and mental healing as a young woman faces her fears and past. The main character was a university librarian who spent her life organizing and keeping life controlled. She begins to see her life falling apart and becomes very depressed only to find herself in a mental hospital, unable to get to the root of her depression. Through an unusual event, she finds herself unravelling the difficult memories.
It was a touching and surprising story. All of the Lynne Hinton novels I have read so far as very moving as they deal with real life.

[Ellen Marchessault · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so. I picked it up because the main character is a librarian and because the chapter headings are Dewey decimal numbers. But I wasn't particularly taken with either the author's style, the plot, or the characters. Andy (the librarian [nickname for Andreas, as in the fault]) suffers from depression and checks herself into a mental hospital. The process of her recovery is not typical, to say the least.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

2/3 of this book is a conversation between two patients at a psychiatric hospital. One is a librarian, the other is a convict. Their conversation hits on such topics as family, food, rain, escape, among other things. I could not put this book down. I loved it, although the ending left me hanging a bit. But maybe that's a good thing.

[Malissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. A lady checks herself into a psych hospital and befriends the prisoner/patient in the room next to her. In the end their stories help each other. The writing was great and the little details that are sprinkled in that allow the reader to get to the know characters are great.

[Amy Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a moving story about an unlikely friendship that develops in a mental institution. The relationship is insightful to both of them and they both teach each other life lessons. It was a short read and is basically one long conversation between these two characters. I thought it could have been more developed and it left me with many questions.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I finished it was because the story was very captivating. The whole introduction of the main character made her seem very unrealistic. Maybe it's just because I'm a librarian and the main character is supposed to be one, but there was some kind of disconnect there that bothered me.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all the other books this author has written so when I found this book having to do with keeping things organized, psychiatry and a prison inmate...well I couldn't resist! It's a very quick, entertaining & endearing read.

[Amanda Ishtayeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thinking toward the end of the book how depressing this was and that I would have to pick something light for my next book. The last chapter, however is a redeemer. It made me smile and sigh with relief. I enjoyed this book about mental illness and letting go of secrets and regrets.

[Sonya Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I felt too much of the main plot was jammed into "one night" of Andy's life. It felt a little rushed, but I liked it still. Lynne Hinton is a fantastic speaker though and I am so glad to have met her and have gotten my book signed.

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda boring. Eve picked it for me because it had a pretty butterfly on it.

[Juliana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is good.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was a bit slow, but it picked up toward the middle...unfortunately, I was disappointed by the ending. A bit too pat for my taste.

[Nancy Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't put this book down. Very compelling situation. The main character was very sympathetic. Interesting setting. Did not think the ending was "surprising" as I had read in reviews.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I can't get enough of the psych hospital. This was ok - unrealistic, but a decent and quick read.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

good enough of a read...very slow starting, but once dialogue starts it picks up. ending was wrapped up a bit too neatly.

[Trudy Somers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about a librarian (go figure)!