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The Blue Window
From the Orange Prize–winning author of A Crime in the Neighborhood comes a “sharply witty” and “impeccably written” ( Star Tribune , Minneapolis) novel featuring a therapist attempting to unlock the most difficult cases of her life—those of her son and of her mother.
Anyone who’s ever had trouble persuading a teenager or an elderly parent to “open up” will recognize Lorna’s dilemma during the three days she finds herself alone in a remote lakeside cottage with her mutely miserable son and her impenetrable mother. Despite her training as a clinical social worker, and her arsenal of therapeutic techniques, she’s resisted at every turn as she tries to understand what’s made the two people most important to her go silent.
Though silence has always marked Lorna’s family. Her father was deaf. Her mother, Marika, abandoned Lorna and her brother when they were children. No explanation was ever offered. Nor why Marika resurfaced eighteen years ago to invite Lorna and her infant son, Adam, to Vermont for a strained reunion. A relationship, of sorts, has followed—an annual Thanksgiving visit, during which Marika sits taciturnly among the guests at Lorna’s table, agreeing only to “be seen to exist.”
But now it’s Adam who won’t talk. Home from college and suffering over something he won’t disclose, he’s so depressed that he refers to himself as “A” for “Anti-Matter.” So, when she’s summoned to Vermont because Marika has had a fall, Lorna sees an opportunity to get Adam out of the house and maybe also a chance to finally connect with her mother. What she never anticipated was that grandson and grandmother would form a bond, and leave her out of it.
How do you care for people you can’t understand, and who don’t want to be understood?
Suspenseful, poignantly funny, and beautifully incisive, The Blue Window explores the ways people misperceive each other, and how secrets and silence, wielded and guarded, exert their power over families—and what luminous, frightening, and tender possibilities might come forth, once those secrets are challenged.
“Suzanne Berne is an elegant, psychologically astute novelist” (Tom Perrotta), whose new book reveals what happens to people who hide from themselves, and the act of imagination it takes to find them.
Anyone who’s ever had trouble persuading a teenager or an elderly parent to “open up” will recognize Lorna’s dilemma during the three days she finds herself alone in a remote lakeside cottage with her mutely miserable son and her impenetrable mother. Despite her training as a clinical social worker, and her arsenal of therapeutic techniques, she’s resisted at every turn as she tries to understand what’s made the two people most important to her go silent.
Though silence has always marked Lorna’s family. Her father was deaf. Her mother, Marika, abandoned Lorna and her brother when they were children. No explanation was ever offered. Nor why Marika resurfaced eighteen years ago to invite Lorna and her infant son, Adam, to Vermont for a strained reunion. A relationship, of sorts, has followed—an annual Thanksgiving visit, during which Marika sits taciturnly among the guests at Lorna’s table, agreeing only to “be seen to exist.”
But now it’s Adam who won’t talk. Home from college and suffering over something he won’t disclose, he’s so depressed that he refers to himself as “A” for “Anti-Matter.” So, when she’s summoned to Vermont because Marika has had a fall, Lorna sees an opportunity to get Adam out of the house and maybe also a chance to finally connect with her mother. What she never anticipated was that grandson and grandmother would form a bond, and leave her out of it.
How do you care for people you can’t understand, and who don’t want to be understood?
Suspenseful, poignantly funny, and beautifully incisive, The Blue Window explores the ways people misperceive each other, and how secrets and silence, wielded and guarded, exert their power over families—and what luminous, frightening, and tender possibilities might come forth, once those secrets are challenged.
“Suzanne Berne is an elegant, psychologically astute novelist” (Tom Perrotta), whose new book reveals what happens to people who hide from themselves, and the act of imagination it takes to find them.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published January 10, 2023
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9944 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
December 14, 2022
Interesting story of a dysfunctional family, but far too many unanswered questions at the end.
October 31, 2022
I will probably remember this book for a while, as there were so many positive things happening while I was in the process of reading it. And I wanted to like this book but I still have so many questions. What ended up happening with Adam? What happened with Marika? I wanted more details of her life from escaping the Nazi occupation to getting to the United States, why she left her family, or really any information on her thought process once here. I feel like we didn’t get any of that. I felt like the entire book was leading up to answers, but we certainly don’t get them. There are some insightful epiphanies by Lorna, but it left so much to be desired. There were so many story lines going on that each one didn’t get the attention they deserved. I wanted to know Marika. I wanted to know more about Lorna and Roger, I wanted to know more about Adam. I want, I want, I wanted. It felt like we were tiptoeing to a destination to which we did not arrive. The glimpses into the past provided much needed background for each character, they were insightful and well written, but did not occur often enough for us to piece together the story. I hate writing reviews like this. I just have so many unanswered questions.
November 8, 2022
This is the story of a therapist, her teenage son and her mothers. All complicated relationships with secrets. I found the style hard to read, too detached and intellectual in a way that didn't work for me.. I pushed through it but it wasn't as good as I had hoped, nor as resolved
January 19, 2023
I'll admit that after reading the first chapter of this novel I was contemplating pulling out my hair. That chapter consisted mostly of a troubled, withdrawn, and deeply traumatized young man who views the world around him in an esoteric way. He is trying to punish himself for an incident of which we, as the reader knows nothing. He refers to himself and his parents as letters. He is A, his mother is X, his father is Y, etc. I found the beginning of this book so bizarre that I almost packed it in. What a mistake that would have been!
Once the mother, son, and aging dog began their road trip to rural Vermont, my interest was piqued and from then on I was fully engaged in the novel.
The grandmother, Marika was a memorable character. Her story was told via brief flashbacks to her childhood in Amsterdam during the German occupation in WWII.
The writing was skilled and eloquent. The setting was well-conceived and very realistic. The narrative spoke to familial dysfunction, buried traumas, shame, and family secrets. Though the blurb states that this book was infused with suspense, I did not find it so. It was a thoughtful, observant, and multi-layered work of literary fiction. Recommended.
Once the mother, son, and aging dog began their road trip to rural Vermont, my interest was piqued and from then on I was fully engaged in the novel.
The grandmother, Marika was a memorable character. Her story was told via brief flashbacks to her childhood in Amsterdam during the German occupation in WWII.
The writing was skilled and eloquent. The setting was well-conceived and very realistic. The narrative spoke to familial dysfunction, buried traumas, shame, and family secrets. Though the blurb states that this book was infused with suspense, I did not find it so. It was a thoughtful, observant, and multi-layered work of literary fiction. Recommended.
February 11, 2023
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for accepting my request to read and review The Blue Window.
Published: 01/10/2023
There is a market for this book. The characters are too lifelike not to be interesting for some.
This is a miss for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't like any of the characters. My thinking prevented me from even caring.
The story jumps back and forth to WWII where the grandmother was quite active, simultaneously she is seeing her daughter for the first time in twenty years as an adult with an adult son. I had problems with the dialogue between the three, their interactions didn't fit my processes. The combination of relationships was off, creepy.
I was disappointed and surprised the author chose to incorporate profanity.
Published: 01/10/2023
There is a market for this book. The characters are too lifelike not to be interesting for some.
This is a miss for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't like any of the characters. My thinking prevented me from even caring.
The story jumps back and forth to WWII where the grandmother was quite active, simultaneously she is seeing her daughter for the first time in twenty years as an adult with an adult son. I had problems with the dialogue between the three, their interactions didn't fit my processes. The combination of relationships was off, creepy.
I was disappointed and surprised the author chose to incorporate profanity.
January 7, 2023
A beautifully written, psychologically intricate book about the secrets people keep, even from themselves. The past is everywhere but also nowhere in this novel. Berne is a master of both luminous, lush detail—the lake, cabin, water droplets, birds—and thorny, pained emotional restraint and reticence, a very powerful combination.
January 6, 2023
In The Blue Window, we get to know Lorna who is a respected psychotherapist and has a nineteen-year-old son named Adam at college. Lorna’s mother, Marika, is a Nazi occupation of Holland survivor. Marika was abandoned by her family and left with her two children. (Lorna, seven years old, and her brother Wade twelve). now more than two decades later, Lorna tries to make her mother be more involved in her life but their life changes when her son returns home after a mysterious accident and him refusing to talk.
We fall Lorna and her dysfunctional family’s story in this book along with their complicated relationship and secrets. It is a captivating story with secretive and troubled characters that are very real.
The narrative is through all three characters, their plot is too detailed I have to see but I liked the writing style the most.
Do you find stories about dysfunctional families annoying or interesting?
در کتاب پنجره آبی با لورنا که یک روان درمانگر هست و پسری نوزده ساله به نام آدام در کالج دارد, آشنا می شویم. مادر لورنا، ماریکا، بازمانده هلند در اشغال نازی هاست. ماریکا که خانوادش او رو ترد کردند و با دو فرزندش (لورنا هفت ساله و برادرش وید دوازده ساله) همه رو ترک میکنه . اکنون بیش از دو دهه بعد، لورنا سعی می کند مادرش را بیشتر تو زندگی خودش و پسرش داشته باشه ، اما وقتی پسرش پس از یک تصادف مرموز به خانه بازمی گردد و از صحبت کردن امتناع می کند، زندگی آنها تغییر می کند.
ما داستان لورنا و خانواده ناکارآمدش را در این کتاب به همراه رابطه پیچیده و رازهای آنها می خوانیم. این یک داستان گیرا با شخصیت های مخفی و آشفته است که بسیار واقعی هستند.
داستان از زبان هر سه شخصیت روایات میشه ، طرح داستان خیلی مفصل است و به نظرم ی کم زیاد تو جزییات رفته اما سبک نوشتن کتاب رو خیلی دوست داشتم.
We fall Lorna and her dysfunctional family’s story in this book along with their complicated relationship and secrets. It is a captivating story with secretive and troubled characters that are very real.
The narrative is through all three characters, their plot is too detailed I have to see but I liked the writing style the most.
Do you find stories about dysfunctional families annoying or interesting?
در کتاب پنجره آبی با لورنا که یک روان درمانگر هست و پسری نوزده ساله به نام آدام در کالج دارد, آشنا می شویم. مادر لورنا، ماریکا، بازمانده هلند در اشغال نازی هاست. ماریکا که خانوادش او رو ترد کردند و با دو فرزندش (لورنا هفت ساله و برادرش وید دوازده ساله) همه رو ترک میکنه . اکنون بیش از دو دهه بعد، لورنا سعی می کند مادرش را بیشتر تو زندگی خودش و پسرش داشته باشه ، اما وقتی پسرش پس از یک تصادف مرموز به خانه بازمی گردد و از صحبت کردن امتناع می کند، زندگی آنها تغییر می کند.
ما داستان لورنا و خانواده ناکارآمدش را در این کتاب به همراه رابطه پیچیده و رازهای آنها می خوانیم. این یک داستان گیرا با شخصیت های مخفی و آشفته است که بسیار واقعی هستند.
داستان از زبان هر سه شخصیت روایات میشه ، طرح داستان خیلی مفصل است و به نظرم ی کم زیاد تو جزییات رفته اما سبک نوشتن کتاب رو خیلی دوست داشتم.
August 6, 2023
What a pleasant surprise!
I’ll be honest; I wasn’t expecting much from this book. The overall Goodreads rating is meh, so I kept putting it off. Then, finally, I read the first chapter, which frustrated and intrigued me in equal measure.
I switched to the audiobook, narrated by a full cast, thinking I’d push through that way. But, WAIT! By the third chapter, I got it. I was hooked.
This story of family dynamics, of coming of age and growing old, surprised me with depth and complexities. I fell in love with the storytelling style.
But then the ending… It kind of left me hanging. I get it. We were supposed to be left to ponder the outcome. We didn’t need the neat bow. Still, I wanted just a bit more.
Overall, I enjoyed this thought-provoking story, which packs a surprising emotional punch.
*Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free copy.*
I’ll be honest; I wasn’t expecting much from this book. The overall Goodreads rating is meh, so I kept putting it off. Then, finally, I read the first chapter, which frustrated and intrigued me in equal measure.
I switched to the audiobook, narrated by a full cast, thinking I’d push through that way. But, WAIT! By the third chapter, I got it. I was hooked.
This story of family dynamics, of coming of age and growing old, surprised me with depth and complexities. I fell in love with the storytelling style.
But then the ending… It kind of left me hanging. I get it. We were supposed to be left to ponder the outcome. We didn’t need the neat bow. Still, I wanted just a bit more.
Overall, I enjoyed this thought-provoking story, which packs a surprising emotional punch.
*Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free copy.*
January 19, 2023
This book is heartbreaking at its core! Lorna and Roger are divorced but son Adam (known to himself as A) has withdrawn into himself after a horrible incident at college left him melancholy and depressed so he says very little; actually he says nothing unless hard-pressed by Lorna. But when she is called upon to go visit her mother, Marika--who abandoned her two children at an early age--she is somewhat resentful but takes Adam and their dog Freddy. What happens there is also a whirlwind of events that has us wondering how people can live like this and bury secrets so deep inside. There were moments of happiness, but I really wanted more and I think this will haunt me for awhile.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
January 2, 2023
An oddly detached novel about a family of damaged people. Lorna has never gotten over the fact that her mother Marika abandoned the family when she was a child. Marika carries trauma from life under the Nazis. And Adam, Lorna's son, has returned from college depressed and uncommnicative. Lorna, a psychotherapist, sees the need to support her mother when she's injured as an opportunity for all three of them to share and heal. That doesn't happen, in large part because we never really learn their fully stories. The perspective switches between them but they still hide from both one another and themselves. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. I don't need tidy happy endings but so much is unrevealed and resolved that I felt unsatisfied. For fans of literary fiction.
January 10, 2023
Whoa, talk about some dysfunction. And there's Lorna right there in the middle of it all, stuck between her mother Marika, with her lifetime of secrets, and her son Adam, who wants to be called A for Anti-matter. What? Oh, and he's got secrets of his own to deal with. You would think that Lorna, a psychotherapist, should be able to figure out her own family, but in this case the 'patients' are too close and there are too may walls surrounding all of them.
I have to admit, the cover on this book is what first grabbed my attention. I had not heard of this author, or this book before, so it was the cover that did it for me. But I am so glad I chose to read it. This is a story of family, even with all of its dysfunction, triumphing over all. Holding onto secrets has the potential to destroy—ourselves and those all around us—in particular, those whom we love.
I came to love all of the characters but I think probably my favorite was Marika, such a feisty, quirky old woman. And the way she took to her grandson from the beginning was heartwarming. They truly bonded, two outcasts with deep dark secrets.
Pick up The Blue Window and give it a read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am still thinking about these characters. I know they will touch you as well.
I have to admit, the cover on this book is what first grabbed my attention. I had not heard of this author, or this book before, so it was the cover that did it for me. But I am so glad I chose to read it. This is a story of family, even with all of its dysfunction, triumphing over all. Holding onto secrets has the potential to destroy—ourselves and those all around us—in particular, those whom we love.
I came to love all of the characters but I think probably my favorite was Marika, such a feisty, quirky old woman. And the way she took to her grandson from the beginning was heartwarming. They truly bonded, two outcasts with deep dark secrets.
Pick up The Blue Window and give it a read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am still thinking about these characters. I know they will touch you as well.
January 13, 2023
Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this beautifully-written novel by Suzanne Berne - 4 stars!
A family can hold so very many secrets. Lorna, a therapist, is still trying to come to grips with the abandonment she felt when her mother, Marika, left their family when her and her brother were still young. Lorna never knew the reasons for Marika's departure yet when she received a postcard letting her know that Marika was living in nearby Vermont, she traveled there with her young son, Adam, to try and reestablish a relationship. When that didn't work, they had only yearly get-togethers at Thanksgiving from that point. Adam, meanwhile, came home from college and won't talk about what happened there and why he won't go back. So when Marika falls and needs help, Lorna and Adam head out to her cottage on the lake in the hopes of reconnection.
I loved the writing of this story, the atmospheric descriptions of the lake and surroundings. It's a slow novel to sit and be still with, very character-driven full of family secrets, trauma, and hope. The relationship between Marika and Adam is so sweet and changes both of them. However, if you like endings tied neatly in a bow, this is not the book for you. There are as many secrets at the end as there are with these characters themselves, but it was only wanting to spend more time with these people that left me wanting.
A family can hold so very many secrets. Lorna, a therapist, is still trying to come to grips with the abandonment she felt when her mother, Marika, left their family when her and her brother were still young. Lorna never knew the reasons for Marika's departure yet when she received a postcard letting her know that Marika was living in nearby Vermont, she traveled there with her young son, Adam, to try and reestablish a relationship. When that didn't work, they had only yearly get-togethers at Thanksgiving from that point. Adam, meanwhile, came home from college and won't talk about what happened there and why he won't go back. So when Marika falls and needs help, Lorna and Adam head out to her cottage on the lake in the hopes of reconnection.
I loved the writing of this story, the atmospheric descriptions of the lake and surroundings. It's a slow novel to sit and be still with, very character-driven full of family secrets, trauma, and hope. The relationship between Marika and Adam is so sweet and changes both of them. However, if you like endings tied neatly in a bow, this is not the book for you. There are as many secrets at the end as there are with these characters themselves, but it was only wanting to spend more time with these people that left me wanting.
May 11, 2023
The first chapter almost put me off this book, but I am glad I went on reading.
December 31, 2022
Interesting story centering around a dysfunctional family. There are many unanswered questions at the end and I was left hanging. Dislike it when an author does that to me!
July 4, 2024
Early in Suzanne Berne’s troubling family portrait, The Blue Window, Marika tells her daughter that everyone has their “facts.” That idea repeats throughout the novel as Marika, her daughter Lorna, and her grandson Adam, learn and mis-learn more details about each other over a few, tense days at Marika’s Vermont cabin. Only we readers know all the facts about all three...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
December 28, 2022
The Blue Window Suzanne Berne is a highly recommended generational family drama about secrets.
Lorna, a psychotherapist, has a 19 year-old son, Adam and is divorced. She has always had a complicated relationship with her mother, Marika. Marika was a survivor of the Nazi occupation of Holland who also abandoned her family when Lorna was seven and her older brother was twelve. After Adam was born she got a postcard from Marika thirty years after she left. Lorna has tried for two decades to have some sort of relationship with Marika, which has only resulted in her mother spending Thanksgiving day with them.
Adam has abruptly returned from college and is going through some secret turmoil of his own. He is withdrawn, refers to himself as "A" for anti-matter, and is rejecting first person pronouns and names. Lorna has never told Adam about being abandoned by Marika and Adam has not shared what happened to him.
When a neighbor of Marika contacts Lorna to tell her that Marika has hurt her ankle and needs help, Lorna and Adam travel up to her cabin in Vermont. Lorna sees it as an opportunity to tell Adam about her past and perhaps get him to share what happened to him. She also hopes it will help her relationship with her mother.
The Blue Window is a compelling, captivating exploration of closely held secrets in a family and how they can take over your whole life. Berne skillfully scrutinizes how closely held secrets that are not confronted or openly explored can result in stress, resentment, and anger. All three individuals here are troubled and hiding something. The tension builds with the three of them being together and not trying to openly express their obvious issues. When Lorna finally confronts Marika, it opens up a flood of resentment.
The narrative is told through the point-of-view of Lorna, Adam, and Marika. The characters are portrayed as realistic individuals, and there is some real insight into their characters. There will still be questions left in your mind afterward, though. Certainly, there was more information that needed to be shared and so many things that were left unsaid or unexplained.
This is an excellent, well-written novel. I especially enjoyed Berne's descriptions and use of language. Life can be messy and complicated, but so many plot points were left unanswered. Even as some deep insight into their individual thoughts and psyche was shared, I was left wanting more closure at the end. It is still a highly recommended novel, especially for those who enjoy literary fiction.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books via NetGalley
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/1...
Lorna, a psychotherapist, has a 19 year-old son, Adam and is divorced. She has always had a complicated relationship with her mother, Marika. Marika was a survivor of the Nazi occupation of Holland who also abandoned her family when Lorna was seven and her older brother was twelve. After Adam was born she got a postcard from Marika thirty years after she left. Lorna has tried for two decades to have some sort of relationship with Marika, which has only resulted in her mother spending Thanksgiving day with them.
Adam has abruptly returned from college and is going through some secret turmoil of his own. He is withdrawn, refers to himself as "A" for anti-matter, and is rejecting first person pronouns and names. Lorna has never told Adam about being abandoned by Marika and Adam has not shared what happened to him.
When a neighbor of Marika contacts Lorna to tell her that Marika has hurt her ankle and needs help, Lorna and Adam travel up to her cabin in Vermont. Lorna sees it as an opportunity to tell Adam about her past and perhaps get him to share what happened to him. She also hopes it will help her relationship with her mother.
The Blue Window is a compelling, captivating exploration of closely held secrets in a family and how they can take over your whole life. Berne skillfully scrutinizes how closely held secrets that are not confronted or openly explored can result in stress, resentment, and anger. All three individuals here are troubled and hiding something. The tension builds with the three of them being together and not trying to openly express their obvious issues. When Lorna finally confronts Marika, it opens up a flood of resentment.
The narrative is told through the point-of-view of Lorna, Adam, and Marika. The characters are portrayed as realistic individuals, and there is some real insight into their characters. There will still be questions left in your mind afterward, though. Certainly, there was more information that needed to be shared and so many things that were left unsaid or unexplained.
This is an excellent, well-written novel. I especially enjoyed Berne's descriptions and use of language. Life can be messy and complicated, but so many plot points were left unanswered. Even as some deep insight into their individual thoughts and psyche was shared, I was left wanting more closure at the end. It is still a highly recommended novel, especially for those who enjoy literary fiction.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books via NetGalley
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/1...
January 15, 2023
"The Blue Window" was not really the book for me. There were parts of the story I liked, especially Marika's backstory as a girl in Holland during WWII. I also liked the interaction between Adam (Marika's grandson) and Marika once they started to open themselves up too each other as much as they were willing and able, as well as the change in behavior that engenders in Adam.
However, the story starts with Adam home from college after some sort of traumatic event has occurred. He refers to himself as "A" (for anti-matter), refers to others by letters, talks in the passive voice, and is trying to negate the self. That comes across as very obnoxious. When Adam finally reveals what happened at school, it is rather disappointing. He blames the fact that he is a white cisgender male for his behavior, even though it is not a valid explanation, even in this hyper-PC age, for his actions, which were not based on an over-entitled sense of privilege, but rather drug use by a person with no experience using drugs, compounded by being drunk. That does not excuse or justify his behavior, but it does impact the intent behind his actions. Moreover, if events had occurred the way he portrays them, he would have been arrested, faced criminal charges, and been expelled from college, and his behavior would not be a secret from his mother. Lorna, Adam's mother and Marika's daughter, is a psychotherapist and is well-meaning but has very limited self-insight and comes across as rude and abrasive. Much of the time, she is an annoying character.
However, the story starts with Adam home from college after some sort of traumatic event has occurred. He refers to himself as "A" (for anti-matter), refers to others by letters, talks in the passive voice, and is trying to negate the self. That comes across as very obnoxious. When Adam finally reveals what happened at school, it is rather disappointing. He blames the fact that he is a white cisgender male for his behavior, even though it is not a valid explanation, even in this hyper-PC age, for his actions, which were not based on an over-entitled sense of privilege, but rather drug use by a person with no experience using drugs, compounded by being drunk. That does not excuse or justify his behavior, but it does impact the intent behind his actions. Moreover, if events had occurred the way he portrays them, he would have been arrested, faced criminal charges, and been expelled from college, and his behavior would not be a secret from his mother. Lorna, Adam's mother and Marika's daughter, is a psychotherapist and is well-meaning but has very limited self-insight and comes across as rude and abrasive. Much of the time, she is an annoying character.
January 24, 2024
I read this book (in hardback) a year ago, and it still lingers in my mind. Berne is an amazing writer, and she handles even the most difficult details between these three characters with grace and nuance. The bond between Adam and Marika grows so gradually throughout the book that I found myself wondering how it would all play out. And with each chapter, the complications deepened, right up until the very end. And there, moving in and out of that complex relationship between grandson and grandmother, was Lorna. Oh, dear Lorna, carrying her own sometimes muddled intentions and her own form of wartime trauma. Watching the tenuous strands of the mother/daughter drama, I kept hoping/thinking that she would figure out some way to survive, to live out her own life, without severing those strands. As I read and reread this beautiful book, I realized here is a fourth character present, the landscape surrounding that cottage, especially the “milk-blue” lake with its “the mineral scent of fresh water,” and how the sun was “pouring into the lake as if it were an enormous bowl of light.” Oh, yes, that lake is alive, changing and moody and unpredictable as each of the characters. Yet as I read, there was always a place for me to sit, by that blue window, a place of stillness and calm reflection in the midst of all the roiling complications of the world inside and outside the characters’ minds. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
November 12, 2022
Lorna, a psychotherapist, attempts to unlock the hardest cases in her life - those of her mother and her son. What secrets are they keeping?
Lorna's mother, Marika, a survivor of the Holland occupation by the Nazis, abandoned her family - husband, Lorna, and son Wade. Why did she leave so suddenly?
Adam, Lorna's son, withdraws into himself and refuses to tell his mother about an incident that happened in college that sets him on edge and refuses to be called by his name. Wants to be called
just "A".
Now Lorna and Adam are off to Vermont when a neighbor of Marika calls and informs Lorna that her mother has a sprained ankle and needs help. Marika tells Lorna that she's "fine" and doesn't need help. Lorna and son stay to help.
It's very difficult for Lorna to help the 2 people in her life that she loves.. She can't and doesn't understand their difficulties and why they refused to be understood at all.
Lorna, herself, has secrets of her own which she has ignore over the years to unload because she has always helped others and not herself.
Received this ARC copy of The Blue Window from Goodreads for my opinion. It was somewhat difficult at times to understand as it skipped around a lot.
Lorna's mother, Marika, a survivor of the Holland occupation by the Nazis, abandoned her family - husband, Lorna, and son Wade. Why did she leave so suddenly?
Adam, Lorna's son, withdraws into himself and refuses to tell his mother about an incident that happened in college that sets him on edge and refuses to be called by his name. Wants to be called
just "A".
Now Lorna and Adam are off to Vermont when a neighbor of Marika calls and informs Lorna that her mother has a sprained ankle and needs help. Marika tells Lorna that she's "fine" and doesn't need help. Lorna and son stay to help.
It's very difficult for Lorna to help the 2 people in her life that she loves.. She can't and doesn't understand their difficulties and why they refused to be understood at all.
Lorna, herself, has secrets of her own which she has ignore over the years to unload because she has always helped others and not herself.
Received this ARC copy of The Blue Window from Goodreads for my opinion. It was somewhat difficult at times to understand as it skipped around a lot.
November 10, 2022
This is a story about family relationships across generations. It is one of misunderstandings and communication failures. Lorna is the daughter of Marika who abandoned her when she and her brother were young. Marika has been living in a rural part of Vermont and only sees Lorna's family at Thanksgiving. She is remote and often silent. She and Lorna have never talked bout their past. Lorna's teenage son is experiencing some depression and isolation; Lorna is worried about his mental state and invites him to accompany her to Vermont to see Marika who has allegedly hurt her leg. The trip becomes pivotal in the interrelationships of all three main characters. and has them questioning their beliefs and understanding of each other.
I enjoyed the read; however, I think its message could have been conveyed more convincingly, especially at the book's ending. It disappointed me; I was expecting a stronger climax to the story. The author's writing style and use of language are appealing. And I must have missed the reference to The Blue Window because I'm not sure why the book is so titled.
I enjoyed the read; however, I think its message could have been conveyed more convincingly, especially at the book's ending. It disappointed me; I was expecting a stronger climax to the story. The author's writing style and use of language are appealing. And I must have missed the reference to The Blue Window because I'm not sure why the book is so titled.
November 14, 2022
****3.5 stars - round up to 4 for Goodreads**** Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Blue Window is the second book I've read by Suzanne Berne. Her first book, A Crime in the Neighborhood, was a prize-winning story. While I enjoyed The Blue Window, I felt that the pace was a little slow and felt a bit scattered. The story is of Lorna, her son Adam and Lorna's mother, Marika. Marika is the most stubborn type of elderly person - contrary, stubborn, tight-lipped and unaffectionate. Lorna is a psychologist who tries to understand her mother - the same mother who left her and her older brother when they were children. Lorna's son Adam is also very contrary and tight-lipped. When Marika has a fall in her remote cottage, Lorna feels responisible for her care. The story briefly touches on Marika's past during World War II and Adam's decision not to speak in full sentences. While not as compelling as her first book, The Blue Window is an intricately woven tale of a disjointed family.
October 23, 2022
Thank you to netgalley.com for the opportunity to read the ARC of The Blue Window. I found it dreary and meandering. How can we call this a book about the Nazi occupation of Holland and the devastating effects it had on Marika when the book barely touches on her time in Holland and her escape? How did she get to the US? Why did she leave her children? Marika’s past was the reason I chose to read this book, but you won’t find it here.
Lorna, Marika and Adam are so very damaged. Lorna, the therapist, tries to put everyone back together, but you can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed and Lorna knows you shouldn’t analyze your own family. It would also appear she has never worked with a therapist to address her complicated past. Adam finally reveals what has brought him home from college and finds some answers for himself.
There are too many storylines, too much conjecture and a very unsatisfying ending.
Lorna, Marika and Adam are so very damaged. Lorna, the therapist, tries to put everyone back together, but you can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed and Lorna knows you shouldn’t analyze your own family. It would also appear she has never worked with a therapist to address her complicated past. Adam finally reveals what has brought him home from college and finds some answers for himself.
There are too many storylines, too much conjecture and a very unsatisfying ending.
November 6, 2022
Lorne is a therapist struggling with her current relationship with her son. Why can she fix the relationships of others, but not with her son? While in the midst of navigating her relationship with Adam, she receives word that her mother needs assistance after a fall. She travels to help her mother, taking her morose son, Adam with her. Lorne’s relationship with her mother is fraught with drama as her mother left the family home and abandoned Lorne and her brother during their formative years. Why did her mother leave? What happened to make her leave, and before that in her life, to make her struggle so much with motherhood and being a wife? This story will follow the path that Lorne takes to try to understand her relationship with both her son and her mother. This book was an interesting read. Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.
October 14, 2022
The Blue Window is a captivating novel about characters living with traumatic memories. Lorna is the central character, with an aging mother and a son ending his first year in college. Marika abandoned Lorna and her sister when they were very young. The disappearance was always a mystery and seemed to have led Lorna into the field of psychology. Lorna is dealing with Adam, who has returned from college and refuses to talk - about anything.
The three characters wind up in a cabin on Lake Champlain. The complexity of the characters and the way they react to each situation make this story authentic life reading. Events and POV chapters made this book intriguing. I enjoyed the novel immensely.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.
The three characters wind up in a cabin on Lake Champlain. The complexity of the characters and the way they react to each situation make this story authentic life reading. Events and POV chapters made this book intriguing. I enjoyed the novel immensely.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.
October 27, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this book. The basic story was about a divorced woman who is a psychotherapist (with some issues of her own) whose son suffered a traumatic event at college and has shut down from life and won't tell her what happened. Her mother also abandoned the family when she was little for unknown reasons but has recently come back into her life. The story takes place when her mother, now elderly, needs some help and she and her son drive to Vermont to assess the situation and do what they can to help. This journey helps all of them to face their issues and begin their journey toward healing. My only complaint is that it ended too soon. I want to know what happens to them next. Read through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 11, 2022
I put this book down after reading the first chapter and considered not finishing it, but it was received through goodreads contest so I powered on. I am very glad that I did. The story is about three generations, mother, son, and grandmother. The mom is a therapist who has a limited relationship with her mother and cannot figure out how to relate to her son, hence the odd first chapter. Something has happened in the son's life and the first chapter is supposed to give us an insight into his psyche. Over the course of just a few days, we spend time with this little family. Story is unusual, with sound characterization. I will look for her previous book.
October 17, 2023
The Blue Window by Suzanne Berne opens with a neighbor calling to say that Lorna’s mother is hurt and needs help. Lorna hopes her teenage son Adam will drive with her to visit her mother in Vermont. Adam is reeling from a horrible mistake and wants to both torture and negate himself, so he agrees to the journey. Lorna doesn’t expect that her distant son and difficult mother will bond, or that she will be left out of their relationship in this beautiful novel about family, trauma, and memory.
I was honored to interview the author - https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-blue-...
I was honored to interview the author - https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-blue-...
January 30, 2024
This book drew me in on the first page and swept me along to the last -- I read it in two sittings. Berne perfectly captures the self-conscious awkwardness that arise between a woman and her teenage son, as well as between an elderly mother and middle-aged daughter, who are all keeping secrets from one another. The three main characters are deeply flawed but because of Berne's extraordinary prose, you can't help but empathize with them. I highly recommend The Blue Window, which is now available in paperback!
December 15, 2022
Lorna is a psychotherapist, yet is unable to help her son or her mother who each are distant to her and carry their own secrets. Lorna is contacted by her mother’s neighbor informing her that she needs to visit her mother. Lorna and her teenage son are not welcomed when they arrive, though her son and his grandmother do make a connection.
The reader learns tidbits of the secrets but the novel ends with more questions than answers.
The reader learns tidbits of the secrets but the novel ends with more questions than answers.
February 20, 2024
First of all, as a parent of a teenage boy, I really related to the mother and son in this novel. The boy’s point of view was also pretty funny. Once the pair get to the grandmothers house, the narrative becomes almost dream - like. Nothing happens, and then everything happens. Old secrets and traumas resurface, along with some new ones. Things don’t get neatly resolved, but growth occurs. It’s a deeply layered book that I recommend. Thanks to Goodreads for the review copy.
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