Review:
"Crazy people have color and imagination and the thing is, some of us aren't crazy, we're just right."
Sarah Lange is in a Rehabilitation center sizing up her psychiatrist who she knows better than he knows himself. All her life Sarah has had 'Guides' that tell her things. Ever since a terrible 'accident' she has had trouble turning off her guides and they are making her feel homesick, homesick for Heaven, that is.
An original tale of self-discovery (for patient and psychiatrist) that leads down an unsuspected path. This book was very refreshing I and enjoyed that it was heavy on dialogue both inner and outer; this made for well-rounded and relatable characters. I thought this novel was going to wrap up a little too neat and tidy for me at the end, but there was a little twist that kept me smiling. I would enjoy knowing what happened to the secondary characters of Kit and Willie, but overall Charisma was a fast-paced enjoyable read!
This book was provided for free from the publisher in return for an honest review. Blurb:
In the aftermath of a violent incident and near death experience, Sarah Lange is plagued by heavenly voices and dogged by a desire to return "home". Frightened by her desire to terminate her existence on earth, she checks into a trauma center in Malibu, California and meets Dr. David Sutton, an intellectual, a scientist, a reductionist and someone who believes in nothing beyond his immediate experience. David’s world is as divorced from mystery and magic as Sarah’s is alive and animated by it. Their sessions open up a dialogue about the separation of worlds—one easily defined and explained and one unknowable and waiting on the other side of human experience. Even as his faith in his profession fades, David struggles to bring his disturbed patient back to the real world. In a desperate effort to define herself, Sarah "escapes" and David must decide how far he is willing to go to save a patient and ultimately himself.
About Barbara Hall: Barbara Hall is an award-winning author, screenwriter, vocalist and television producer. She was the executive producer of the hit CBS drama “Judging Amy” and the creator of “Joan of Arcadia”—the highly successful television series in which she reinvented the Joan of Arc legend in the form of Joan Girardi, a teenager who keeps encountering God—as both a cute boy and a lunch lady.
As a child growing up in Chatham, Virginia, Barbara Hall had a single vision: moved to write by the isolation and frustration of a small Southern town in which she lived. The youngest of three siblings, she often collaborated on stories with her older sister. Hall knew by the age of eight what career path she would lay out for herself. Hall attended James Madison University, gaining a myriad of awards during her completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
An accomplished author, Hall wrote three young adult novels including: “Skeeball and the Secret of the Universe”, “Dixie Storms” and “Fool’s Hill” as well as the mystery “House Across the Cove”. Her other novels include “A Better Place”, “Close to Home” and “A Summons To New Orleans”. Hall’s literary work has also been recognized by the American Library Association Best Books & Notable Books.
In the realm of television, Hall has been nominated for three Emmys (“I’ll Fly Away,” “Northern Exposure”) and a Golden Laurel from the Producers Guild of America, receiving a Humanitas Award, NAACP Image Award and TV Critics Association Award. “Judging Amy,” earned numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for its cast and crew, was nominated for New Program of the Year at the 2000 Television Critics Association Awards and won Favorite New Series at the 2000 TV Guide Awards.
Not confining her talents to the written page, Barbara Hall is an accomplished musician, vocalist and a founding member of the alternative country rock band—The Enablers. The Enablers album, Come Back Soon, is available via her website at www.theenablers.net.
Barbara Hall lives, writes and creates in Pacific Palisades, California with her daughter Faith.
Connect with Barbara:
Website
Twitter
"Crazy people have color and imagination and the thing is, some of us aren't crazy, we're just right."
Sarah Lange is in a Rehabilitation center sizing up her psychiatrist who she knows better than he knows himself. All her life Sarah has had 'Guides' that tell her things. Ever since a terrible 'accident' she has had trouble turning off her guides and they are making her feel homesick, homesick for Heaven, that is.
An original tale of self-discovery (for patient and psychiatrist) that leads down an unsuspected path. This book was very refreshing I and enjoyed that it was heavy on dialogue both inner and outer; this made for well-rounded and relatable characters. I thought this novel was going to wrap up a little too neat and tidy for me at the end, but there was a little twist that kept me smiling. I would enjoy knowing what happened to the secondary characters of Kit and Willie, but overall Charisma was a fast-paced enjoyable read!
This book was provided for free from the publisher in return for an honest review. Blurb:
In the aftermath of a violent incident and near death experience, Sarah Lange is plagued by heavenly voices and dogged by a desire to return "home". Frightened by her desire to terminate her existence on earth, she checks into a trauma center in Malibu, California and meets Dr. David Sutton, an intellectual, a scientist, a reductionist and someone who believes in nothing beyond his immediate experience. David’s world is as divorced from mystery and magic as Sarah’s is alive and animated by it. Their sessions open up a dialogue about the separation of worlds—one easily defined and explained and one unknowable and waiting on the other side of human experience. Even as his faith in his profession fades, David struggles to bring his disturbed patient back to the real world. In a desperate effort to define herself, Sarah "escapes" and David must decide how far he is willing to go to save a patient and ultimately himself.
About Barbara Hall: Barbara Hall is an award-winning author, screenwriter, vocalist and television producer. She was the executive producer of the hit CBS drama “Judging Amy” and the creator of “Joan of Arcadia”—the highly successful television series in which she reinvented the Joan of Arc legend in the form of Joan Girardi, a teenager who keeps encountering God—as both a cute boy and a lunch lady.
As a child growing up in Chatham, Virginia, Barbara Hall had a single vision: moved to write by the isolation and frustration of a small Southern town in which she lived. The youngest of three siblings, she often collaborated on stories with her older sister. Hall knew by the age of eight what career path she would lay out for herself. Hall attended James Madison University, gaining a myriad of awards during her completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
An accomplished author, Hall wrote three young adult novels including: “Skeeball and the Secret of the Universe”, “Dixie Storms” and “Fool’s Hill” as well as the mystery “House Across the Cove”. Her other novels include “A Better Place”, “Close to Home” and “A Summons To New Orleans”. Hall’s literary work has also been recognized by the American Library Association Best Books & Notable Books.
In the realm of television, Hall has been nominated for three Emmys (“I’ll Fly Away,” “Northern Exposure”) and a Golden Laurel from the Producers Guild of America, receiving a Humanitas Award, NAACP Image Award and TV Critics Association Award. “Judging Amy,” earned numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for its cast and crew, was nominated for New Program of the Year at the 2000 Television Critics Association Awards and won Favorite New Series at the 2000 TV Guide Awards.
Not confining her talents to the written page, Barbara Hall is an accomplished musician, vocalist and a founding member of the alternative country rock band—The Enablers. The Enablers album, Come Back Soon, is available via her website at www.theenablers.net.
Barbara Hall lives, writes and creates in Pacific Palisades, California with her daughter Faith.
Connect with Barbara:
Website
RSS Feed
