Above the Thunder

by Renée Manfredi

Book Overview

A wary, middle-aged widow numbed by loss and disappointment. A preternaturally intelligent little girl who eavesdrops on the dead. A charming, sybaritic gay man torn between his love for his partner and the anarchy of his desires.These are the charged poles of Ren e Manfredi's gorgeously written first novel, a book that explores the currents of tenderness, responsibility and chance that turn strangers into a family.

Anna Brinkman...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400078504
• ISBN13: 9781400078509
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Depth and insight......

The author depicts a middle aged woman and two gay men so accurately.... Reading Above the Thunder reminded me of reading Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. Here was a man writing so accurately about a woman...how did he do that? Renee depicts so accurately and gracefully a middle aged grieving woman, a grandparent falling in love with her grandchild, friends w/o family creating a family, two gay men struggling in their relationship... She is a master character writer. This was one of those books I couldn't wait to climb into bed to read at night. Like dessert at the end of the day. And I savored the last 100 pages...not wanting it to end.

Smooth

Every word in this novel is right. Manfredi has constructed a network of associations that will move anyone with a pulse. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I entered into the structure of the novel, I couldn't stop. It is a shame that a work this well crafted can be read in a few days.

"I need to get out of this storm, high up above the thunder"

One of the first things that struck me about Renee Manfredi's first novel is how precise, fully rounded and "real" her characters really are. Above the Thunder is a real treasure of a novel - smart, sophisticated, erudite, full of the richness of life, while also packing a real emotional punch. The novel is also remarkably "modern" in the way it approaches human relationships, and the friendships and connections that individuals develop with each other. For Manfredi, human relationships are never immutable and like the cells of the body, they grow and change, reflecting the constant and almost frenzied fluidity of life and society. The core of Above the Thunder centers on Anna and her search for meaning in life. A newly widowed, Anna is almost disaffected and shut off from society. Wrapped up in her work as a medical technologist and grieving the dysfunctional relationship that she has had with her irresponsible, drug-addicted daughter, she is shocked and horrified when Marvin, her son-in-law comes to stay, bringing with him, Flynn, her imaginative, and emotionally conflicted ten-year-old grand daughter. It is Flynn, inspired and haunted by dreams and stories of reincarnation, which becomes the center of Anna's life, and forces her to re-evaluate her emotional emptiness. This is also the story of two lovers, Jack and Stuart, who are struggling with their own problems. Anna meets Jack at a support group for HIV patents, and what follows is a wonderful account of a friendship formed by two of the most unlikely of people. Manfredi is extremely comfortable with her story; she lets the narrative flow at a nice, relaxed pace, effortlessly weaving the plot into the characters' inner lives. There is no doubt that she is a masterful storyteller, but it is her portrayal of character that is the real strength of the novel. Whether it is Jack - restless in his relationship with Stuart, searching the streets for Hector his hot Latino buddy, his world "empty at the center, his life without edges or direction." Or Stuart, kind, thoughtful and loyal, worried about Jack's cheating, and unsure whether to "confront him, ignore it, and hope it goes away, or leave him altogether." And Anna - disappointed as a mother and embittered but given a second chance when Flynn enters her life. The characters intertwine and interlace, just like the "jaded beads of a broken bracelet falling to the floor" or blood cells "dense and impenetrable as a blizzard." Life is inimitably connected, "everything is a circle." The moon, earth, the universe, and the cells of a body "even the future curved back through memory" - all are organized and interconnected. Above the Thunder is a profound and gorgeously written story, and a remarkably intuitive and symbolic look at the ties inevitably that bind us together. Michael

Five Stars!

I haven't read a book like this since Anne Marie McDonald's Fall On Your Knees - a truly remarkable novel with characters who are both relentlessly charming and haunting. This book will be around for a long time, and I have my bet placed on it as an Oprah's book club book within the year. Amazing first novel.

The infinite faces of love

This unusual novel has a quiet power in the telling and speaks to the nature of loss, as well as creating the loving relationships that sustain us. Love comes into our lives in many disguises, not all of them predictable. The trick is not to overlook those precious opportunities and nurturing connections, in whatever form they appear. Above the Thunder chronicles the friendship of a divergent group of people who meet, form a family and then, inevitably, move on, but permanently alter each other's lives, transcending time and place. Anna Brinkman has created a simple world for herself, centered around work and a few friends since she lost her husband. The couple have a daughter, Poppy, who left home years before and failed to return in time for her father's death. Suddenly, a phone call interrupts the quiet days Anna has fashioned for herself: Poppy wants to come home for a visit with her husband and 12-year-old daughter, Flynn, whom Anna has never met. Once she gets past the shock of hearing Poppy's voice on the answering machine, Anna accepts the inevitable, although Poppy doesn't arrive as promised. But she sends her husband, Marvin, and Anna's granddaughter, Flynn. Like it or not, Anna's life has changed forever.Meanwhile, in another household, Jack and Stuart, two gay men, believe they have at last accomplished the perfect relationship, devoted to each other, except for the handsome Jack's occasional dalliance. Eventually, Jack's careless indiscretions awaken him to the dangers of sexual promiscuity when he is diagnosed as HIV positive. After he informs his partner, Stuart asks him to leave. Jack joins Anna's HIV support group and they have an immediate connection, something neither of them expects. Certainly, Anna is pivotal in Jack's endeavor to redefine his life. Even after he reconnects with Stuart, resolving many of their most troubling issues, Jack's friendship with Anna remains steadfast and primary. Flynn is at the core of this novel, a bright, intuitive little girl with an understanding far beyond her years, living in the midst of these randomly associated adults. Flynn's presence in the lives of those around her is a parable for family and belonging. The ethereal, ill-fated Flynn is an anachronism, a child riddled with dark fears and fierce imaginings, yet precious to all who meet her. Through Flynn, the characters access the deepest places in themselves, where forgiveness and generosity coexist.Anna undergoes profound personal changes, loving Flynn and the others who now comprise her nuclear family. With her loving characters, Manfredi's prose transports her readers through the significant emotions that govern our days: joy, grief, compassion and love. The once self-contained Anna freely opens her heart, facing the consequences of this choice, affirming life over loss. Reminding us of those human connections that sustain us, more importantly, the author skillfully emphasizes the axiom that in life there is change. And where there