A beautiful heirloom ingrained with family memory has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget---a childhood disrupted by her mother's mental illness.
Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother's obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint, and heavy with unsettling memories.
After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. But as an adult with a family of her own, Saffee must confront her mother's torment if she wants to defend herself against it.
Traversing four generations over the course of a century, The Painted Table is an epic portrait of inherited memory, proclivity, and guilt. It is a sprawling narrative affirmation that a family artifact---like a family member---can bear the marks of one's entire past . . . as well as intimations of one's redemption.
My thoughts...
This is a wonderfully written tender story that will touch the hearts of its readers. Mental illness carries such a stigma in our society, I think this book will give insight into the pain of the illness and the lives of those close to the person. Powerful, emotional, complex... and sad.
I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Suzanne Field is celebrating her novel The Painted Table with a beautiful hand-painted table giveaway!
One winner will receive:
- A beautiful hand-painted table (see it here: http://etsy.me/15L90cD)
- The Painted Table by Suzanne Field
1 comment:
Wow, this looks really thoughtful. And what a giveaway! Thanks for sharing.
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