Sights Unseen, Kaye Gibbons
Sights Unseen, Kaye Gibbons
1 Rating(s)
List: $14.99 | Sale: $10.50
Club: $7.49

Sights Unseen

Author: Kaye Gibbons

Narrator: Kaye Gibbons

Abridged: 2 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/01/1995


Synopsis

The bestselling author of Charms for the Easy Life reads "her best novel since Ellen Foster."

Kaye Gibbons' award-winning novels of Southern family life have won rave reviews coast to coast. Now, she tells the "story of family dislocation and crisis in restrained prose of unflinching clarity, with a honing eye for the small domestic details that conjure a time, place and emotional atmosphere." (Publishers Weekly)

To the people of Bend of the River Road, Maggie Barnes is "the Barnes woman with all the problems." To her family, she is the unpredictable wife, elusive mother, and adored daughter-in-law, and to her maid, Pearl, she is the mistress who must be cared for like a child.

Between the suicidal lows and delirious highs, young Hattie Barnes struggles to find a place in her mother's heart. She observes her mother's vain attempts at normalcy, and then watches as she is driven off to the hospital psychiatric ward. Only later will Hattie discover the deep-seated hopes and fears of the woman she loves unconditionally, and her inevitable connection to her family's past.

In heartfelt and potent prose, through Hattie's hushed voice, Sights Unseen tells the story of a troubled relationship and the courage it takes to see it through.

About Kaye Gibbons

Kaye Gibbons was born in 1960 in Nash County, North Carolina, on Bend of the River Road. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. At twenty-six years old, she wrote her first novel, Ellen Foster. She is also the author of A Virtuous Woman, Charms for the Easy Life, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon, A Cure for Dreams, Sights Unseen, and Divining Women.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ines on October 24, 2019

A touching and moving story told by a 12-year-old girl named Hattie, yearning for love, tenderness and attention missed.... Every day I see those faces at the Hospital where i work, the faces of family members who are severely affected by mental illness... of those who love their loved one, but are r......more

Goodreads review by Karen on January 27, 2020

By the author who wrote Ellen Foster. In this book, Kaye Gibbons, writes about the effect that having a mom with Manic Depression, has on her two children.This was a page turner which offered insight into a family shadowed by a mother's mental illness. Well worth reading.......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on November 07, 2017

The first sentence draws you in. Gibbons explores the effects of a mother's mental illness on her family. She's a talented writer; she captures the reader who lets go ever so reluctantly at the end of each novel. Her writing is to be treasured. I had read this book earlier, but the date shown is whe......more

Goodreads review by Susan on October 21, 2024

Sights Unseen by Kaye Gibbons is one of this author’s earlier novels in her writing career. Having recently read and enjoyed another novel by Gibbons, I picked this one up from the bookstore. Though it’s a rather short read, it is filled with a gripping story of a family dealing with the mother’s me......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on March 19, 2017

3.5 Despite the bleak tone of the book and noticeable lack of plot, I still love the way Kaye Gibbons writes. This story tells how a mother's mental illness affects her family, and I gained some useful insights into the world of manic-depression. Charms for the Easy Life is definitely Gibbons best b......more