Daniel Isn't Talking: A Novel [Unknown Binding]

Marti Leimbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006

Marti Leimbach’s first novel, Dying Young, was called “a masterpiece of details that always ring true, with the sad, funny and fascinating unpredictability of real life.” With the same talent and perception, Leimbach’s new novel takes the reader to London, to the home of the Marshes: Stephen Marsh, a true Brit; Melanie, a transplanted American; and their two children, four-year-old Emily and Daniel, just three. When it is conveyed that Daniel is autistic, the orderly life of the Marsh family is shattered.

Melanie is determined to fight to teach Daniel to speak, play and become as “normal” as possible. Her enchanting disposition has already helped her weather other of life’s storms, but Daniel’s autism may just push her over the brink, destroying her resolute optimism and bringing her unsteady marriage to an inglorious end. The situation is not helped by Stephen’s far-from-supportive parents, who proudly display the family tree with Melanie’s name barely penciled in, and who remain disconcertingly attached to Stephen’s ex-fiancée, a woman apparently intent on restaking her claim on Stephen. Melanie does have one strong ally in Andy, a talented and off-the-wall play therapist who specializes in teaching autistic children. Andy proves that Daniel is far more capable than anyone imagined, and Melanie finds herself drawn to him even as she staggers toward resolving her marriage.

Daniel Isn’t Talking is a moving, deeply absorbing story of a family in crisis. What sets it apart from most fiction about difficult subjects is the author’s ability to write about a sad and frightening situation with a seamless blend of warmth, compassion and humor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Leimbach (Dying Young) notes on the back of the galley that she has modeled her title character on her own autistic son; the result is moving, frequently funny and never mawkish. The novel is narrated by Melanie Marsh, an American woman living in England who seems to have it all: Stephen, a rich if somewhat starchy husband; Emily, a vivacious daughter; and an adorable son named Daniel. But after a normal infancy, Daniel is beginning to behave strangely—throwing tantrums, walking on his toes, still seeking his mother's breast and refusing to talk. As Melanie unravels, Stephen remains in denial, until the dreaded diagnosis of autism is delivered. The marriage falls apart, but Melanie does not. She embarks on a frustrating, heroic mission to get the best treatment for her son, eventually entrusting his care to Andy O'Connor, a behaviorist with a dubious reputation. But his unorthodox methods get results, and soon, a bit too predictably, a romance blossoms between Andy and Melanie. While the novel lacks the literary ambition of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Leimbach does succeed in making us care about Daniel and his progress. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Leimbach, the author of Dying Young (1989), tackles a story that hits close to home for her: a young mother grappling with the ramifications of her young son's diagnosis with autism. Melanie Marsh has what seems to be the perfect life: an American woman living abroad in London, she and her husband, Stephen, have two beautiful children. But when a doctor tells her that her three-year-old son, Daniel, who isn't developing normally, is autistic, Melanie resists Stephen's increasingly insistent suggestions that Daniel needs to be placed in a special school for autistic children. Determined that her son speak, Melanie turns to Andy O'Connor, who believes with patience and attention he can get autistic children to speak and play. Melanie believes Daniel will speak, but what she doesn't anticipate is that her marriage is in real danger or that she'll be deeply attracted to the charismatic Andy. Focused and tightly written, Leimbach's novel is an absorbing and hopeful story about a mother's love for and faith in her child. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 288 pages
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese; 1st edition (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385517513
• ISBN-13: 978-0385517515
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling novel - loved it!, April 4, 2006

By 

Peter Browning (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daniel Isn't Talking: A Novel

I wondered if this novel would be a real "downer" as I knew it dealt with both autism and marital breakdown, but honestly it is one of those rare books that makes you laugh out loud, makes you cry a little, but pretty much compels you forward through the story as though you're in a race, because you just cannot put it down.

Of course the subject of autism is fascinating, and if you want to see up-close what it might be like to have a child with autism, here's your chance. However, that is not what is so special about the book. What is so amazing is that even in the midst of all this tragedy, Leimbach can be so smart and funny and optimistic. Her heroine, Melanie, is beautifully developed, beginning as a kind of doormat for her alpha male, somewhat superficial husband, and ending as a real fighter who is able to see through most anybody and who certainly won't be manipulated anymore. The guy who falls in love with her (and who is also Daniel's teacher) is a quirky and totally unique character who you won't have met before in fiction - can't help but like him. There are all sorts of peripheral characters who are so interesting you wish the novel was twice as long to include their stories, especially mysterious Veena, who Melanie hires as a cleaner, loses track of, then befriends again in a new and more meaningful bond.

All very compelling stuff, and the children are marvellously real. They come up with surprising, witty dialogue, even Daniel who is not able at first to speak. Amazing novel.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Heartbreaking, May 10, 2006

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Radio Host" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daniel Isn't Talking: A Novel

"Physically, he is a most perfect child. He has cupid lips and a shy half-smile, skin the color of a ripe peach. He is lovely beyond imagination and I have failed him. I don't know how I could have let this happen, or how I can look up from the floor or ever raise my head or call him my own again, having let him down so badly. Baby, baby, please don't be sick, I hear my own voice in my head. Little boy, come back to me."

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was 3 1/2. PDD-NOS is a nebulous term for a developmental delay on the Autism spectrum. Because it is a "spectrum" disorder, children may be severely autistic or high-functioning--and everything in between.

The "early years" were a nightmare. I think I would have panicked even more had I read Daniel Isn't Talking during that time. Like the fictitious Daniel, my son has an affinity (used to be obsession) with Thomas the Tank Engine and friends. To read about Daniel's affinity for this toy...how he screamed in terror at public restrooms because of the loud hand dryer...how his mother had to frantically distract him in the grocery store with "biscuits" (cookies) to avoid a meltdown... These scenarios are all too familiar for parents with an autistic child.

Author Marti Leimbach ehcoes the rage, confusion, and desperation that Moms (and some Dads) often feel as they watch their precious children spin, flap, and cry in a strange world...a world that some parents, unfortunately, may never penetrate.

If you have a child with autism, you will see your experience reflected on these pages. If you are someone who is unfamiliar with autism, do yourself a favor and get this book. Children, especially males, are being diagnosed with autism at an unprecedented number. The CDC and medical community try to say it's not the vaccinations, and yet, children lose their speech right after the MMR shot. They claim "well, our ability to diagnose has increased, that's why the numbers are spiking". Hello?! It doesn't take a brain surgeon to recognize autistic behavior...

I was in a restaurant a few weeks ago and saw a child have a metldown. Like Daniel, this boy had a "normal" older sister and two clean cut parents. I waatched as the patrons stared and judged this parents. My own son watched. Thankfully, my son doesn't act like that anymore and I say that not in arrogance, but in gratitude. His behavior used to tear me up and push me to the breaking point--especially since my husband and I had very little support outside of our little family (including babysitting or respite care).

A mother looked at me from a neighboring table and said "Aren't you glad that he doesn't act like that?", referring to my son.

My blood boiled.

I said "That boy over there has autism. My son does too. And he USED to act like that. It's not easy parenting an autistic child and they don't deserve our judgment."

She looked at me blankly, muttering to her tablemates "Children like that should be removed when they act like that. When I was a kid..."

Ignorance, not compassion...which is par for the course here in America.

The reason I tell this story is because Marti Leimbach tells similar stories, but with a literary genius I don't have. The story itself, written in first person point of view, is an absorbing read on its own. But because she describes the "secret lives" of autistic mothers with such exquisite prose(although Daniel is the central character), it's an important social commentary, as well.

The guilt, the doctors, ABA, play therapy, the second guessing, the panic, the patience, the jubilation at the milestones, the stares, the rejection, the ignorance of bystanders, the grief--it's all here.

Thank you, Marti, for writing this book--and giving voice to the private hells of many.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Autism mums love the unlovable.", April 15, 2006

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daniel Isn't Talking: A Novel

Melanie Marsh is a transplanted American living in London with her British husband, Stephen, and their children, four-year-old Emily and three-year-old Daniel. While Emily is delightfully precocious, creative, and gregarious, Daniel often shrieks at the top of his lungs, cannot speak intelligibly, and sleeps fitfully, leaving his mother a nervous wreck. A simple shopping trip is a Herculean endeavor with Daniel in tow. Stephen thinks that Melanie is overprotective and a bit unstable, but she is adamant in her belief that her son's bizarre behavior points to a serious underlying problem.

When Daniel is finally diagnosed with autism, Melanie is devastated, especially since he seemed perfect at birth. She says to herself, "You might think that a baby with autism gives you some warning so you won't love him quite as much as you do your normal child." However, there is no warning. "The change is gradual; the symptoms devious in the way they come and go." Stephen wants to place Daniel in a residential school with other special children, but Melanie insists that he is better off at home. Stephen's and Melanie's already shaky marriage begins to disintegrate as they grow ever more distant from and angry at one another.

"Daniel Isn't Talking" is a poignant and affecting novel about a mother's agony when she realizes that her child will never be like other children. With occasional black humor, Leimbach effectively depicts the day-to-day struggle involved in dressing, feeding, and caring for a little boy who cannot communicate his wants and needs. The reader feels Melanie's intense frustration as she impoverishes herself visiting one specialist after another, hoping for a miracle cure that does not exist.

Marti Leimbach is an intelligent and compassionate writer with a keen ear for dialogue and a gift for creating quirky, unpredictable, and compelling characters. She wisely refrains from making her heroine a saint; Melanie is an intense and sometimes irrational woman who allows her emotions to overwhelm her. Although Melanie's husband is inattentive and cold, he is far from a one-dimensional monster. Stephen loves his family, but not enough to make him stay with a wife who is obsessed with her children 24/7.

My one quibble is with the character of Andy O'Connor, a charismatic and altruistic Irishman whose expertise in working with autistic children gives Melanie hope that her son will learn to speak. Andy is a bit too good to be true, and his romantic interest in Melanie injects a jarring soap opera element into the book. Still, "Daniel Isn't Talking" is highly recommended for its vivid portrayal of a fiercely devoted mother who refuses to give up on her child.