Only With the Heart: A Novel [Paperback]

Sherri Szeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2001

After a childhood spent in foster homes and a lifetime of longing, Claudia has finally found a family: a devoted husband, Sam, and a loving and supportive mother, Eleanor. But soon Eleanor develops Alzheimer's-complete with violent eruptions, speechlessness, incontinence, and suicide attempts-and Claudia's beautiful life becomes a nightmare. When Eleanor is unexpectedly found dead, Claudia is charged with murder. Told in the unforgettable voices of its three players-Claudia, Eleanor, and Sam-Only with the Heart is an engrossing, beautifully crafted novel about the agonizing effects of terminal disease, our deepest need for acceptance, and the difficult, complex character of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alzheimer's disease claims more than its victim in Szeman's (The Kommandant's Mistress) delicately structured, poignant novel of love, memory and family responsibility. In and out of foster homes all her life, Claudia Page is 13 when she is finally adopted by a smalltown family. She loves her new mother, Grace, and older brother, Roger, but only when she becomes engaged to Sam Sloane, Roger's best friend, does she feel she really belongs. Sam's mother, Eleanor, welcomes Claudia as the daughter she never had, expressing her love by sharing bits of remembered songs, old photographs and heirloom jewelry. But early on, Eleanor is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and she becomes increasingly confused, confrontational, forgetful, morbid and violent. When Sam's father dies, Claudia and Sam decide to care for Eleanor themselves, little suspecting how difficult it will be and how their marriage will suffer. After years of their devoted care, Eleanor is found dead of an overdose of prescription pills. Although Sam and Claudia admit that each had occasionally hoped that Eleanor's misery would end with her merciful death, neither is prepared for the ensuing nightmare. Seizing on circumstantial evidence, a power-hungry DA brings Claudia to trial for the murder of her mother-in-law. The story is told from three points of view: Claudia reveals her feelings through sessions with her psychiatrist; Eleanor shares the terror of living inside her own head; and Sam tells his tale through memories dredged up during the trial. As the narrative flits back and forth through time, it becomes clear that neither Sam nor Claudia is an entirely credible witness. It is a credit to Szeman's artistry that perhaps the stricken Eleanor is the most reliable narrator. Though somewhat dated in tone and vague when it comes to specifics of place, the novel is dead-on in its depiction of the destructive power of a disease that can devastate a family. Agent, Jennifer Hengen. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Szeman, author of the brilliant Kommandant's Mistress (1993), powerfully conveys the devastation wrought by Alzheimer's on family relationships in this novel written from the perspectives of a woman inflicted with the debilitating condition, her daughter-in-law, and her son. Claudia, the daughter-in-law, begins by recalling her own unhappy youth in foster homes and her joy at marrying Sam and gaining a loving mother-in-law in Eleanor. Claudia's recollections are overlaid with conversations with her psychiatrist that slowly reveal the deterioration of a promising relationship, several miscarriages, and a police investigation when Eleanor dies. In flashbacks, Claudia and Sam recall their lives together and the struggle to care for Eleanor in their home after Sam's father dies. After eight years of deterioration, the disease has taken its horrific toll on the three, shattering their closeness. Eleanor's recollections are the painful offerings of a woman losing her bearings in life and searching for a way out of the certain deterioration. Suspicions that Claudia may have assisted Eleanor's death lead to a murder trial and further complicate this story of filial and marital devotion in the face of Alzheimer's. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (October 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559705957
• ISBN-13: 978-1559705950
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,010,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Name changed to ALEXANDRIA CONSTANTINOVA SZEMAN. (Formerly writing as "Sherri" because 1st Editor said name "wouldn't fit on cover of book", and subsequent editor/agent didn't want to "lose name recognition" of first book). Author of critically acclaimed and award-winning books: THE KOMMANDANT'S MISTRESS (a novel), Winner of the University of Rochester's Kafka Prize 1994 for "best book of prose fiction by an American woman" and chosen as one of THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW's "Top 100 Books of 1993". ONLY WITH THE HEART (a novel), on Recommended Reading Lists of Alzheimer's Chapters nationwide. MASTERING POINT OF VIEW (nonfiction on novel-writing). Two critically acclaimed & award winning poetry collections, each of which contains some poems from Ph.D. dissertation of original poetry, SURVIVOR: ONE WHO SURVIVES (1986). Poetry books coming soon: LOVE IN THE TIME OF DINOSAURS (UKA Press 2012) and WHERE LIGHTNING STRIKES: POEMS OF THE HOLOCAUST (UKA Press 2012). An award winning collection of short stories, NAKED WITH GLASSES (Grand Prize Winner 2007, UKA Press International Writing Competition, UKA Press 2012), etc. First three books being re-iussed under Alexandria Constantinova Szeman (formerly writing as "Sherri"): THE KOMMANDANT'S MISTRESS, REVISED & EXPANDED, 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2012), a novel, with discussion questions and original source material, including preface by author, coming as e-book & Trade paper. ONLY WITH THE HEART, REVISED & EXPANDED EDITION (2012), a novel, including discussion questions for book groups, teachers, & students; coming as e-book & Trade paper. MASTERING POINT OF VIEW & OTHER CREATIVE WRITING ELEMENTS, IN ALL GENRES; REVISED & EXPANDED, 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2012): will now cover all aspects of creative writing and all genres; coming as e-book & Trade paper. Additional creative writing exercise books coming as e-books in 2012. Follow Alexandria (f.k.a., "Sherri"), her books, and her characters on Twitter. URLs of Book groups & discussion questions for novels on website. New, original creative writing exercises daily - from forthcoming REVISED & EXPANDED MASTERING POINT OF VIEW & OTHER CREATIVE WRITING ELEMENTS: IN ALL GENRES, other forthcoming writing books - on Twitter @POV_CW.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for Everyone, September 12, 2000

By 

Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only With the Heart (Hardcover)

This book was definitely not written for the mass market, so if you are looking for a traditional style novel, think twice before you read this one.

Like the Kommandant's Mistress, the writing style is troubling, for it is much like our minds probably are, with just a little editing. The book is divided into three sections - one is from the view of a woman (Claudia) who ends up on trial for the murder (assisted suicide) of her mother-in-law (Eleanor), who had Alzheimer's. The second section is from Eleanor's viewpoint. The final section is told from the viewpoint of the Sam, son of the dead woman, as Claudia stands trial.

Szeman gives us the story from different perspectives, something not unusual at all. However, as in her first novel (The Kommandant's Mistress), the thoughts shared by each person are from minds left somewhat unattended. In the same paragraph, one sentence or thought will lead to something else from different moments in the past, then back again to the present. You cannot read this book without paying attention, or you will become lost.

In addition, each person has a different view of people and events. Each strongly believes their own story to be the correct one. Of course, nothing in real life (unlike most movies and novels) is clear, cluttered (unencumbered by sanity, as the old saying goes). No renditions of an event, by more than one person, is ever definite, in absolute agreement, untainted by egos or one-sided perceptions. In this book, events and memories are misty, conflicting, unsettling.

Most disturbing to me was Eleanor's section, as it shifted from the muddled murmuring of an Alzheimer sufferer, gradually moving back in time until she is the wonderful woman she once was, with a close relationship with her daughter-in-law.

You will never know for sure if there was an assisted suicide, and if so, who was the helper. Szeman said in a recent interview that readers are split down the middle. If you like a straight-forward who-dun-it, smooth and clear and easy to read, you may not enjoy this book. It truly has an unconventional style, and the read is not relaxing.

On the day the book officially went into the bookstores, it was already in its second printing - obviously it is speaking to many, so if you are a reader of fine literature, and a supporter of new and emerging authors, you might want to give this one a read!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Points of View, January 27, 2008

By 

Yu-han Chao "www.yuhanchao.com" (Taiwan & USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only With the Heart: A Novel (Paperback)

The story in "Only with the Heart" is told from three points of view by three different characters: Eleanor, an elderly woman with Alzheimer's, her son Sam, and her daughter in law Claudia. The mystery here is we don't know how Eleanor died (not for sure.) Claudia's and Sam's accounts of the events from past to present contradict one another in many ways, which makes both of them suspicious. Either of them could have killed Eleanor, whose medical bills and deteriorating memory was bankrupting the family and causing stress in Sam's and Claudia's marriage.

A sad and beautiful story. The part of the book that is written from Eleanor's point of view is especially poignant and sad as she loses her memory and skips back and forth, forgetting the words for things, not understanding.