An intricately crafted story of madness, magic and misfortune across three generations from the author of The Middle of Somewhere and House Broken… Vermont, 1972. Carole LaPorte has a satisfying, ordinary life. She cares for her children, balances the books for the family’s auto shop and laughs when her husband slow dances her across the kitchen floor. Her tragic childhood might have happened … tragic childhood might have happened to someone else.
But now her mind is playing tricks on her. The accounts won’t reconcile and the murmuring she hears isn’t the television. She ought to seek help, but she’s terrified of being locked away in a mental hospital like her mother, Solange. So Carole hides her symptoms, withdraws from her family and unwittingly sets her eleven-year-old daughter Alison on a desperate search for meaning and power: in Tarot cards, in omens from a nearby river and in a mysterious blue glass box belonging to her grandmother.
An exploration of the power of courage and love to overcome a damning legacy, All the Best People celebrates the search for identity and grace in the most ordinary lives.
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The warmth and honesty of this book blew me away. What if your greatest fear came true? This is Carole’s situation. She has a happy life in every way that matters, but she’s fighting the demons of her childhood and the mental illness that tormented her mother. When little things start going wrong, Carole is scared to tell anyone for fear she’ll end up in a mental hospital, as was her mother’s fate. As she slides deeper into her illness, she withdraws from her family and begins a downward spiral that affects her 11-year-old daughter in profound ways.
At its heart, All the Best People is a book about the mother/daughter relationship. The quirky, realistic characters grab you and the story is told with raw authenticity and it’s impossible not to become emotionally involved in the characters’ experiences. Yoerg explores the shame of mental illness and how its claims victims other than the one who suffers from the illness, but she also shows how important it is to have the unconditional love of family. This is a terrific read and a powerful story from a very talented author.
Sonya Yoerg’s All the Best People is the story of three generations of women who deal with mental illness in their family, the issues they face and how they overcome their misfortune.
In Part 1, it’s 1972, and Carol LaPorte lives with her family in Vermont. Her husband owns an auto shop, and she takes care of the books and customers, as well as her family. Carol starts hearing voices, and she thinks there’s something wrong with the TV, but it’s her mind playing tricks on her. Her mother, Solange, was institutionalized when Carol was just ten years old. She’s afraid and thinks she will be institutionalized too. She doesn’t let her family know what’s going on, so she tries to hide her symptoms and retreats to her room. Alison, Carol’s eleven-year old daughter, is smart though, and she knows something is definitely going on. Alison is very observant, and tries to understand life using her tarot cards and a little blue box that belonged to her grandmother.
In Part 2, the reader is taken back to 1926 when Solange was a young woman and meets her husband. They have a very nice lifestyle, but their families don’t mix. As the years go by, their relationship flounders, and events occur that cause Solange to be taken away. Young Carol is forced to live with her nasty aunt causing a tragic childhood.
In Part 3, Yoerg does a fantastic job of weaving the multi-generational stories together, and the family’s outcome is a positive one. This story really spoke to me, and I purposely read it slowly. I wanted to understand more about mental illness, its symptoms and the characters’ development. I wanted to soak it all in, and Yoerg satisfied my curiosity. I was shocked and amazed as to how mental illness was treated in the early decades of the twentieth century. All the Best People is brilliantly written, and I highly recommend it. I’ve also added it to my best collection.
It’s Vermont, 1972.
All the Best People is mesmerising, provocative and riveting……
A story begins rich in love but riddled with dysfunction, secrets and lies, torment and survival throughout generations of one particular family touched by mental illness and how they come to know it’s effects, it’s ripples, and deal with its shroud.
It’s twisty and haunting; compelling and diverse…..suspensefull.
Sonja Yoerg has written an important, emotional story of depth and intrigue. The characters are written very well as the story flows seamlessly through a multi-generational time frame between the early 1900s to the mid 1970s.
You will be drawn in and “feel” this story’s diverse subject matter to include a bit of magic and mystery, ugliness and grief. You will also experience their hopes as some particular characters try their best to hold onto some kind of normalcy when normal seems to be just out of their reach .
This novel is meaningful and has value as it relates to the human condition and all that comes with it. A must read…..
Thank you Sonja Yoerg for personally gifting me this wonderful book, one in which I not only thoroughly enjoyed but happily reviewed.
Novels N Latte Book Blog
Novels & Latte Book Club
Carole LaPorte is a mother of three children and helps her husband run their automotive repair business in Vermont. She is beginning to hear voices in her head and at times they seems to originate from the television. She starts having trouble focusing on simple chores and it affects her ability to work. She does her best to hide these symptoms from her family because of issues from her childhood. Her mother, Solange, was diagnosed with mental illness and was committed to an institution by her father.
This novel combines three stories which are told from various points of view. We learn more about Solange and Carole and soon get introduced to Alison who is Carole’s youngest child. Alison is watching her world fall apart as her mother becomes unreliable and withdrawn. With a mother battling mental issues, Alison experiences many of the same concerns as Carole. Solange’s life is examined in more detail and LaPorte family issues are revealed.
This is a heartfelt book about the stigma that mental illness carries and how treatments have changed throughout the years. Sometimes the best prescription is the love and support of your family. I hope to read more novels by Sonja Yoerg.
LOVE Sonya Yoerg’s writing, but this is my favorite so far. She’s got mad talent. SUPER-SCRIBE!
Best book I have read this year! Yoerg’s best book yet!
I loved this book. I still do. It has mental illness and heartbreak in it. It covers multiple generations of women.