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Therapy
The Clarion Review says, "Harrie Rose's debut novel brilliantly explores the causes and effects of depression and anxiety, as well as how early experiences shape one's life for good or ill...Rose balances the intricacies of the therapist-patient relationship with a fascinating yarn about a woman recognizing the contradictory influences on her life and ultimately coming into her own....Therapy is recommended for anyone who enjoys a meaty read with a strong female protagonist." Written in a vivid first person narrative that sweeps the reader along, this bold novel introduces Barbara, a 52 year old woman who has it all. So why is she sunk in an abyss of depression? Barbara is so real that, as one reader said, "I'd love to get in a car and drive along the country roads until I find Barbara's house, so we can chat over coffee." Delving into the complexities of psychiatry, from its necessity to its folly, the author recounts Barbara's journey to a realization of her true worth. But is this because of her therapist or despite him? What are his true motives? the moral and ethical issues Barbara ultimately faces make excellent fodder for discussions. This is a superb choice for book clubs, but also for individuals. Despite the media's message that you must fight old age, Barbara proves that maturity itself has its own beauty, both inner and outer. Even the young admire her for her warmth, wisdom, and guts. Like the flowers in the gardens she grows, Barbara is reborn after a winter of despair.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
250 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2010
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191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 10, 2010
Actually, the review below from Clarion Reviews says it all, but I disagree with the reviewer on one thing. A psychiatrist, by trade, talks little. He does, however, unconsciously use body motion and eye contact. He came on to Barbara first by the way he looked at her. He also kept speaking of her with admiration, such as saying, "A person like you..." She fell in love with him precisely because she so badly needed someone who thought well of her and who found her attractive,. Also, from the start, she found him attractive. I think if I had given him more to say, it wouldn't have added anything to the story. The reader is supposed to figure some things out by herself.
Also, since the novel is seen wholly through Barbara's eyes, and we certainly know how she feels, I don't think it's fair to say that the novel reads as if you're "getting reports about the characters. If that is true, why does the reviewer call it brilliant and a meaty read. As for the punctuation, this manuscript was thoroughly copy edited by the publisher.
Anyway, here's the review:
ForeWord Clarion Review
Therapy:A Novel
Harrie Rose
978-1-4392-5720-3
Harrie Rose’s debut novel brilliantly explores the causes and effects of depression and anxiety, as well as how early experiences shape one’s life for good or ill. Therapy follows Barbara Verensky Miller as she recounts her past and present woes to her single,attractive, attentive psychiatrist Alex. The astute college professor knows she is falling
for her counselor, but she remains unsure of his feelings for her. Rose balances the intricacies of the therapist–patient relationship with a fascinating yarn about a woman recognizing the contradictory influences on her life and ultimately coming into her own.
Barbara narrates the book as a flashback, many years after the therapy sessions with Alex have taken place. Occasionally, readers may get confused when the present-day Barbara interjects a few sentences about her present, only to quickly thrust the story back into the past again. There are also unnecessary instances in which Barbara addresses
the audience, thus pulling readers needlessly out of the story to say, “But I’m getting ahead of myself,” or “Looking back…” The story functions best when the present Barbara remains quiet and lets the Barbara in therapy regale Alex with tales of her past.
From these accounts, Barbara, Alex, and the readers realize together the causes of Barbara’s mental illness. She follows the protagonist’s struggle to both break away from and please her overbearing immigrant Jewish family and her struggles with Jewish versus
American identity, marvelously painting a specific portrait of one woman going through the universal experiences of trying to define herself as an individual and in familial relations. The author also includes a horrifically accurate portrayal of child abuse; Barbara recalls her father’s beatings and her mother’s belittling words with terror, but also with a certain chilling nonchalance typical of abuse survivors.
Family life becomes complicated when husbands enter the picture. When her first husband abandons her with one son, Barbara marries again, much to her family’s surprise. Barbara describes the stress of being a housewife, mother, and teacher in an era when women weren’t supposed to work. While Barbara fills multiple roles, her husband remains absent and critical, but she convinces herself that she and her growing family have been blessed with a good provider. In Barbara, Rose keenly captures what many 1950s’ housewives felt, and indeed, a version of what some wives still feel today.
The author’s strength lies in her descriptions—of Barbara’s circumstances, and also of the Rhode Island flora and fauna adored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, this descriptive style can make readers feel as though they are reading reports about the
characters rather than watching them act. Much of the dialogue is Barbara’s; Alex says comparatively little; thus the psychiatrist comes across as a sounding board for the protagonist. If he had more to say or do, readers would better understand why Barbara
falls for him. Also, missing and misused punctuation annoys. Although Alex is a bit one-dimensional,
Therapy is recommended for anyone who enjoys a meaty read with a strong
female protagonist.
Jill Allen
Also, since the novel is seen wholly through Barbara's eyes, and we certainly know how she feels, I don't think it's fair to say that the novel reads as if you're "getting reports about the characters. If that is true, why does the reviewer call it brilliant and a meaty read. As for the punctuation, this manuscript was thoroughly copy edited by the publisher.
Anyway, here's the review:
ForeWord Clarion Review
Therapy:A Novel
Harrie Rose
978-1-4392-5720-3
Harrie Rose’s debut novel brilliantly explores the causes and effects of depression and anxiety, as well as how early experiences shape one’s life for good or ill. Therapy follows Barbara Verensky Miller as she recounts her past and present woes to her single,attractive, attentive psychiatrist Alex. The astute college professor knows she is falling
for her counselor, but she remains unsure of his feelings for her. Rose balances the intricacies of the therapist–patient relationship with a fascinating yarn about a woman recognizing the contradictory influences on her life and ultimately coming into her own.
Barbara narrates the book as a flashback, many years after the therapy sessions with Alex have taken place. Occasionally, readers may get confused when the present-day Barbara interjects a few sentences about her present, only to quickly thrust the story back into the past again. There are also unnecessary instances in which Barbara addresses
the audience, thus pulling readers needlessly out of the story to say, “But I’m getting ahead of myself,” or “Looking back…” The story functions best when the present Barbara remains quiet and lets the Barbara in therapy regale Alex with tales of her past.
From these accounts, Barbara, Alex, and the readers realize together the causes of Barbara’s mental illness. She follows the protagonist’s struggle to both break away from and please her overbearing immigrant Jewish family and her struggles with Jewish versus
American identity, marvelously painting a specific portrait of one woman going through the universal experiences of trying to define herself as an individual and in familial relations. The author also includes a horrifically accurate portrayal of child abuse; Barbara recalls her father’s beatings and her mother’s belittling words with terror, but also with a certain chilling nonchalance typical of abuse survivors.
Family life becomes complicated when husbands enter the picture. When her first husband abandons her with one son, Barbara marries again, much to her family’s surprise. Barbara describes the stress of being a housewife, mother, and teacher in an era when women weren’t supposed to work. While Barbara fills multiple roles, her husband remains absent and critical, but she convinces herself that she and her growing family have been blessed with a good provider. In Barbara, Rose keenly captures what many 1950s’ housewives felt, and indeed, a version of what some wives still feel today.
The author’s strength lies in her descriptions—of Barbara’s circumstances, and also of the Rhode Island flora and fauna adored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, this descriptive style can make readers feel as though they are reading reports about the
characters rather than watching them act. Much of the dialogue is Barbara’s; Alex says comparatively little; thus the psychiatrist comes across as a sounding board for the protagonist. If he had more to say or do, readers would better understand why Barbara
falls for him. Also, missing and misused punctuation annoys. Although Alex is a bit one-dimensional,
Therapy is recommended for anyone who enjoys a meaty read with a strong
female protagonist.
Jill Allen
October 23, 2010
I read this book after reading Franzen's Freedom, and I was thankful for this timing. I enjoyed Franzen's book, and it was definitely a different, more all-encompassing (macro) structure, but the circumstantial similarities between the books is there. As I read Therapy, I was exposed to a character who, like Franzen's protagonist (Patty), has endured abuse and suffered mental upset. And is retracing her tale through the lens of personal psychological discovery; unlike Franzen's book, however, this novel is centered on Rose's protagonist (Barbara)'s plight alone so we get to zoom in on her life, listen to her thoughts in a more in-depth way. Moreover, Barbara is believable. She's three-dimensional; she's self-sufficient; she's confused and yet not helpless; she's not merely looking for someone to rescue her or define her life. Instead, she is searching for her identity and the root of her pain, searching to define her own standards in a relationship, and yet she's doing so in what is actually a far more self-realizing decade than that of many coming-of-age novels/memoirs.
This book is important in that it breaks apart many common dilemmas men and women face in self-realization, and yet it does so without being overly sentimental or preachy. It also investigates the multi-faceted (and very personal, in this case) relationship between a psychologist and patient. It offers insight into what can happen when we rely too much on external forces to fight an internal battle. Perhaps most important, the book is well-written and moves seamlessly. I recommend it to anyone who's the least bit interested in psychology.
This book is important in that it breaks apart many common dilemmas men and women face in self-realization, and yet it does so without being overly sentimental or preachy. It also investigates the multi-faceted (and very personal, in this case) relationship between a psychologist and patient. It offers insight into what can happen when we rely too much on external forces to fight an internal battle. Perhaps most important, the book is well-written and moves seamlessly. I recommend it to anyone who's the least bit interested in psychology.
October 11, 2010
I found it hard to put this book down and stayed up too late one night to finish it. It is well written and the characters are highly interesting, especially the main character, Barbara. The book captures Barbara's feelings and her relationships with everyone and brings home the fact that being accomplished and well thought of does not necessarily make one happy. The dialogue is real and captures conversations that I'm sure frequently do happen between therapists and their clients. Harrie Rose is a talented writer who really should write more fiction. She captures and conveys settings (New England), plots, and characters with ease and draws the reader in to the story very quickly.
July 12, 2016
Therapy, A Novel, by Harrie Rose, is told by Barbara, a woman who is recounting her past, focusing mainly on therapy sessions she had when she was in her early 50s. The novel opens with Barbara's husband, Joe, finally noticing that she doesn't get out of bed at all, insisting she seek help. And find help she does, in the attractive form of Alex, her therapist.
Attracted to him from the beginning, Barbara recounts tales of her horrid childhood, her two failed marriages, (including her current one), and yet also shows Alex and the reader that she is a nice, caring person. She also plots how to seduce him, daydreaming about him constantly, including having imaginary conversations with him. Afraid she is misinterpreting the way he looks at her and the way compliments her, she is apprehensive about making the first move. But being in love with him, as she feels, is all the cure for her depression she needs. And her therapy sessions also make her reevaluate the way she views herself and the behavior of her parents, her husbands, and her sons, paving the way for her to heal and become a self-loving person, too.
Eventually, Alex and Barbara begin their affair. Barbara believes that this is the happiest time of her life. She actually has someone who loves her, who listens to her and actually cares about her feelings. Alex shows a bit of cowardice as he is constantly worried they will be found out and he will lose his license. But it isn't really enough to deter him until they run into his business partner at a hotel where they had gone to spend the weekend. He ends things with Barbara then and there, never to be heard from again, regardless of her begging and pleading. But by that time, Barbara had already learned that she is worthy of love and life, and that she is not dependent on someone else.
Happily divorced, she renovates an old house and revels in the garden the plans. Her life is full of friends, her sons and their families, and even a few male friends. She occasionally wonders where Alex might be and who he is with, but is over him, having found contentment and happiness elsewhere.
I really enjoyed this story and learning how Barbara finally came into her own. My one complaint, and it's a big one, was the massive amount of editing that was, apparently, never done. Typos, as well as wrong words or missing words, prevailed. There was literally something on almost every page that needed to be fixed. Originally, I easily overlooked this, believing that the copy I had was just an ARC, and an ARC of a self-published novel at that. However, upon further research, I believe I actually received a final draft. Very disappointing, as this book had much potential.
Attracted to him from the beginning, Barbara recounts tales of her horrid childhood, her two failed marriages, (including her current one), and yet also shows Alex and the reader that she is a nice, caring person. She also plots how to seduce him, daydreaming about him constantly, including having imaginary conversations with him. Afraid she is misinterpreting the way he looks at her and the way compliments her, she is apprehensive about making the first move. But being in love with him, as she feels, is all the cure for her depression she needs. And her therapy sessions also make her reevaluate the way she views herself and the behavior of her parents, her husbands, and her sons, paving the way for her to heal and become a self-loving person, too.
Eventually, Alex and Barbara begin their affair. Barbara believes that this is the happiest time of her life. She actually has someone who loves her, who listens to her and actually cares about her feelings. Alex shows a bit of cowardice as he is constantly worried they will be found out and he will lose his license. But it isn't really enough to deter him until they run into his business partner at a hotel where they had gone to spend the weekend. He ends things with Barbara then and there, never to be heard from again, regardless of her begging and pleading. But by that time, Barbara had already learned that she is worthy of love and life, and that she is not dependent on someone else.
Happily divorced, she renovates an old house and revels in the garden the plans. Her life is full of friends, her sons and their families, and even a few male friends. She occasionally wonders where Alex might be and who he is with, but is over him, having found contentment and happiness elsewhere.
I really enjoyed this story and learning how Barbara finally came into her own. My one complaint, and it's a big one, was the massive amount of editing that was, apparently, never done. Typos, as well as wrong words or missing words, prevailed. There was literally something on almost every page that needed to be fixed. Originally, I easily overlooked this, believing that the copy I had was just an ARC, and an ARC of a self-published novel at that. However, upon further research, I believe I actually received a final draft. Very disappointing, as this book had much potential.
December 23, 2010
As she daily sinks deeper and deeper into a depression, Barbara's husband Joe finally insists that she seek professional assistance. She turns to Alex, a therapist seventeen years her junior. While he is helping her rebuild her life, Barbara can't help falling in love with him.
Barbara is a very successful woman; she is a professor at the local campus, and admirable cook, house keeper and an excellent gardener. She is not happy and she doesn't know why. She has no confidence in herself even with her many accomplishments. She feels that no one likes her. She feels that they think she is too smart, too Jewish, to good a cook, even too good a hostess. Personally, I think Barbara tries too hard to please everyone else and fails to please herself. She is too concerned with everyone else's perception of her.
For the first time in her life, She has someone listening to her. That is what a therapist is supposed to do, but in the depths of her depression she grabs onto this lifeline and won't or can't let go. I can totally understand why she falls for Alex,he's a light in that tunnel that she didn't even know she was in, but she is such an intelligent woman, she must know that it's wrong. I can respect the character of Barbara for all her accomplishments, but I don't really like her. I wonder if she ever took the time to get to know any of the people she invited to her house, or was she too busy trying to impress them. Was Alex the first person that she really wanted to know.
I enjoyed this book. I felt that it truly captured the feelings and mixed up thoughts of a depressed person. The one thing Barbara could control in her life was her gardens, so she worked at them in almost a frenzy and they responded to her in a like manner. She needed a therapist to help re-gain her perspective of her self and to re-direct her energies back to making herself happy.
Barbara is a very successful woman; she is a professor at the local campus, and admirable cook, house keeper and an excellent gardener. She is not happy and she doesn't know why. She has no confidence in herself even with her many accomplishments. She feels that no one likes her. She feels that they think she is too smart, too Jewish, to good a cook, even too good a hostess. Personally, I think Barbara tries too hard to please everyone else and fails to please herself. She is too concerned with everyone else's perception of her.
For the first time in her life, She has someone listening to her. That is what a therapist is supposed to do, but in the depths of her depression she grabs onto this lifeline and won't or can't let go. I can totally understand why she falls for Alex,he's a light in that tunnel that she didn't even know she was in, but she is such an intelligent woman, she must know that it's wrong. I can respect the character of Barbara for all her accomplishments, but I don't really like her. I wonder if she ever took the time to get to know any of the people she invited to her house, or was she too busy trying to impress them. Was Alex the first person that she really wanted to know.
I enjoyed this book. I felt that it truly captured the feelings and mixed up thoughts of a depressed person. The one thing Barbara could control in her life was her gardens, so she worked at them in almost a frenzy and they responded to her in a like manner. She needed a therapist to help re-gain her perspective of her self and to re-direct her energies back to making herself happy.
August 1, 2011
just found out i won this, thanks goodreads, cant wait to get it!
i just started it last night 7/24/2011. she is Jewish, married, 2 sons. very unhappy. going to a shrink. she is around my age.
there is some common ground in our backgrounds, hope this book will be able to help me with some of my issues as i hope it helps her!
good so far.
i must say this book has more typos than any other book i have read for the last 50 plus years. and i have read books not ready for publication with less typos. it really detracted from the story
it was unbelievable her husband did not put up more of a fuss about the money when they got divorced, also what about all the bills they owed and her the only one bringing any money into the marriage. none of that was addressed.
i thought the counselor was a whimp and not even worth her or anyones elses time, i didn't like him at all and wished he did loose his license. she should have reported him
i just started it last night 7/24/2011. she is Jewish, married, 2 sons. very unhappy. going to a shrink. she is around my age.
there is some common ground in our backgrounds, hope this book will be able to help me with some of my issues as i hope it helps her!
good so far.
i must say this book has more typos than any other book i have read for the last 50 plus years. and i have read books not ready for publication with less typos. it really detracted from the story
it was unbelievable her husband did not put up more of a fuss about the money when they got divorced, also what about all the bills they owed and her the only one bringing any money into the marriage. none of that was addressed.
i thought the counselor was a whimp and not even worth her or anyones elses time, i didn't like him at all and wished he did loose his license. she should have reported him
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2010
This is a tale of self discovery of a middle aged woman who discovers who she is when she starts to see a therapist. She falls in love with him and starts up an affair with him. She also finds the courage to divorce her husband who has a surprise of his own. She starts out from being suffering from crippling depression to being able to live life on her own terms without doing what society dictates what she does. She discovers that she doesn't need an affirmation from anyone else to determine her own self worth. By the end of the book she doesn't break down emotionally when she discovers that Alex is unable to continue their relationship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2014
I enjoyed reading this book. I found myself wanting more, in the sense of learning more about the feelings Barbara experienced when her connection with her therapist broke off. It seemed rather abrupt to me and I was half expecting him to make a reappearance later in the story. Otherwise, a very good read.
June 2, 2014
enjoyable thought provoking interesting written totally from her perspective. This frustrated me at times but I understand writing from our own perspective is a single truth not the whole truth. Makes me want to visit New England.:) well done to the author.
December 1, 2010
I read this book a couple of months ago and I have been remiss
Want to read
November 3, 2010kok aku dikirimi buku ini yah? :D
Read
December 18, 2010would like to read it.
July 21, 2011
I won this book through good reads. I am a therapist and I really enjoyed reading this book!
August 8, 2011
"I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads"
December 29, 2011
Note 5 star reviews on Amazon & reprints from other sources on
http://harrierose.blogspot.com
Merged review:
mistake
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