The Order of Things
A Novel
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An out of sorts librarian finds support and friendship in the most unlikely place. The Order of Things is a new novel from Lynne Hinton--the national bestselling author of Friendship Cake.
Andreas Jay Hackett is a university librarian known for her love of keeping things organized. But one summer, she finds herself falling away from a sense of well being, depressed, "out of order." Her work doesn't give her pleasure, her friends worry about her, and her own voice begins to frighten her. Therapy, pills and doctors visits don't help, so Andreas checks herself into a psychiatric facility. There, she finds herself in a room next door to a prison inmate who has also been hospitalized. As she talks with her new neighbor, Andreas begins to come out of her despair--ultimately finding the healing she needs through a friendship that develops in the darkest of circumstances, and despite boundaries of race, gender, education, and age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After long finding comfort in organization, introverted university librarian Andreas Hackett finds order abandoning her in Hinton's (The Arms of God) plodding novel. Suffering from depression, Andreas checks herself into Holly Pines, a psychiatric hospital. Therapy fails to elicit anything but Andreas's observation that the caregivers are more interested in their own agendas than her problems. Her turnaround conveniently occurs shortly before her insurance runs out, when she's placed in a room next to Lathin Hawkins, an elderly black prison inmate hospitalized for suicide attempts. A tentative conversation begun through adjoining room vents turns into an all-night catharsis as they share their darkest sorrows. Andreas recalls her transient childhood as the daughter of a single mother who frequently changed jobs and cities, and her guilt for not trying to save a cousin from a fatal fall when both were young. Lathin's burden is twofold: a black man's legacy of segregation and abuse, and the deeply personal regret of being unable to protect his daughter from abuse. The contrived happy ending mirrors Hinton's overly emotive style and makes for a disappointing, pedestrian read.
Customer Reviews
well written
I enjoyed this read, especially given the point of view. Andreas explains her depression as well as her experience through the healthcare process in an honest and matter of fact way. Lynne Hinton is very gifted and I love her writing style.