‟A tender but unflinching portrayal of the bond between two sisters.” —Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere“There’s not a false note to be found, and everywhere there are nuggets to savor. Why did it have to end?” —O Magazine“A bold debut. . . Lee sensitively relays experiences of immigration and mental illness . . . a distinct literary voice.” —Entertainment … illness . . . a distinct literary voice.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Extraordinary . . . If you love anyone at all, this book is going to get you.” —USA Today
A dazzling novel of two sisters and their emotional journey through love, loyalty, and heartbreak
Two Chinese-American sisters—Miranda, the older, responsible one, always her younger sister’s protector; Lucia, the headstrong, unpredictable one, whose impulses are huge and, often, life changing. When Lucia starts hearing voices, it is Miranda who must find a way to reach her sister. Lucia impetuously plows ahead, but the bitter constant is that she is, in fact, mentally ill. Lucia lives life on a grand scale, until, inevitably, she crashes to earth.
Miranda leaves her own self-contained life in Switzerland to rescue her sister again—but only Lucia can decide whether she wants to be saved. The bonds of sisterly devotion stretch across oceans—but what does it take to break them?
Everything Here Is Beautiful is, at its heart, an immigrant story, and a young woman’s quest to find fulfillment and a life unconstrained by her illness. But it’s also an unforgettable, gut-wrenching story of the sacrifices we make to truly love someone—and when loyalty to one’s self must prevail over all.
more
A beautiful read about family, mental illness and family relationships. Beautifully written, it’s an easy to read, thought provoking story revolving around two sisters, and the tension within the family ties that bind us. (My mother in law read this book and liked it too – so it appeals to all generations! )
Every so often I come across a book that is so wonderful, so eye opening and so well written that I want to stand on a corner and press this book into everyone’s hands. This is one of them.
With a thumbs up from Celeste Ng, one of my favorite authors and some favorable reviews from my goodreads friends, I was anxious to get into this novel which publishes at the beginning of January 2018. I was not prepared for the power of this story, the incredible bond between two sisters, their ability to love each other but know when to let go and when to hold on.
Lucia and Miranda were born in New Jersey, the daughters of a Chinese American who came to this country after her husband died to begin anew. She studied accounting and raised her two daughters. Miranda is the oldest at 11 and Lucia only four.
Not much time is spent on their childhood but it was a good one and the girls prospered, did well in school and attended University. It isn’t until Lucia is in her twenties that she experiences her first full blown mental breakdown. She had been living with a much older man who loved her dearly but didn’t understand her mental illness. The diagnoses were mixed, schizophrenia, bipolar, or a combination of both. As so many people with mental illness she doesn’t like how she is when she is on medications. They make her feel dull, sleepy, not herself at all.
Throughout the book Lucia wrestles with the voices in her head, she calls them “the serpents”. In Lucia’s words after her first inpatient hospital stay states “Later, I would be told I had a 20% chance of maintaining a full-time job, a 25% chance of living independently, a 40% chance of attempting suicide, a 10% chance of succeeding”. She was only 26 years old, this isn’t reassuring news for any of them. Still she loves to write, she writes about the people in their neighborhood, their immigrant stories. She longs for a job at a newspaper but whenever her mental illness is discovered she never lands that dream job.
There are stories within stories. Lucia finding love but then abandoning it in search of a father for a baby that she desperately wants. She finds a form of love in Manny, an immigrant from Ecuador, and they return there for several years and raise the baby, Esperanza, in that bright and sunny place. They are poor in material things but compensated with the love of an extended family and a place where they all feel free for a long while, until Lucia once again is drawn down into her dark place with the voices and serpents she continually fights.
Miranda, the ever watchful sister, never abandons Lucia. She finds her own love with Stephen and they move to Switzerland. For many years she monitors Lucia from afar. She loves her life in Switzerland, the peaceful community where they live, her husband is a urologist and she is involved in the community and chairing fund raising events at the hospital. Her husband loves her and never holds her back even when she travels to Ecuador to try and help Miranda but he also stated “you can’t help her, you have tried, you’ve been trying all these years. What about your life Miranda?”.
I loved the Epilogue in this book which I won’t disclose, it’s beautiful, hopeful and strong. Buy this book, read it and maybe we can all understand a little bit more of what it must be like to live with a mental illness. The story is also told from multiple POV’s, including Lucia when she is “normal” and when she is having a “breakdown”, Miranda, Manny and Yonah,and these points of view strongly enhance the story. I also have to state that I am in awe of this author, that this is a debut novel is so impressive!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss, thank you.
Everything Here Is Beautiful by author Mira T. Lee is a heartbreaking story about a family in crisis. **If you or a family member suffers from bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, this can be disturbing. **
The story slips between time past and present during the telling, so it is at times confusing. Miranda and Lucia are sisters who have already lived through sadness and troubles. Their mother had often been ill and has died. Lucia also known as Lucy, the younger sister has a history of bi-polar disorder with schizophrenic tendencies. Miranda, the oldest sister does all she can to make sure her sister gets the care she needs, but she can not control her sister’s actions through the years. Lucia has had a baby with a young Latino man and sometimes the story is told from his view. Manny does his best to care for little Essy. Over the course of time in the book he faces some excruciating scenes as he tries to help Lucia.
It was extremely sad to read scenes when Lucia is off her meds and Miranda is trying to help her. Miranda’s life is strained with the fears, worries, and interventions of trying to protect Lucia.
I know others may disagree with me, but this is a powerfully depressing story. The fallout and anxiety of loved ones and caregivers to try and help the mentally ill is enormous. I can give this opinion due to having a beloved brother who had lived with bipolar/schizophrenia. When he was on his meds and acting ‘normal’ the family would feel the worst is past, but when the body chemistry changes for whatever reason, life is hell for the patient and the family members who care enough to try and pick up the pieces.
Everything Here is Beautiful tells a beautiful story of two sisters and an unbreakable bond that transcends contrasting personalities, lifestyles, and time.
This book is well written. The characters are complex. Overall, the plot line is not a happy one, but I felt like it was presented in a compelling way.
A realistic portrait of family, mental illness, and a family dealing with issues surrounding immigration in the United States.
It is not a dark, heavy read but it is a serious portrayal and the author’s depiction of these issues does justice to the love, the guilt, the humor, the denial, the grief, and the very real struggle of families who are on many different paths of these equally bumpy roads with our family members.
This book is a sad foray into mental illness and the impact it has on the person – Lucia – and those around her. The sadness is mitigated by the the wonderful relationships and experiences Lucia has despite her illness.
I loved this book.
Loved it!
This book is billed as “a tender but unflinching portrayal of the bond between two sisters” but it’s so much more than just a relationship between sisters. It’s about being young and living in the city; it’s about immigrants in the US; it’s about mental illness; it’s about bicultural couples and families. There’s something here for everyone.
Few books will ever compare to how the author not only depicts mental illness, but how it looks from one mentally ill. Beautiful and tragic, and frustrating because so few understand, and even fewer even wish to try.
I thought the shifts in perspective from one character to another was beautifully executed, so that each character had a unique voice and the different ways that they interpreted the same events felt believable. I think this book captures the complexity of mental illness hauntingly well, and it gave me many new insights. Kudos.
Intrigued me all the way through
Everything Here Is Beautiful is a story about family and mental illness. Each family member has to make tough decisions in their lives yet they still manage to stand by each other.
Lucia has a “normal” childhood until her 20’s when the serpents start talking to her in her head. Her mental illness takes her life into directions that no one would want to take. What I took away from all her mental issues was how much her sister, Miranda, stood by her. Even when on a different continent Miranda manages to keep in touch and find ways to support Lucia. I loved how Miranda stands up to her husband to help her sister when she needs it the most yet she doesn’t allow Lucia to take advantage.
By reading this book I was able to better understand how mental illness can affect a person, a family, and a society. The points of view of Lucia without the serpents and Lucia with the serpents opens my eyes to how helpless a person can be when really they just want a life with love, support, and family. Miranda, Manny, and Yonah also get their turns sharing their stories in alternating chapters. This gives the reader a total look at the life of Lucia and how it appears to those who know her best.
Mira T. Lee is amazing. This is a debut book from her and she has already secured a spot on my MUST-READ list. I highly recommend picking up your own copy of Everything Here is Beautiful.
Broke my heart but it was such a good story. I loved how they approached mental illness, love and family.
Everything Here Is Beautiful is Mira T. Lee’s debut novel, and a very sophisticated one it is. In the back of her book, there’s an interview with her in which she describes how she didn’t want to write about mental illness per se, but about relationships and how they are affected by mental illness. She does an admirable job with her goal. Miranda, the older sister, has always looked after her little sister, Lucia, from the moment of the youngest sister’s birth. They are immigrants from China, the mother coming to the States after the death of her husband in an automobile accident.
With Lucia’s first nervous breakdown she is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Tension escalates between the two closely-knit sisters. If Lucia goes off her medication, she faces another breakdown. Miranda, inherently a care-giver, feels she must swoop down and fix everything. Lucia resents her sister’s efforts to force Lucia to take her medications and views Miranda as both patronizing and controlling.
Lucia’s illness impacts not only Miranda, but Lucia’s two great loves, one an older Jewish immigrant, and the other a young Ecuadorian immigrant with whom she has a daughter. Readers constantly await the falling of the other shoe—when will Lucia have another breakdown. The novel is told from multiple points of view: Lucia, Miranda, and the two lovers. I also enjoyed the international backdrop of this novel as it moves from New York City, to the Swiss Alps, to the Ecuadorian campo, to Minnesota.
Two sisters are joined by a lifetime of sorrow and angst, that is defined by the younger sister’s mental illness. Everything is beautiful captures the heart as you learn about two Chinese sisters now adults and how they coped when they moved to America with their mother as children and the younger sister is diagnosed. Both college graudates the older Celeste known as Miranda remains in America as she struggles to keep her career on tract while caring for her sister off and on. Ng now known as Lucia is fluent in several languages and travels as a teacher but falls in love with Central America. Lucia tells her sister everything is beautiful and this is the theme for Lucia in between her mental struggles. Through marriages and trips to the hospital for Lucia you feel the deep love the sisters have and also the anger as neither can completely live her life. A wonderful story about choices.