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Blue Hour
From the Women's Prize-longlisted author of See What I Have Done comes a masterful reworking of the road novel into a portrait of the complex relationship between mothers and daughters.
She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. 'We're going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.'
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband, Leon, and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor's head.
Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.
She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. 'We're going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.'
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband, Leon, and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor's head.
Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 2022
11 people are currently reading
622 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Schmidt
2 books388 followersSarah Schmidt is a Melbourne based writer who happens to work at a public library.
See What I Have Done is her first novel.
Sarah is currently watching:
Nathan for You
A shit ton of YouTube for 'research purposes’
Lady Dynamite (re watch)
Sarah is currently reading:
Cove - Cynan Jones
Last Read:
Hourglass - Dani Shapiro
Things Sarah has burnt this week:
Her face, cheese on toast
Sarah is currently listening to the following podcasts:
The butterfly effect
Ear Hustle
It's Not A Race
The Moth
Criminal
How Did This Get Made
The Allusionist
You Must Remember This
Comedy Bang Bang
Death, Sex & Money
This week's random useless fact:
Sarah eats pasta
Tell us one more thing?
Sarah's least favourite season is summer
See What I Have Done is her first novel.
Sarah is currently watching:
Nathan for You
A shit ton of YouTube for 'research purposes’
Lady Dynamite (re watch)
Sarah is currently reading:
Cove - Cynan Jones
Last Read:
Hourglass - Dani Shapiro
Things Sarah has burnt this week:
Her face, cheese on toast
Sarah is currently listening to the following podcasts:
The butterfly effect
Ear Hustle
It's Not A Race
The Moth
Criminal
How Did This Get Made
The Allusionist
You Must Remember This
Comedy Bang Bang
Death, Sex & Money
This week's random useless fact:
Sarah eats pasta
Tell us one more thing?
Sarah's least favourite season is summer
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
June 22, 2022
I’ve been hesitant to write a review of Blue Hour because I feel sure that whatever I write won’t capture the complexity of this novel, nor the extent to which it really moved me. Schmidt is the master of chilling you right to your bones with the intersection of shocking, almost indescribable trauma and grief and the monotony of the everyday. Blue Hour is a measured, affecting exploration of the ways the trauma of war bleeds into everyday lives and lives on inherited in those that live in its periphery and generations to come. Its protagonists Kitty and Eleanor are windows into the suffocating world of women who live with limited opportunities, trapped by expectation and the absence of choice. It’s a novel in which the horror builds slowly, and because of this the moments where this horror resonates with the reader are inescapable. I was prepared to be impressed when I went into this novel, and I was, but the extent to which I was moved far exceeded my expectations. Blue Hour is the kind of novel I am sad that I will not ever be able to read for the first time again.
April 21, 2023
Reread.
This is a novel about the insidious trauma of post-traumatic stress disorder and the debilitating effects is has on a mother and a daughter both trapped in crippling relationships. Different generations, different wars. Relationships where both husbands have returned broken and damaged mentally.
Kitty met George in 1940, five weeks before he would ship out for World War II. In times of war, love moves fast, couples try to compress a lifetime into weeks, only to separate and never see each other ever again. Then in 1941 George turns up at the hospital Kitty is working at as a nurse and they are married. George has brought the war home with him. At night he screams through constant nightmares. His return takes a terrible toll on Kitty.
1973, Eleanor, Kitty’s daughter, is leaving her husband Leon, unable to take his violence anymore. Leon tried to commit suicide while serving in Vietnam. However, Leon was a monster before Vietnam. Since returning, his violent outbursts and abuse have only strengthened. Eleanor fears for her life, and the life of their daughter.
The narrative flips back and forth in time between the women and we can see how this horrible condition trickles down to the next generation, the source of all the problems. Eleanor is terrified of turning into her mother, determined not to treat her daughter the way she was treated.
Schmidt has written, and the writing is sublime, amazing characters here. Characters that drip with realism. The way she captures the devastating loss of a son, a mother’s despair bordering on madness, is unbelievably sad and yet so beautifully written.
A brilliant literary novel, with an ending that will leave you stunned.
This is a novel about the insidious trauma of post-traumatic stress disorder and the debilitating effects is has on a mother and a daughter both trapped in crippling relationships. Different generations, different wars. Relationships where both husbands have returned broken and damaged mentally.
Kitty met George in 1940, five weeks before he would ship out for World War II. In times of war, love moves fast, couples try to compress a lifetime into weeks, only to separate and never see each other ever again. Then in 1941 George turns up at the hospital Kitty is working at as a nurse and they are married. George has brought the war home with him. At night he screams through constant nightmares. His return takes a terrible toll on Kitty.
1973, Eleanor, Kitty’s daughter, is leaving her husband Leon, unable to take his violence anymore. Leon tried to commit suicide while serving in Vietnam. However, Leon was a monster before Vietnam. Since returning, his violent outbursts and abuse have only strengthened. Eleanor fears for her life, and the life of their daughter.
The narrative flips back and forth in time between the women and we can see how this horrible condition trickles down to the next generation, the source of all the problems. Eleanor is terrified of turning into her mother, determined not to treat her daughter the way she was treated.
Schmidt has written, and the writing is sublime, amazing characters here. Characters that drip with realism. The way she captures the devastating loss of a son, a mother’s despair bordering on madness, is unbelievably sad and yet so beautifully written.
A brilliant literary novel, with an ending that will leave you stunned.
July 14, 2022
I received a gifted advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Random Things Tours.
TRIGGER WARNING: PTSD, Military PTSD, trauma, mental health, suicide, death of a child, abuse, domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault, depression.
Blue Hour is a slow burn, powerfully and raw book about Eleanor and Kitty spanning back and forth from the present into the past and telling the raw tragic story of both women. The book starts with Eleanor leaving her husband and running to the mountain of her childhood with her infant daughter. She constantly checks for lights in her rear view mirror, filled with dread he will come after her. Eleanor has a long drive and begins to recall times in her childhood. Kitty is Eleanor's mother and her story starts after leaving home and training to be a nurse where she meets George. This book is very hard to put into words without giving the story away but this book made me feel so many emotions. I was expecting part of the ending from a vibe I got through the book, however I wasn't expecting the true weight of that part of the story. This book is so powerfully written and I cried my eyes out in the last few chapters. I feel like I've lived as a witness (in person) to these women's pain through their lives it was that well written! I can't stop thinking of this book and won't stop thinking of it for a long time!
TRIGGER WARNING: PTSD, Military PTSD, trauma, mental health, suicide, death of a child, abuse, domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault, depression.
Blue Hour is a slow burn, powerfully and raw book about Eleanor and Kitty spanning back and forth from the present into the past and telling the raw tragic story of both women. The book starts with Eleanor leaving her husband and running to the mountain of her childhood with her infant daughter. She constantly checks for lights in her rear view mirror, filled with dread he will come after her. Eleanor has a long drive and begins to recall times in her childhood. Kitty is Eleanor's mother and her story starts after leaving home and training to be a nurse where she meets George. This book is very hard to put into words without giving the story away but this book made me feel so many emotions. I was expecting part of the ending from a vibe I got through the book, however I wasn't expecting the true weight of that part of the story. This book is so powerfully written and I cried my eyes out in the last few chapters. I feel like I've lived as a witness (in person) to these women's pain through their lives it was that well written! I can't stop thinking of this book and won't stop thinking of it for a long time!
June 21, 2022
Kitty and Eleanor are mother and daughter. Their lives and relationship is shaped and twisted by life’s disappointments, limited options for women, trauma and grief. I missed them when I was away from this book. It’s hard to capture all that this book is. It’s chilling, it’s disturbing at times, it’s moving. It unravels and twists in really interesting ways that hold you to the page. The prose is often fractured and broken much like the relationships. When all hell breaks loose the prose opens up and there is a section of free-flowing spitfire sentences that is particularly effective. Schmidt is very good at creating mood and there is some beautiful nature writing here. BLUE HOUR held me tight and even when I wanted to would not let me look away. The darkness within this book washes over you but the shards of light are luminous.
July 10, 2022
This is one of those books that’s so beautifully written despite the uncomfortable subject matter, in this case trauma from emotional, mental and physical abuse. This book keeps you glued to the pages in some kind of emotional warfare, and by the end of it I was left feeling numb. Numb, but I’m so grateful to have been the prescience of such wonderful writing. It’s always sad to read/see how people that have gone off to war can come back as a completely different person to the one that left. I honestly don’t even know how to describe this book right now. It’s so dark and tragic, and yet there were moments of light scattered throughout.
TW: abuse, trauma, war, rape, child loss. Please look them up before diving into this one.
TW: abuse, trauma, war, rape, child loss. Please look them up before diving into this one.
July 22, 2022
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒.
'𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑤𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.'
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟, 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
I'm actually a little bit lost for words on how to review this book. The book follows Eleanor as she flees her violent marriage, and reflects on her relationship with her mother, Kitty. Both women have marriages with men broken by the horrors of war, and both have pregnancies and daughters that they didn't want.
This is heartbreaking from start to finish. There is no reprieve from the horrors and hardships of trauma, and how this affects relationships, both marital and parental.
There are trigger warnings within for child death, suicide, war, domestic violence, mental health.
The writing was beautiful and gripping, and I found a conflict in wanting to keep reading while also finding it really hard going. I kept wanting to hope, kept wanting Eleanor to escape and fly away like the birds she studies, but the inevitably of destruction follows her.
As a mother, I found this difficult to read, while appreciating the intricacies of the relationships and how trauma is intergenerational and affects the children of those who have experienced it. It's a blistering reflection on war, and how it leaves it's 'survivors'.
'𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑤𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.'
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟, 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
I'm actually a little bit lost for words on how to review this book. The book follows Eleanor as she flees her violent marriage, and reflects on her relationship with her mother, Kitty. Both women have marriages with men broken by the horrors of war, and both have pregnancies and daughters that they didn't want.
This is heartbreaking from start to finish. There is no reprieve from the horrors and hardships of trauma, and how this affects relationships, both marital and parental.
There are trigger warnings within for child death, suicide, war, domestic violence, mental health.
The writing was beautiful and gripping, and I found a conflict in wanting to keep reading while also finding it really hard going. I kept wanting to hope, kept wanting Eleanor to escape and fly away like the birds she studies, but the inevitably of destruction follows her.
As a mother, I found this difficult to read, while appreciating the intricacies of the relationships and how trauma is intergenerational and affects the children of those who have experienced it. It's a blistering reflection on war, and how it leaves it's 'survivors'.
September 17, 2022
I cannot for the life of me understand all of the praise this book’s received. It’s so incredibly disturbing and uncomfortable to read with no moments of light to alleviate the sheer darkness. I adore realism in a book but this way it’s written in this book is crude, dreary and repetitive. I understand the purpose is to envelope you in the world of one who’s domestically abused but oh my lord for 306 pages nothing but dread and despair?? No, not for me.
December 7, 2022
I think I need to sleep on this one for a bit. But currently think it’s a 4.5 star book. Very dark.
December 31, 2022
Okay, so you know when you’re reading a book and it breaks you but in a good way? In a A Little Life way? Well, that’s what happened to me when I was reading Sarah Schmidt’s Blue Hour, her masterful follow-up to the Women’s Prize longlisted See What I Have Done. I’m going to say right off the bat that this is is a brilliant, brilliant book but one that will leave you emotionally numb by its conclusion. Stick with me though and I’ll do my best to explain why, despite the challenging subject matter, you should go out and acquire yourself a copy of Blue Hour.
Spanning a period of 4 decades, Blue Hour follows the stories of a mother, Kitty, and a daughter, Eleanor. On the eve of the Second World War, young nurse Kitty meets handsome soldier George, beginning a love affair that leads to both marriage and trauma. Decades later, Eleanor straps her own infant daughter, Amy, into the back of the car and flees both her husband Leon and a marriage that has been in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Although the two women don’t have the easiest of relationships, they share inherited legacies of war, trauma and grief and, through them, the reader becomes immerse in a suffocating world where, despite times ostensibly changing, women continue to have limited opportunities.
As I mentioned at the outset, Blue Hour is not an easy novel to read. Intergenerational trauma and the psychological impact of war is dealt with head on and readers should be aware of content warnings for physical and emotional abuse, child loss, gaslighting/coercive control, domestic violence, rape, and suicide ideation. My heart was breaking as I read and, by the end of the novel, I felt like I’d been emotionally blindsided.
But (and this is important), whilst Blue Hour is a challenging read in many ways, it is also a novel that allows you to utterly live the lives of it’s characters. And yes, that means experiencing their hurt and their pain and their anger. But it also means experiencing their wonder and passion and joy. And, just like in A Little Life, those little moments of illuminated brilliance make the periods of shadow both more bearable and more profound.
Saying very much more about Blue Hour would, I feel, be pointless. This is a novel that you don’t so much read as experience. It’s characters are not always likeable but they are complex, relatable and multi-faceted. Beautifully written despite its uncomfortable subject matter, it is a novel of love, loss, family, war, grief, hope, anger, and redemption that got under my skin and left me reeling in all the best ways.
NB: This review appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre... as part of the blog tour for the novel. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Spanning a period of 4 decades, Blue Hour follows the stories of a mother, Kitty, and a daughter, Eleanor. On the eve of the Second World War, young nurse Kitty meets handsome soldier George, beginning a love affair that leads to both marriage and trauma. Decades later, Eleanor straps her own infant daughter, Amy, into the back of the car and flees both her husband Leon and a marriage that has been in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Although the two women don’t have the easiest of relationships, they share inherited legacies of war, trauma and grief and, through them, the reader becomes immerse in a suffocating world where, despite times ostensibly changing, women continue to have limited opportunities.
As I mentioned at the outset, Blue Hour is not an easy novel to read. Intergenerational trauma and the psychological impact of war is dealt with head on and readers should be aware of content warnings for physical and emotional abuse, child loss, gaslighting/coercive control, domestic violence, rape, and suicide ideation. My heart was breaking as I read and, by the end of the novel, I felt like I’d been emotionally blindsided.
But (and this is important), whilst Blue Hour is a challenging read in many ways, it is also a novel that allows you to utterly live the lives of it’s characters. And yes, that means experiencing their hurt and their pain and their anger. But it also means experiencing their wonder and passion and joy. And, just like in A Little Life, those little moments of illuminated brilliance make the periods of shadow both more bearable and more profound.
Saying very much more about Blue Hour would, I feel, be pointless. This is a novel that you don’t so much read as experience. It’s characters are not always likeable but they are complex, relatable and multi-faceted. Beautifully written despite its uncomfortable subject matter, it is a novel of love, loss, family, war, grief, hope, anger, and redemption that got under my skin and left me reeling in all the best ways.
NB: This review appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre... as part of the blog tour for the novel. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
August 20, 2022
In shifting timeframes, Blue Hour tells the story of unhappily married Kitty and her unhappily married daughter Eleanor. Kitty's marriage is rocky from the start due to the damage inflicted on her husband George during WW2 and then breaks down irretrievably after a terrible incident.
We meet Eleanor in 1973 as she is strapping her baby daughter into the car and preparing to leave her sleeping, abusive husband. But we don't learn her full story until the end of the book.
This is an unbelievably bleak novel but oh my goodness it stays with you. I kept thinking about this book long after I finished it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it - Kitty is a very hard character to like and there are so many hauntingly bad things that happen. But it's very well written and it certainly has a strong impact on the reader.
We meet Eleanor in 1973 as she is strapping her baby daughter into the car and preparing to leave her sleeping, abusive husband. But we don't learn her full story until the end of the book.
This is an unbelievably bleak novel but oh my goodness it stays with you. I kept thinking about this book long after I finished it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it - Kitty is a very hard character to like and there are so many hauntingly bad things that happen. But it's very well written and it certainly has a strong impact on the reader.
June 29, 2022
Thank you Hachette for sending us a copy to read and review.
Physical and emotional abuse represents the darker side of humanity.
Some people are born nasty while others that are exposed to violent and depraved situations like wars can adopt an abusive streak.
Love and generosity sit at the opposite end of the humanity spectrum.
Mother and daughter, Kitty and Eleanor live a life with similar parallels, one where violence, trauma and parental love is tested to it’s extreme.
Intricate and realistic relationships are show cased while chilling dread brews.
Set across a few time lines the tension and drama escalates as Eleanor flees from her home.
The back story reinforcing the tumultuous life she and her mother endured.
The title of the book is explained towards the end and will leave the reader feeling numb.
I can’t give too much away but I will say I was impressed with the macabre magic of this author and she had me from the start.
The looming darkness is confronting but an empathy shines.
Physical and emotional abuse represents the darker side of humanity.
Some people are born nasty while others that are exposed to violent and depraved situations like wars can adopt an abusive streak.
Love and generosity sit at the opposite end of the humanity spectrum.
Mother and daughter, Kitty and Eleanor live a life with similar parallels, one where violence, trauma and parental love is tested to it’s extreme.
Intricate and realistic relationships are show cased while chilling dread brews.
Set across a few time lines the tension and drama escalates as Eleanor flees from her home.
The back story reinforcing the tumultuous life she and her mother endured.
The title of the book is explained towards the end and will leave the reader feeling numb.
I can’t give too much away but I will say I was impressed with the macabre magic of this author and she had me from the start.
The looming darkness is confronting but an empathy shines.
July 16, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Schmidt and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Blue hour is a raw and heartbreaking story about generational trauma. The POV’s switch between Kitty and her daughter Eleanor. Both women experience extremely traumatic events, of which are described in graphic detail, so I would check trigger warnings for anyone wanting to read this.
It’s written in a beautifully painful way, I felt connected to both women, and the ending absolutely broke me. It’s going to take me a long time to process this book, but I absolutely loved it!
TW:child death, sexual assault, rape, PTSD, suicide attempt, murder, child abuse, domestic abuse, rape, war, medical trauma & grief
Blue hour is a raw and heartbreaking story about generational trauma. The POV’s switch between Kitty and her daughter Eleanor. Both women experience extremely traumatic events, of which are described in graphic detail, so I would check trigger warnings for anyone wanting to read this.
It’s written in a beautifully painful way, I felt connected to both women, and the ending absolutely broke me. It’s going to take me a long time to process this book, but I absolutely loved it!
TW:child death, sexual assault, rape, PTSD, suicide attempt, murder, child abuse, domestic abuse, rape, war, medical trauma & grief
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2022
Oh my goodness! What a haunting tale!
We have Kitty and George's story set in the 1940s onwards and their children Badger and Eleanor.
We then learn of Eleanor's story and Her life with Leon and their daughter Amy.
Both George and Leon are involved in wars (George, World War II and Leon, Vietnam). The author expertly explores how the two men deal with their time in the war and how this has changed them both mentally and physically.
It's also interesting to see how the two women deal with this too and how they respond to tragedy and what life brings them in general.
Absolutely gripping and hauntingly beautiful. A must read.
Some spoilers :
As a sensitivity point this contains mention of war, generational trauma, rape, abuse, child loss and suicidal ideations. If these are triggering to you, it may be best to avoid.
We have Kitty and George's story set in the 1940s onwards and their children Badger and Eleanor.
We then learn of Eleanor's story and Her life with Leon and their daughter Amy.
Both George and Leon are involved in wars (George, World War II and Leon, Vietnam). The author expertly explores how the two men deal with their time in the war and how this has changed them both mentally and physically.
It's also interesting to see how the two women deal with this too and how they respond to tragedy and what life brings them in general.
Absolutely gripping and hauntingly beautiful. A must read.
Some spoilers :
As a sensitivity point this contains mention of war, generational trauma, rape, abuse, child loss and suicidal ideations. If these are triggering to you, it may be best to avoid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2022
This is an incredible dark, moving and heartwrenchingly tragic novel about relationships and trauma. How, despite our intentions to love deeply, grief and trauma can be so destructive that it not only wounds us but those around us. The contrasts between the trauma experienced by the male characters and the female characters was fascinating, yet a the characters no matter what choices they made are unable to move on from the PTSD that blights their families. Many of the characters are not likeable but their journeys are complex and Schmidt writes superbly. This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.
December 20, 2022
This book was so much deeper than I thought it would be from the blurb (and for me the first page which I wasn’t expecting).
I liked that readers experienced two stories in one, I think I preferred Kitty’s ‘story’ though as a book I will reread, I can imagine this will change as both ladies are so complex and interesting.
A fantastic read!
I liked that readers experienced two stories in one, I think I preferred Kitty’s ‘story’ though as a book I will reread, I can imagine this will change as both ladies are so complex and interesting.
A fantastic read!
May 27, 2022
This was an interesting read that I enjoyed. It was well written with a good storyline and well developed characters that were both relatable and interesting and engaged me the whole way through. An enjoyable read.
October 28, 2022
The second consecutive novel I’ve read about the relationship between a mother and daughter (I had just read Kokomo). Kitty’s relationship with Eleanor is complex, but even after learning more of her backstory I still couldn’t get on her side. Eleanor also cops it from her husband Leon, who was vile before he left for the war and even worse when he returned. There are quite a few confronting scenes that really hit you where it hurts.
November 28, 2023
How spectacular this novel by Sarah Schmidt is! Trying to write a review for a book that I still carry along with me in my bag three days after finishing it is difficult. I keep rereading passages and rediscovering new ones. I don't want to reveal too much away and ruin it for you. And yet, there are so many things to write about it. I never cry when I read a story, no matter how sad. But this story? I felt I was as raw as one of the main characters, Eleanore. The story is deeply affecting and confronting and it contains scenes of violence that will shock you. It moves back and forth between the stories of Kitty and her daughter Eleanor at different stages of their lives with "Motherhood" as the central theme, its toxicity, and the damage it causes as it seeps through generations. War is the backdrop to this brutal, honest, and incisive account of grief, trauma, and discontent. It is a memorable, harrowing, gut-wrenching piece of writing and it will challenge all of us, mothers, one way or another.
Schmidt admitted in an interview that a lot of her own experiences were used to create characters and to develop the relationships between them. Yet, she thinks of her novel more as a love letter to her daughter and I agree with that part too. You finish the book and you leave with something. It is impossible not to carry some of it with you afterward. “Weeks went by. I thought there was something broken inside me. Then one day a crow flew above her and she had a big smile on her face. I felt like I’d lifted up outside of my body and I could see the world for what it really was: human and nature and love and all of those big things. {…} I thought, that’s what love is. I realized there was nothing wrong with me. I think I was falling in love with my daughter at that moment.”
Maybe it is because a lot of what she says resonates with my own story, my mother-daughter relationship, something very toxic and damaging I am making sure I do not pass on to my children (especially my daughters) on a daily basis. I’ll leave you with this last quote: "The years of parenting are dangerous, make you believe that you deserve the entirety of your child because they wouldn't exist without you. But Elenerr knows the real danger: the inability to register that the new version of yourself can't exist without them".” This helps me a little bit to shape a different lens on the complex trauma of someone feeling parental love is conditional.
I gave it a 5 stars but if I could give it 10, I would.
Schmidt admitted in an interview that a lot of her own experiences were used to create characters and to develop the relationships between them. Yet, she thinks of her novel more as a love letter to her daughter and I agree with that part too. You finish the book and you leave with something. It is impossible not to carry some of it with you afterward. “Weeks went by. I thought there was something broken inside me. Then one day a crow flew above her and she had a big smile on her face. I felt like I’d lifted up outside of my body and I could see the world for what it really was: human and nature and love and all of those big things. {…} I thought, that’s what love is. I realized there was nothing wrong with me. I think I was falling in love with my daughter at that moment.”
Maybe it is because a lot of what she says resonates with my own story, my mother-daughter relationship, something very toxic and damaging I am making sure I do not pass on to my children (especially my daughters) on a daily basis. I’ll leave you with this last quote: "The years of parenting are dangerous, make you believe that you deserve the entirety of your child because they wouldn't exist without you. But Elenerr knows the real danger: the inability to register that the new version of yourself can't exist without them".” This helps me a little bit to shape a different lens on the complex trauma of someone feeling parental love is conditional.
I gave it a 5 stars but if I could give it 10, I would.
July 19, 2022
TW: Abuse, loss, mental illness
This book is absolutely heartbreaking. From the perspectives of two women, mother and daughter a lifetime of hurt is detailed with the horrific after-effects of war and a lack of belonging that haunts Eleanor.
What's it About?
In the middle of the night, Eleanor straps her infant daughter into the back of her car and flees her abusive husband Leon. Together they journey to Blue Mountain, a place of refuge from Eleanor's childhood.
Over the course of the book, Eleanor's mind flicks back over her relationship with her mother as we hear her mother's words spoken through the pages as she battled to pull her own husband out of the grips of war.
As we explore the dual memories of Eleanor and Kitty, her mother, we see Eleanor attempt to leave behind a legacy of trauma that has been carried through generations and the heartbreaking love she has for her own daughter.
This was a deeply emotional book and I definitely advise anyone who is sensitive to certain topics to take note of the trigger warnings!
This book is absolutely heartbreaking. From the perspectives of two women, mother and daughter a lifetime of hurt is detailed with the horrific after-effects of war and a lack of belonging that haunts Eleanor.
What's it About?
In the middle of the night, Eleanor straps her infant daughter into the back of her car and flees her abusive husband Leon. Together they journey to Blue Mountain, a place of refuge from Eleanor's childhood.
Over the course of the book, Eleanor's mind flicks back over her relationship with her mother as we hear her mother's words spoken through the pages as she battled to pull her own husband out of the grips of war.
As we explore the dual memories of Eleanor and Kitty, her mother, we see Eleanor attempt to leave behind a legacy of trauma that has been carried through generations and the heartbreaking love she has for her own daughter.
This was a deeply emotional book and I definitely advise anyone who is sensitive to certain topics to take note of the trigger warnings!
September 9, 2022
Not a book I’d recommend to anyone.
July 13, 2022
1973: In the blue hour before dawn, Eleanor creeps quietly from the house she shares with her violent husband Leon, straps her baby daughter Amy into the back of her car. and heads for the safety of her favourite place in the world - blue mountain.
As she undertakes the long drive towards her refuge, and away from her disastrous marriage to the man who has returned from Vietnam even more of a monster than he was when he went, she reflects on the difficult relationship she had with her mother Kitty and her fear that she can never be a good parent because of it. But all will be well if she can only reach blue mountain...
In the 1940s, Kitty meets George at a dance and in the brief time before he heads off to World War II, romance blossoms between them. Promises are made, that Kitty has been brought up to believe binding, and then George is gone. The next time she sees him, he is a patient in the hospital where she is a nurse. He is a broken shell of a man, horribly damaged inside and out, but something still draws her to him.
As the 1940s, 50s and 60s play out, we are party to Kitty and George's unhappy marriage, his frequent breakdowns, her infidelity, and the birth of their children, Badger and Eleanor - and a terrible tragedy that scars them, and shapes the woman Eleanor becomes...
Sometimes you find a book that you know after only a few pages will be something very special. Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is one of those rare books, which makes it very difficult to do justice to in a brief review such as this.
This is a many layered story that focuses on the lives of two women trapped by the choices they have made - Kitty and her daughter Eleanor. We first meet Eleanor as she is running from domestic abuse with her child, and then the narrative moves back and forth in time between them as Kitty's account of marriage and motherhood slowly unfurls across the decades; and as Eleanor reflects on her childhood, her dysfunctional relationship with Kitty, her own violent marriage, and the events of her journey to blue mountain. It's strong stuff, dealing with the lives of people affected in various ways by unresolved trauma, PTSD, and personality disorders. There are many disturbing moments that are extremely difficult to read, and the tension mounts as you hope beyond hope that Eleanor will reach her destination, while at the same time the heartrending history of this family is laid out in shocking technicolour.
Schmidt does an incredible job of flaying Kitty to the bone, exploring the complexities of why she thinks and acts the way she does. Even so, she's a difficult character to come to terms with when she seems complicit in so much of the misery that befalls her, and my heart bled for Eleanor as her mother knowingly manipulates and punishes her daughter for her own sorrows and disappointments.
There is pure gold in the way Schmidt writes about all the contradictions that make up these characters, and how she uses these to examine a wealth of themes about mothers and daughters, and strained marital relationships - duty, expectation, regret, desire, control, fear, and longing for what has been lost at the expense of what you have all have a part to play. The neverending push and pull of opposing feelings is also captured with perfection: love vs hate; and pain vs pleasure are particularly well examined. And throughout Schmidt uses the recurring motifs of birds, especially corvids, and the colours blue and red to elicit a powerfully visceral response. The way she pulls you up sharp with imagery around exposing what lies within, the livid marks of bruising on skin, and splashes of blood is superb.
Schmidt's writing is impressive. She can stop time and hold you in a moment that conveys every ounce of painfully intense emotion. You become so caught up in the intricacies of these characters' lives, every feeling and action that defines them, that Schmidt is able to disguise exactly where she is leading you, and only when it is too late do you realise what her intentions have been all along.
This worked its way under my skin, and left me utterly broken. It's one of the most beautifully written and affecting books I have consumed in a long while. Despite the fact that it ripped my heart from my body, I commend it to you as one you simply have to read. I am already craving more Sarah Schmidt!
As she undertakes the long drive towards her refuge, and away from her disastrous marriage to the man who has returned from Vietnam even more of a monster than he was when he went, she reflects on the difficult relationship she had with her mother Kitty and her fear that she can never be a good parent because of it. But all will be well if she can only reach blue mountain...
In the 1940s, Kitty meets George at a dance and in the brief time before he heads off to World War II, romance blossoms between them. Promises are made, that Kitty has been brought up to believe binding, and then George is gone. The next time she sees him, he is a patient in the hospital where she is a nurse. He is a broken shell of a man, horribly damaged inside and out, but something still draws her to him.
As the 1940s, 50s and 60s play out, we are party to Kitty and George's unhappy marriage, his frequent breakdowns, her infidelity, and the birth of their children, Badger and Eleanor - and a terrible tragedy that scars them, and shapes the woman Eleanor becomes...
Sometimes you find a book that you know after only a few pages will be something very special. Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is one of those rare books, which makes it very difficult to do justice to in a brief review such as this.
This is a many layered story that focuses on the lives of two women trapped by the choices they have made - Kitty and her daughter Eleanor. We first meet Eleanor as she is running from domestic abuse with her child, and then the narrative moves back and forth in time between them as Kitty's account of marriage and motherhood slowly unfurls across the decades; and as Eleanor reflects on her childhood, her dysfunctional relationship with Kitty, her own violent marriage, and the events of her journey to blue mountain. It's strong stuff, dealing with the lives of people affected in various ways by unresolved trauma, PTSD, and personality disorders. There are many disturbing moments that are extremely difficult to read, and the tension mounts as you hope beyond hope that Eleanor will reach her destination, while at the same time the heartrending history of this family is laid out in shocking technicolour.
Schmidt does an incredible job of flaying Kitty to the bone, exploring the complexities of why she thinks and acts the way she does. Even so, she's a difficult character to come to terms with when she seems complicit in so much of the misery that befalls her, and my heart bled for Eleanor as her mother knowingly manipulates and punishes her daughter for her own sorrows and disappointments.
There is pure gold in the way Schmidt writes about all the contradictions that make up these characters, and how she uses these to examine a wealth of themes about mothers and daughters, and strained marital relationships - duty, expectation, regret, desire, control, fear, and longing for what has been lost at the expense of what you have all have a part to play. The neverending push and pull of opposing feelings is also captured with perfection: love vs hate; and pain vs pleasure are particularly well examined. And throughout Schmidt uses the recurring motifs of birds, especially corvids, and the colours blue and red to elicit a powerfully visceral response. The way she pulls you up sharp with imagery around exposing what lies within, the livid marks of bruising on skin, and splashes of blood is superb.
Schmidt's writing is impressive. She can stop time and hold you in a moment that conveys every ounce of painfully intense emotion. You become so caught up in the intricacies of these characters' lives, every feeling and action that defines them, that Schmidt is able to disguise exactly where she is leading you, and only when it is too late do you realise what her intentions have been all along.
This worked its way under my skin, and left me utterly broken. It's one of the most beautifully written and affecting books I have consumed in a long while. Despite the fact that it ripped my heart from my body, I commend it to you as one you simply have to read. I am already craving more Sarah Schmidt!
September 10, 2022
Novel set in rural AUSTRALIA
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is a novel that centres on two women who are torn by tragedy. It’s set it small-town Australia and follows the fortunes of Kitty Turner and her daughter Eleanor through the 1950s to the 1970s. The themes are universal: the fear that women have of turning into their mother; the inability of both men and women to articulate their feelings and the masks we all wear to face others. The themes might be familiar, but this treatment is not for the faint-hearted reader. There are scenes of violence and intimacy that are disturbing. The reason the narrative has the power to affect the reader is that it is so involving. There are many situations that are easily recognisable: the tensions between mother and child; the anxiety of a new mother; the inability of the bereaved mother to let go of their beloved child. The author cleverly creates a bond between the reader and the characters, such that we continue to empathise with them, even when their actions alarm or even disgust us.
The beauty of Blue Hour is it’s language. It is poetic, lyrical and emotional. Eleanor in particular takes solace in nature and descriptions of the mountains, flowers and the wildlife are evocative and passionate. In contrast is the claustrophobic setting of Wintonvale and the Turner household, from which the two women make futile attempts to escape at different times. Eleanor’s love of nature, and the birds that she studies in particular, are a metaphor for the freedom that she desires.
The book opens with Kitty as a nurse, caring for returning war veterans. Though she is professional and caring, these skills desert her on the death of her first child, nicknamed Badger. She is unable to love either her husband or, later, her daughter. Eleanor grows up in a dysfunctional household and is doomed to repeat the same patterns as her mother. Both women experienced criticism and hurt from their mothers, their relationships incomplete. The thoughts of the women narrate the book in turn, with a desperate internal monologue.
The author tells us that Eleanor’s favourite book is Eleanor Dark’s The Little Company, in which she reads about another unharmonious family where each generation repeats the mistakes of the one before. The two books also share wartime settings – in the case of Blue Hour this is the aftermath of both World War II and the Vietnam War. The menfolk of Blue Hour suffer from post-traumatic stress, and it is interesting to contrast the ways in which their characters adapt to this new reality.
On a positive note, there are the hopeful and redeeming relationships in the book: Eleanor and her father, George, love each other unconditionally, as Eleanor also loves her daughter, Amy; Eleanor’s friends love and support her as far as they are able; and Eleanor loves her brother, even though he died before she was born. These are cause for optimism in what would otherwise be a pretty bleak book.
I feel sure that Blue Hour will stay with me long after reading it, mostly for the language and the positives, but possibly also for the violence, fear and hopelessness that it describes so skilfully.
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is a novel that centres on two women who are torn by tragedy. It’s set it small-town Australia and follows the fortunes of Kitty Turner and her daughter Eleanor through the 1950s to the 1970s. The themes are universal: the fear that women have of turning into their mother; the inability of both men and women to articulate their feelings and the masks we all wear to face others. The themes might be familiar, but this treatment is not for the faint-hearted reader. There are scenes of violence and intimacy that are disturbing. The reason the narrative has the power to affect the reader is that it is so involving. There are many situations that are easily recognisable: the tensions between mother and child; the anxiety of a new mother; the inability of the bereaved mother to let go of their beloved child. The author cleverly creates a bond between the reader and the characters, such that we continue to empathise with them, even when their actions alarm or even disgust us.
The beauty of Blue Hour is it’s language. It is poetic, lyrical and emotional. Eleanor in particular takes solace in nature and descriptions of the mountains, flowers and the wildlife are evocative and passionate. In contrast is the claustrophobic setting of Wintonvale and the Turner household, from which the two women make futile attempts to escape at different times. Eleanor’s love of nature, and the birds that she studies in particular, are a metaphor for the freedom that she desires.
The book opens with Kitty as a nurse, caring for returning war veterans. Though she is professional and caring, these skills desert her on the death of her first child, nicknamed Badger. She is unable to love either her husband or, later, her daughter. Eleanor grows up in a dysfunctional household and is doomed to repeat the same patterns as her mother. Both women experienced criticism and hurt from their mothers, their relationships incomplete. The thoughts of the women narrate the book in turn, with a desperate internal monologue.
The author tells us that Eleanor’s favourite book is Eleanor Dark’s The Little Company, in which she reads about another unharmonious family where each generation repeats the mistakes of the one before. The two books also share wartime settings – in the case of Blue Hour this is the aftermath of both World War II and the Vietnam War. The menfolk of Blue Hour suffer from post-traumatic stress, and it is interesting to contrast the ways in which their characters adapt to this new reality.
On a positive note, there are the hopeful and redeeming relationships in the book: Eleanor and her father, George, love each other unconditionally, as Eleanor also loves her daughter, Amy; Eleanor’s friends love and support her as far as they are able; and Eleanor loves her brother, even though he died before she was born. These are cause for optimism in what would otherwise be a pretty bleak book.
I feel sure that Blue Hour will stay with me long after reading it, mostly for the language and the positives, but possibly also for the violence, fear and hopelessness that it describes so skilfully.
July 1, 2022
She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place.
‘We’re going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’
blue hour by Sarah Schmidt will be published July 7th with Tinder Press and is described as ‘tense, visceral, glittering…a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.’
blue hour is a powerfully complex, dark and, at times, harrowing and difficult read. Crossing timelines and generations it questions the complicated nature of the mother-daughter relationship. Kitty is a nurse working in the 1940s in a repatriation hospital for injured soldiers. Kitty’s mother was extremely strict and now working in Wintonvale Kitty has the space to be herself. She relishes the opportunity to let her hair down a little, without the overbearing influence of her mother ever present. While there, she meets George Turner at a dance one evening and they have a short and intense courtship. George was heading off to fight and they talked of marriage on his return, both knowing that it was a pipedream. But George did return. A changed man, both emotionally and physically, Kitty stood by his side committing to marriage and all that it involved.
In the 1970s, Eleanor grew up always with a feeling of being unloved by her mother Kitty. Kitty was angry, bitter and never satisfied with anything in life. Her father, George, was a quiet man, one who frequently needed silence and time away from the chaos of living. It was a strained marriage that impacted Eleanor for all of her life. She never wanted to be like her mother. She wanted a freedom away from the pervading darkness of those childhood years.
In later years Eleanor met Leon. He was different to other men, more open about exploring his feelings and life in general. He seemed to understand Eleanor, so she took a risk and let him in. But with Vietnam looming, Eleanor feared for her relationship. Could her marriage survive the impact of war? Would Leon return scarred like her father George? Motherhood was an unexpected experience for Eleanor and she made a pact with herself that she would not be like her mother before her. But life has a curious way of unfolding and Eleanor is soon faced with some terrifying moments and choices.
blue hour is a shocking read, a bewildering and disconcerting experience as we traverse the years with Kitty and Eleanor. The brutality of war is a frightening backdrop for this emotive tale of familial discontent. Motherhood is central to blue hour and how its toxicity can seep through the generations even when the best of intentions exist. There are some beautiful moments between George and Eleanor as they have a shared passion for nature. But these times of tranquillity are rare in lives that have been too damaged by a life lived.
blue hour is a memorable, harrowing and gut-wrenching piece of writing. It is a challenging literary read, one that will remain with you for many days after. An intense and shattering novel, blue hour is a profound and sharply written tale that I encourage you to read.
‘We’re going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’
blue hour by Sarah Schmidt will be published July 7th with Tinder Press and is described as ‘tense, visceral, glittering…a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.’
blue hour is a powerfully complex, dark and, at times, harrowing and difficult read. Crossing timelines and generations it questions the complicated nature of the mother-daughter relationship. Kitty is a nurse working in the 1940s in a repatriation hospital for injured soldiers. Kitty’s mother was extremely strict and now working in Wintonvale Kitty has the space to be herself. She relishes the opportunity to let her hair down a little, without the overbearing influence of her mother ever present. While there, she meets George Turner at a dance one evening and they have a short and intense courtship. George was heading off to fight and they talked of marriage on his return, both knowing that it was a pipedream. But George did return. A changed man, both emotionally and physically, Kitty stood by his side committing to marriage and all that it involved.
In the 1970s, Eleanor grew up always with a feeling of being unloved by her mother Kitty. Kitty was angry, bitter and never satisfied with anything in life. Her father, George, was a quiet man, one who frequently needed silence and time away from the chaos of living. It was a strained marriage that impacted Eleanor for all of her life. She never wanted to be like her mother. She wanted a freedom away from the pervading darkness of those childhood years.
In later years Eleanor met Leon. He was different to other men, more open about exploring his feelings and life in general. He seemed to understand Eleanor, so she took a risk and let him in. But with Vietnam looming, Eleanor feared for her relationship. Could her marriage survive the impact of war? Would Leon return scarred like her father George? Motherhood was an unexpected experience for Eleanor and she made a pact with herself that she would not be like her mother before her. But life has a curious way of unfolding and Eleanor is soon faced with some terrifying moments and choices.
blue hour is a shocking read, a bewildering and disconcerting experience as we traverse the years with Kitty and Eleanor. The brutality of war is a frightening backdrop for this emotive tale of familial discontent. Motherhood is central to blue hour and how its toxicity can seep through the generations even when the best of intentions exist. There are some beautiful moments between George and Eleanor as they have a shared passion for nature. But these times of tranquillity are rare in lives that have been too damaged by a life lived.
blue hour is a memorable, harrowing and gut-wrenching piece of writing. It is a challenging literary read, one that will remain with you for many days after. An intense and shattering novel, blue hour is a profound and sharply written tale that I encourage you to read.
July 18, 2022
This was an exquisite read. Often troubling, very dark and unflinching in the way it explores relationships, it is a story that grips you from page one and still has a hold on you long after you close the book up after finishing it.
It's the story of a family over different generations - starting with the dramatic story of Eleanor who is leaving with her daughter Amy, walking away from her marriage, to escape to blue mountain where she has the strongest memories from her childhood. It was her refuge and you notice that nature is always her 'get out' at the most troublesome of times and that leads the story to take us back to her mother and father, cleverly switching between the 1970's and the 1940's.
The story of Kitty is another shocking aspect of this book. It tells of a troubled relationship with Eleanors' father and how the times shaped their lives. Her life was always focussed on getting away from her parents, so she became a nurse tending to returning soldiers and it's here she meets George and quickly falls in love. But they're young and their passion soon fizzles out but she feels obligated to be with him - it seems to become her duty to take care of him when he returns a shell of his former self, dealing with his mood swings and she is pregnant too.
What follows is an exploration of those expectations of what life is - the reality of motherhood, the impact of mental illness on those around, and trying to make sense of it all and trying not to let history repeat itself. Noticing those signs and trying to change the course of your life, but then walking that same path allows her to understand what really was going on back in her childhood that she missed seeing.
This is a brutal book at times, it shares some explicit scenes as the author isn't afraid to confront the worst of human relationships - the lengths people go to for love and the fine line between that and control. You get that sense of ownership, be it of a parent over a child, or a lover over a partner, and how dark and soul destroying that impacts on the people involved.
There is so much hurt in this family that your heart just breaks as you read their stories. There's tragedy throughout and it can make this a very disturbing read at times, but it just lays bare the realities and complexities that humans face, and how that shapes them in their journey and future relationships.
There are shocking revelations littered throughout which just adds to the emotional impact of this story, but it is a staggering piece of work and although it may break you at times as it did me, it is one of those powerful stories that you feel honoured to have read. Stunning!
It's the story of a family over different generations - starting with the dramatic story of Eleanor who is leaving with her daughter Amy, walking away from her marriage, to escape to blue mountain where she has the strongest memories from her childhood. It was her refuge and you notice that nature is always her 'get out' at the most troublesome of times and that leads the story to take us back to her mother and father, cleverly switching between the 1970's and the 1940's.
The story of Kitty is another shocking aspect of this book. It tells of a troubled relationship with Eleanors' father and how the times shaped their lives. Her life was always focussed on getting away from her parents, so she became a nurse tending to returning soldiers and it's here she meets George and quickly falls in love. But they're young and their passion soon fizzles out but she feels obligated to be with him - it seems to become her duty to take care of him when he returns a shell of his former self, dealing with his mood swings and she is pregnant too.
What follows is an exploration of those expectations of what life is - the reality of motherhood, the impact of mental illness on those around, and trying to make sense of it all and trying not to let history repeat itself. Noticing those signs and trying to change the course of your life, but then walking that same path allows her to understand what really was going on back in her childhood that she missed seeing.
This is a brutal book at times, it shares some explicit scenes as the author isn't afraid to confront the worst of human relationships - the lengths people go to for love and the fine line between that and control. You get that sense of ownership, be it of a parent over a child, or a lover over a partner, and how dark and soul destroying that impacts on the people involved.
There is so much hurt in this family that your heart just breaks as you read their stories. There's tragedy throughout and it can make this a very disturbing read at times, but it just lays bare the realities and complexities that humans face, and how that shapes them in their journey and future relationships.
There are shocking revelations littered throughout which just adds to the emotional impact of this story, but it is a staggering piece of work and although it may break you at times as it did me, it is one of those powerful stories that you feel honoured to have read. Stunning!
October 22, 2022
I was greatly moved by Schmidt’s intense exploration of trauma. Within the two generations of one family, journeying between 1946-1973, the author meticulously portrayed the impact of war (WW2 + Vietnam) on Kitty and George Turner, and later on their adult daughter, Eleanor, and her disturbed husband, Leon. The suffering endured by both families and, ultimately, by their children, created a tragic legacy of mental illness and, often, physical and mental abuse. The silence between Kitty and her daughter, the absence of expressed love between them, and the burdens of their own secrets resulted in a tragedy that remains with me as I write this review.
The mental scars that George carried from the war were certainly more damaging than his facial disfigurement and required continued care by Kitty. His trauma was self-inflicted, whereas Leon, Eleanor’s troubled husband, struck out at the world with his violent and misogynistic abuse. The dark, emotional intensity of the narrative was written sensitively by the author, who understood the intergenerational power of grief and the pain it carried with it. Yet, the fracture between Kitty and Eleanor hit me the hardest, particularly in Eleanor’s dramatic releasing of “[a]ll those boiled down feelings, the screaming inside”, the unendurable sense that her mother was “never going to love me”. Never able to break the wall that Kitty had erected between them and never being able to come to terms with her mother’s bitterness caused Eleanor immeasurable grief and the determination not to repeat this behaviour with her own child.
The novel was relentlessly sad, filled with broken lives and unrealised dreams. I am usually turned off by melodrama, but somehow Schmidt’s beautiful language and astute observations of human behaviour allowed me to accept the pain and tragedies with empathy rather than dismissal, especially in the conclusion.
The mental scars that George carried from the war were certainly more damaging than his facial disfigurement and required continued care by Kitty. His trauma was self-inflicted, whereas Leon, Eleanor’s troubled husband, struck out at the world with his violent and misogynistic abuse. The dark, emotional intensity of the narrative was written sensitively by the author, who understood the intergenerational power of grief and the pain it carried with it. Yet, the fracture between Kitty and Eleanor hit me the hardest, particularly in Eleanor’s dramatic releasing of “[a]ll those boiled down feelings, the screaming inside”, the unendurable sense that her mother was “never going to love me”. Never able to break the wall that Kitty had erected between them and never being able to come to terms with her mother’s bitterness caused Eleanor immeasurable grief and the determination not to repeat this behaviour with her own child.
The novel was relentlessly sad, filled with broken lives and unrealised dreams. I am usually turned off by melodrama, but somehow Schmidt’s beautiful language and astute observations of human behaviour allowed me to accept the pain and tragedies with empathy rather than dismissal, especially in the conclusion.
December 7, 2022
Wow. This novel left me speechless with its quiet power to unsettle and ignite reflection. It’s like a combined case study within the one family of the effects of PTSD, grief, inter-generational trauma, domestic violence, and depression. Loaded? Yes. Too much? Perhaps for some. There are certainly a wealth of triggers within this novel. However, I found it compelling, confronting, unsettling, thought provoking, and utterly heart-breaking. Schmidt is an incredible writer, just sensational. I remember feeling the same after reading her debut, See What I Have Done. She just has this immersive way of writing where all of your senses are tapped into. You can smell, taste, hear and feel so much, all from her words and the way in which she strings them together.
‘To see her mother like this: this woman who was incapable of respecting boundaries, incapable of holding back primal wants. When Eleanor had been vulnerable with Kitty, told her that she was struggling to find her footing as a new mother, that she was scared of not being enough for Amy, scared of being too much, that she wasn’t happy in her relationship with Leon, that she fantasised about him never coming home from war, that she wanted something bigger than just being a mother, that she was sorry that she couldn’t be more for her and George, that she wished Badger was around, that she wished, she wished, she wished…’
One thing that struck me as I was reading this novel: that there would have been a whole generation of women born to fathers who were suffering with PTSD from the second world war, who were the right age to marry men who would have then fought in Vietnam, bringing their own trauma home from that war. Until reading this novel and being inside Eleanor’s skin for the duration, I had never given that a single thought. A multi-pronged intergenerational trauma.
This one is recommended for fans of literary fiction who also are not triggered by stories heavy with themes of grief and mental illness. The ending was something I never saw coming, a turn in the story that was both shocking and brilliantly executed. Such a remarkable novel.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
‘To see her mother like this: this woman who was incapable of respecting boundaries, incapable of holding back primal wants. When Eleanor had been vulnerable with Kitty, told her that she was struggling to find her footing as a new mother, that she was scared of not being enough for Amy, scared of being too much, that she wasn’t happy in her relationship with Leon, that she fantasised about him never coming home from war, that she wanted something bigger than just being a mother, that she was sorry that she couldn’t be more for her and George, that she wished Badger was around, that she wished, she wished, she wished…’
One thing that struck me as I was reading this novel: that there would have been a whole generation of women born to fathers who were suffering with PTSD from the second world war, who were the right age to marry men who would have then fought in Vietnam, bringing their own trauma home from that war. Until reading this novel and being inside Eleanor’s skin for the duration, I had never given that a single thought. A multi-pronged intergenerational trauma.
This one is recommended for fans of literary fiction who also are not triggered by stories heavy with themes of grief and mental illness. The ending was something I never saw coming, a turn in the story that was both shocking and brilliantly executed. Such a remarkable novel.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
July 20, 2022
Eleanor's marriage is in ruins and over the space of this sparsely furnished novel we get to know why she is leaving her husband in order to get far away to the Blue Mountain, her favourite place in the world. With her infant daughter Amy in the car Eleanor sets off on an emotional journey recalling the events in her life which have led to this moment. Eleanor’s challenging relationship with her mother is pretty much at the core of the story as is her fractured relationship with her husband, Leon, who has recently returned from the conflict in Vietnam.
Blue Hour took me by surprise, not just because the story is so powerful but also in the way the author uses her words so sparingly and yet delivers such a thought provoking and intensely personal story of trauma and abuse. Covering such an array of topics from toxic motherhood, to PTSD and every level of emotional discontent, the story should be difficult to read and yet it flows so beautifully that I had difficulty putting the book down. Right from the start I felt a brooding respect for Eleanor, unlike her mother, Kitty, who made my skin crawl.
Clever writing by this talented author makes Blue Hour such powerful and emotional roller coaster of a read and the connection, made between author and reader, is a very personal one. Throughout the story there is a sad intensity as we witness fractured lives spiralling out of control.
Blue Hour took me by surprise, not just because the story is so powerful but also in the way the author uses her words so sparingly and yet delivers such a thought provoking and intensely personal story of trauma and abuse. Covering such an array of topics from toxic motherhood, to PTSD and every level of emotional discontent, the story should be difficult to read and yet it flows so beautifully that I had difficulty putting the book down. Right from the start I felt a brooding respect for Eleanor, unlike her mother, Kitty, who made my skin crawl.
Clever writing by this talented author makes Blue Hour such powerful and emotional roller coaster of a read and the connection, made between author and reader, is a very personal one. Throughout the story there is a sad intensity as we witness fractured lives spiralling out of control.
February 11, 2023
Despite giving the book four stars, I couldn’t possibly recommend it unless you are looking for a book that delivers a powerful kick in the gut. Shattered & emotionally drained is how I felt reaching the end of this. Such an air of despondency blanketed the whole story. It was so sad, so traumatic and dealt with so many trigger points; PTSD, violence, domestic abuse - psychological and sexual, depression, death of a child, suicide, mother-daughter relationship problems….. But the writing was remarkable and one of the things that made it so unflinchingly raw. I have never met such damaged and embittered characters as mother Kitty and her daughter, Eleanor. Both want to escape the unhappiness of their upbringings but tragically, each suffers her own nightmare while so eager not to repeat the sins of the past. The plot weaves the story of both women from the time Kitty breaks free from her domineering mother and stifled childhood to become a nurse. Here, she falls in love with her future husband, George who is recovering from horrific wartime injuries. Their fairytale becomes one of ongoing heartbreak of which Eleanor bears the brunt as we trace her life into adulthood where the history of misery repeats itself. Incredibly dark, bleak and challenging but a book that, on closing the last page, I just sat with pounding heart. Anyone looking for an uplifting holiday read, this is not it!! But it is a book that will affect you deeply, written superbly.
July 27, 2022
This book! This book! THIS book..
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is truly special.
‘She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. 'We're going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car.
This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud Eleanor's head.’
An exploration into trauma and the possibility that it can be passed to a future generation. A visceral examination of what it means to parent, to be a mother; what damage grief and hurt can cause when there is a reluctance to move forward.
This exquisitely constructed piece is dripping with the raw intensity that takes you to the darkest of places. I have rarely seen such pain and anguish so gracefully portrayed.
Sarah Schmidt’s prose is exemplary, her words are so carefully placed, the dual narrative of Kitty & Eleanor gives a depth to each character that a singular pov could not provide; you gain so much understanding of the daughter from the mother’s story and in return you see Kitty through her daughters eyes . It’s non-linear telling will wrong foot you and have you flicking back to chapters where you convince yourself that you have it wrong; the writing is utterly brilliant, it is disturbing and gut wrenching, it is compelling and haunting, it is beautiful.
In her letter to the Reader, Sarah hopes that we get to experience one big feeling; whatever that may be, because it is sharing those feelings that enable us to connect with one another. Sarah, you have achieved your aim with bells on. It is an unmitigated triumph.
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt is truly special.
‘She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. 'We're going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car.
This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud Eleanor's head.’
An exploration into trauma and the possibility that it can be passed to a future generation. A visceral examination of what it means to parent, to be a mother; what damage grief and hurt can cause when there is a reluctance to move forward.
This exquisitely constructed piece is dripping with the raw intensity that takes you to the darkest of places. I have rarely seen such pain and anguish so gracefully portrayed.
Sarah Schmidt’s prose is exemplary, her words are so carefully placed, the dual narrative of Kitty & Eleanor gives a depth to each character that a singular pov could not provide; you gain so much understanding of the daughter from the mother’s story and in return you see Kitty through her daughters eyes . It’s non-linear telling will wrong foot you and have you flicking back to chapters where you convince yourself that you have it wrong; the writing is utterly brilliant, it is disturbing and gut wrenching, it is compelling and haunting, it is beautiful.
In her letter to the Reader, Sarah hopes that we get to experience one big feeling; whatever that may be, because it is sharing those feelings that enable us to connect with one another. Sarah, you have achieved your aim with bells on. It is an unmitigated triumph.
July 17, 2025
Okay. It's very difficult to talk about this book, because, honestly, I just don't know what can be said about it instead of 'read it '. Might not be your favourite book, might have flaws or whatever, but it's truly one of those that I think cannot be experienced if not by reading it. Schmidt wrote a novel that is so layered and about so many things, that at a certain point - I have to confess -, I, too, didn't know what to think about it. I was a bit lost. But then. Oh well. Then it all makes sense. And then it hits you. And then, after all the things it was about, it becomes about something you didn't see coming. at least I didn't. It is not only a plot twist that made me gasp out loud, shocked. It's a whole turn, it is a new book. And it beats and suffocates you, and seems a bit repetitive but I think it's on purpose, and if you are like me, you'll feel numb for a long time reading it, like the characters, and then, you will be brutally shaken back to life.
Exceed my expectations by far.
Exceed my expectations by far.
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