Every Visible Thing

by Lisa Carey

Book Overview

Five years ago the eldest Furey son, Hugh, ran off into the night and never returned. His parents, estranged by grief, are trying to put the tragedy behind them after a long, exhausting, and fruitless search. His mother, recovering from an emotional breakdown, has lost herself in a new career; Hugh's father, having abandoned his faith and his position as a theology professor, now cares halfheartedly for their two remaining children. Left more or...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060937424
• ISBN13: 9780060937423
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Vividly told compelling story

Author Lisa Carey's ablity to use the perfect word or phrase is masterful and amazing. Her discriptions paint the exact picture and evoke an uncanny understanding of the characters' emotions and point of view. It was like watching a movie. It was a wild ride through the self-discovery and drama of prepubescent and adolescent characters oozing with emotional issues.

This Woman Cannot Write a Bad Novel!!!

Once again, and awesome story by Lisa Carey. She can't write a bad book! This book, like all her others, is fantastic.

Couldn't put it down!

This book jumped out at me because of the cover. The first page and the back cover had me hooked. Lisa Carey is a literary gem. I love her characters and the way she draws you in as a reader. I felt for every one of those characters. I have already told several friends about the book and I am confident they will buy and love as much as I do. Thank you God for this book. It is one of those you can't put down.

Well written but more than a bit of a downer.......................

EVERY VISIBLE THING has much to offer but it involves the reader in the main characters' lives to the point of discomfort. There is much symbolism in the novel including the names of the protagonists. The family surname if Furey and their three very troubled children are Hugh (who has been missing for years after a disastrous encounter with a very horrid girlfriend) Lena who seems to be clinically depressed and whose parents seem oblivious to her problems and Owen who is also largely ignored by his parents and is mercilessly bullied by some almost unbelievably precocious fifth graders. There is also a lot of angel symbolism which doesn't seem to be quite as well realized as the author hoped. The setting of the story is suburban Boston in the 80's and Ms. Carey provides enough detail about the decade to bring it back to life. In fact for such a slim novel Ms. Carey provides the reader with an amazing amount of information regarding all her major characters' lives.

Family Tale from the Dark Side

The Furey family (interesting name, there's a lot of it repressed) hasn't been the same since the oldest child, Hugh, disappeared. It's never really specified what happened to him, but that is less important than the effect it had on his parents, sister and brother. This is one of the darkest books I've read this year, but the author sure got me to care what happened to the characters. Owen is bullied by a former older friend, who likes sexual abuse and playing with a loaded gun. He fakes an illness for months to avoid going to school. Lena gets involved with a drug dealer and starts cross-dressing, passing as a boy to the extent of becoming physically involved with girls. In the search for her missing brother, she ends up in a nonstop party scene that is reminiscent of Bret Easton Ellis's Less than Zero. As the children slip into life-threatening nightmare, the parents pay them little or no attention, focusing on their own grief. The mother, Elizabeth, doesn't get out of bed for months and drives her own mother out of the house. The father, Henry, is fired from his job, and not for sympathetic reasons. These two seemed like the most self-centered irresponsible people ever. After one child attempts suicide, they get angry with her! They always seem to focus on the child in obvious trouble and ignore the others. Fortunately, Owen at least does have some positive adult interaction in his life, from unexpected people. Angels are a big theme in this book, which I really liked. The title has to do with angels, and is a great thought. Henry is supposedly writing a book about angels, though for a long time it seems he's hardly qualified. When Owen's religion teacher in Catholic school tells him something about people and angels, Henry interprets it as saying Hugh is dead, and yanks his kids out of Catholic school and has the whole family leave the Church. Before that, he had the kids receive First Communion, Confirmation, and all the rest of it. The children get no explanation for anything. Owen becomes obsessed with angels on his own, and his teacher, who comes to his rescue at one point, is named Mr. Gabriel. There is so much to this book, and I don't want to give away too much. I recommend it highly, and I'd read more of Ms. Carey's work.