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Unsaid: A Novel [Hardcover]

Neil Abramson
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (199 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 4, 2011
As a veterinarian, Helena had mercifully escorted thousands of animals to the other side. Now, having died herself, she finds that it is not so easy to move on. She is terrified that her 37 years of life were meaningless, error-ridden, and forgettable. So Helena haunts-- and is haunted by-- the life she left behind. Meanwhile, David, her shattered attorney husband, struggles with grief and the demands of caring for her houseful of damaged and beloved animals. But it is her absence from her last project, Cindy-- a chimpanzee who may unlock the mystery of communication and consciousness-- that will have the greatest impact on all of them.

When Cindy is scheduled for a research experiment that will undoubtedly take her life, David must call upon everything he has learned from Helena to save her. In the explosive courtroom drama that follows, all the threads of Helena's life entwine and tear as Helena and David confront their mistakes, grief, and loss, and discover the only way to save Cindy is to understand what it really means to be human.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An extraordinary story of animals, mortality, and the power of love. Everyone needs to read this novel!" (Garth Stein, author of the International Bestseller The Art of Racing in the Rain )

"UNSAID will really make you think about the relationship between people and animals. I was not able to put it down, and I read parts of it twice." (Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human )

"Enjoyed it thoroughly." (Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep )

"...a remarkable book." (Susan Wilson, author of One Good Dog and The Fortune Teller's Daughter )

"A poignant read on the meaning of life and its priorities--how death and despair can lead to renewal and life, but only if one realizes the interconnectedness of all creatures." (Irene M. Pepperberg, author of Alex and Me )

"This moving and riveting novel beautifully expresses the transforming power of the human-animal relationship. Read it if you shared your life with an animal, but more importantly, read it if you haven't." (Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, and author of the bestseller Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food )

"A suspenseful, heart-throbbing novel exploring the big questions of life, death, sentience, animal rights, compassion, righteous indignation, and what it is all about and why. The surprise twists are like an emotional roller coaster. Read it, weep, grab your chair, and gain insights into the big why!" (Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., and author of Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond Between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live )

"Humans are pretty much a big-brained, self-centered, and arrogant lot, but when we allow ourselves to connect with other animals in deep and meaningful ways, they ground us and allow us to show who we really are--compassionate, empathetic, and caring beings. In this unique and moving novel, Neil Abramson shows just how strong our relationships with other animals can be, and how we can learn so much from our animal kin about their needs, their emotions, and respect, dignity, and love. I was continually moved as I read UNSAID and reflected on its important messages about just how important other animals are to us, and encourage you to read this intriguing book and share it widely." (Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Expanding Our Compassion Footprint )

"A remarkable book, uncanny in that its narrator is recently deceased, but vivid in its development of believable and complex characters, both human and nonhuman. The author embeds in the story important aspects of current controversies over the extent of animal capacities as well as a keen sense of the value of animal lives (Susan J. Armstrong, Professor Emerita, Humboldt State University, and co-editor, The Animal Ethics Reader )

"Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, a novel of animal slaughter and the men who perform it, exerted a powerful influence on a much earlier generation. May I hope that Neil Abramson's novel, UNSAID, will have a similar effect on present day readers and help us understand that animals need us as much as we need them. A riveting tale!" (George K. Russell, Professor of Biology, Adelphi University and Senior Editor, Orion magazine )

UNSAID says it all in a lyrical story about humanity's journey from betrayal to reconciliation with our animal kin. A beautiful, wrenching testimony." (G.A. Bradshaw, director and founder, The Kerulos Center, and author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity )

"Neil Abramson has written a powerful and imaginative novel. His insights into the animal kingdom touched my heart. My book club will love it." (Meredith Brokaw, creator and co-author of the Penny Whistle book and Big Sky Cooking )

"A compelling story of love, death, and ethics told with skill and sensitivity." (Carla Davis, Editor, Best Friends magazine )

"If you love legal dramas...or dogs...or terrific writing...or originality...or people...or discovering wonderful new writers, then Neil Abramson's UNSAID is a book you simply must read." (David Rosenfelt, author of Dog Tags )

About the Author

Neil Abramson is a partner in a Manhattan law firm, and his wife is a veterinarian. Abramson is also a past board member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an award recipient from the ASPCA for his legal work on behalf of animals, and a founding member of the New York City Bar Association Committee on Legal Issues Relating to Animals.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Center Street; Import edition (August 4, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1599954109
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599954103
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (199 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

If you love animals, I recommend this book. garden guru  |  67 reviewers made a similar statement
It wasn't a dog story - it was about people that loved animals. MollyM  |  45 reviewers made a similar statement
I laughed and cried in this book. Myrna Lou Goldbaum  |  38 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
150 of 156 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I started this book experiencing a problem with the premise. Helena, a veterinarian who was involved in chimp research, comes back as an ethereal being after dying from cancer, and watches her husband slowly disintegrate while events unfold. As an atheist, I don't buy the premise - loved ones who have passed, watching human events before they are able to move on - so I was sure I was going to hate the book.

I was totally, one thousand percent, mistaken. I loved this book. I must have cried at least five times as the story progressed. If that happens to me, the person who doesn't believe in afterlife, etc., I can only imagine the reaction of caring people who believe in heaven and redemption. OMG, so to speak, they (you) will love Unsaid.

Unsaid has it all. The totally believable characters have human failings and aspirations, and secrets. I could feel for each one of the characters. I especially felt the heart wrenching pain of Jaycee, the chimp researcher who will do anything to prevent "her" chimp from being dumped into the abyss of the federal biological research program.

Once I decided to go with the premise of an afterlife as a literary device, I could not put the book down. I became part of this story, looking on - as Helena was - with a growing sense of helplessness to stop events. As the plot unfolded, I couldn't help but take the revelations to heart. I recalled, and regretted, so much that I had left unsaid with my dad and my brother before they died.

Reading this book, I remembered when I was a child and touched the soft hand of a chimpanzee. I understood the connection Helena felt, when she was alive and touched the hand of a chimpanzee for the first time. The connection stays with you for life.

The sensitivity and love that emerges from these pages makes me think the author may have touched the hand of a chimpanzee before he sat down to write this book. Unsaid will certainly touch many, many hearts. I hope it touches yours.
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124 of 131 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I pre-ordered this book based upon the description and received it inexplicably before its release date. I read it in one day! I don't cry lightly. Any woman who works for me and comes into my office with tears in her eyes hears me quote a line from a Tom Hanks movie--"There is no crying in baseball--when you get a grip on yourself you can come back later!!", I read this book with my sunglasses on-- in order not to sully my tough, old broad reputation.

In 1983 I was a law student, who came home directly from class, with no time to "hang out"--boo hoo-- and cared for her ill father, until her mother, who worked herself to death as a waitress, came home from work to 'relieve me" so I could study. Two days before my father suffered his fatal stroke, I was preparing my father's supper when I heard him addressing our family companion animal--a dog 'officially" named General Douglas MacArthur--we called him Mac. (Mac was a high strung, highly intelligent, loyal, heavy drinking--that story is for another time--, Irish-English setter mix.) My father, after cleaning Mac's allergic eyes, as my father did every time he cleaned his own eyes of the saw dust from his work, with his hand gently placed upon the dog's head said in a low, sorrowful tone, not meant for me to hear: "Mac, the more I get to know people--the more I appreciate you...."

My father as a young child experienced extreme poverty, saw unjustified murder and discrimination in an occupied country, as a young man he experienced World War II, as a young husband he experienced extreme and costly family betrayal, as a young father he experienced the violent death of his young and beautiful child--despite this--and perhaps because of this-- he remained a steadfast, loyal husband, a dedicated father who lived only for his family and always worked for, hoped and wished the best for his family until the day he died.

This moving and compelling book both validates and challenges my father's profound and deliberate statement to Mac, his animal companion in life and in death. (For weeks following my father's death, Mac sat beside my father's favorite chair patiently and futilely awaiting his return.)

This book and its author clearly reminds you that if you have ever had the good fortune to have an animal companion you will have known the unconditional love and dedication they bestow upon you and because of that you owe your companion loyalty and protection. It makes you remember and focus upon their innocence and unquestioning dedication to you and the responsibility you owe them. This book also makes you focus on your relationships with the humans that love you. It compels you to connect and express your love. This book reveals the brutality and callousness of the ambitions of humans. But this book also gives hope that as a human we can change we do not have to continue to be what we are--we can be better.

After reading this novel--I hope to become the human my dog believes me to be!--and the person my father meant me to be...
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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book! July 27, 2011
Format:Hardcover
This was an amazing book and a must read for any animal lover. Everything about the book was done well. The characters, the storyline, the animals all draw you in and make it almost impossible for you to put the book down. Don't really want to give anything away, but just wanted to say- READ IT! I hope hope hope the author writes another book soon!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Just not exciting enough..
I think the storyline was good, but could have used more excitement. I just could not get engulfed in the book, even though the message was heartwarming. Read more
Published 18 hours ago by Andrea Kalafut
5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable!
This was great book. The plot was different with lots of twists and turns. I loved all the pets and animals. I did get a twinge at times that there was a PETA agenda. Read more
Published 1 day ago by M. Cargill
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful Look at Life
This book has a different approach to what follows death. Looked at from the perspective of the person who died, the book explores the issues that keep her soul grounded to this... Read more
Published 2 days ago by cassidy's mom
3.0 out of 5 stars The animals that help make us human
"Unsaid" is at times as gut wrenching as it is lyrical. It's often haunting and poignant. It's a story about animals that sets out to offer us insight into what it is really that... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Rett01
5.0 out of 5 stars Unsaid:a novel by Neil abramson
I choose this rating because this book was excellent. Well written and planned. I love animals . I've had dogs cats a eyed pony named Alf, raccoons snakes hedgehogs a blue tongue... Read more
Published 3 days ago by melinda eichenlaub
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book with a new twist, for me
without carefully reading the write-up of the story, I thought the book was going to be about a dog and from the dog's point of view, hence the title "unsaid". Read more
Published 6 days ago by Nancy S. Gragg
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read
This was an excellent book. I read it in two days because I couldn't put it down. I now recommend all my family and friends read!
Published 6 days ago by Chevala
5.0 out of 5 stars A true heartbreaker
Not everyone can get past page 13. I used a bix of tissues and have given 5 books to family
Published 7 days ago by Sharon A Sadler
5.0 out of 5 stars Living, loving, healing
This story shared a life although well spent, cut short. Do we ever understand how one life intertwines with another to cause such chain reactions that we refer to as... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Mom-Mom
4.0 out of 5 stars Sad but happy
This book was so great. It was sad, but happy at the same time.
I haven't read many books from this point of view, so this was the saddest aspect to me, because she constantly... Read more
Published 9 days ago by CW
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