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Sleep Toward Heaven A Novel Amanda Eyre Ward Books

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Sleep Toward Heaven A Novel Amanda Eyre Ward Books

I love this author's style of writing. I have read one other book by this author and what I have come to find is that she weaves peoples' lives together in ways most of us wouldn't think about doing. These are fascinating stories that deserve to be read and savored.

Karen, Celia and Franny are as different as they can be, yet they all have a hand in this story as main characters whose lives all touch one central character, Henry Mills, yet they are all central characters, too.

The death penalty and medicine, death and life are all explored here, to a twist of an ending that I didn't see coming.


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Sleep Toward Heaven A Novel Amanda Eyre Ward Books Reviews

I was forced to stay up late into the night last night to finish this novel. That is to say that I just could not tear my eyes from the page, even after I finally closed this book, I lay awake thinking about it. When a book can do that it deserves the highest rating there is to give (and from a first time novelist no less!)
How do we forgive the unforgivable? That is the question that is at the crux of this well etched novel. This is a novel about women on death row, but just to say that would be selling this book incredibly too short. The story centers around three women Celia, Franny, and Karen. Their lives become inextricably entertwined during a few short months in the hot Texas summer. All three have dealt with copious amounts of sadness throughout their lives and in the end have managed to work through it with tremendous grace.
This is a compelling read, very vivid, poetic. Ms. Eyre-Ward's style and her characters are memorable, no nonsense and very very real. I look forward to more by this author!! I have read many really good books so far this year, but the hours I spent engulfed in this story and these women's lives were the most rewarding.
4.5 of 5 stars
Pediatric oncologist Franny leaves her fiancé and job in New York to return to Texas after the uncle who raised her dies. Celia lives in a cloud of anger, still reeling from her husband's murder five years ago. Karen sits on death row, for that murder. The lives of these three women become entrenched, as each tries to find her way out of despair and pain.
Wow. Amanda Eyre Ward is becoming one of my new favorite writers. At first these women couldn't seem more different, but as their stories slowly unfolded and the layers of their characters developed, I found myself compelled by these very different, yet similar women. Told in multiple POVs, I was drawn into the plot and their individual journeys. SLEEP TOWARD HEAVEN is a beautifully written story about compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.
Twenty-nine year-old Karen Lowens is HIV-positive. The disease is in its final stages, but she will probably die by lethal injection before AIDS takes it course. Karen is on Death Row in the Mountain View facility, Gatestown, Texas, awaiting her execution. It won't be long now. She is a convicted serial killer. Her victims, all johns - all but one, were mostly truckers. So many had taken more than the pound of flesh they had paid her for. Lowens had been beaten, abused, and broken so many times - torn-up internally by the constant pounding against her flesh. The horror began the first time her mother sold her for drug money at age twelve. Unfortunately, one evening, Harry Mills, an innocent man and all around nice guy, bumped into Karen's rage in a convenience store. She shot him dead. Although Lowens resists any close connection with her fellow prisoners, she is curious about a new inmate, Sharleen, who has just become a member of this exclusive cellblock. She was dubbed the Satan Killer by the media. "Karen thinks about things to say to Sharleen. She wants to tell her that she is not alone in knowing what it feels like to tear through human life. She wants to tell Sharleen that hatred ebbs to a steady ache.....Sharleen, she does not say, there is joy in breathing out, knowing you can breathe in again."

Twenty-nine year-old Franny Wren is a doctor, trained in some of the country's finest universities and hospitals. Orphaned at a young age, her Uncle Jack, a physician, took her in after her parents' death, and made sure she wanted for nothing. Fran has just lost a patient - one she had became extremely attached to. Anna Gillison, a precocious little girl was cancer-ridden when Dr. Wren took over her case. She was able to persuade the child's parents to allow a brutally painful bone transplant - a long-shot - rather than let Anna die peacefully in her own bed. The child died in terrible pain, not at all in peace. "'I don't think I can do this,' Anna had said. 'Can I let go now?' And, 'Will everything be here when I am gone?'" Franny is devastated, guilt-ridden and beyond sorrow. In this fragile state, just after Anna's funeral, she is informed of her uncle's death. She leaves New York City for Gatesville, Texas, her childhood home, to make funeral arrangements.

Celia Mills is a young widow unable to move-on with her life. Henry, her husband, best friend and beloved companion left the house, five years before, for a six-pack. An innocent bystander at a hold-up, he was shot, murdered. He never returned to Celia. In a sense, Celia never returned to herself either.

Three women's lives converge in the stifling heat of a Texas summer. They have followed remarkably different paths in life, but all three share the commonality of intense emotional pain and loss. Amanda Eyre Ward treats her characters tenderly, with compassion, sensitivity and gentle humor. She also gives the reader an unflinching look at these women, while exploring the sanctity of life, their wavering spirituality, and the events which will impact all three dramatically. Celia's voice is the only one we hear first-hand. The others' stories are told in the omniscient third person. This variation is an effective tool for developing the readers attachments and sympathies, I think. Ms. Ward's prose is luminous. I read her second novel, "How To Be Lost," (also highly recommended!), and was so impressed that I immediately picked up a copy of "Sleep Toward Heaven." I am not disappointed. I think the second novel is clearly better in terms of character development and taut narrative, but this debut effort is also superb. I cannot wait for her next book. Highly recommended.

JANA
This book was recommended by a woman in my book club. I appreciate her opinion on books and always seem to be in sync with her tastes. This kind of person, if you find one, should be highly regarded. So having laid that disclaimer....

The characters are richly described, both in physical traits and emotions. You feel each of their foibles and strengths. Being on death row, they all have fear that is expressed in a different way. It was, to me, like passing a horrible crash scene on the highway and you can tell from all the frenzy that people have died. Perhaps in an horrific way. You don't want to look, but you do. What happened? How did something go so wrong? Your stomach knots up, you feel fear yourself.

So, reading this story is like that. The change in POV as each character is revealed is not my favorite but I soon realized it was the only way to bring power into the novel and the author did it very well.

Last, the ending is so brilliant and really, when I finished the last sentence I couldn't have thought it any better. And I do REALLY REALLY appreciate a strong ending. Excellent all the way around.
I love this author's style of writing. I have read one other book by this author and what I have come to find is that she weaves peoples' lives together in ways most of us wouldn't think about doing. These are fascinating stories that deserve to be read and savored.

Karen, Celia and Franny are as different as they can be, yet they all have a hand in this story as main characters whose lives all touch one central character, Henry Mills, yet they are all central characters, too.

The death penalty and medicine, death and life are all explored here, to a twist of an ending that I didn't see coming.