Book Of The Week #6- Finding Alice

Finding Alice

by Melody Carlson

    Finding Alice is a novel about a young woman who finds out she has schizophrenia.

Alice Laxton is a twenty-four-year-old college student living in Oregon. She is a very bright woman, near genius in the opinion of many, but there's always been something a little off about her. Raised in a fundamentalist Christian home, her mentally ill grandmother was always a taboo subject as well as any other mental issues.

    This book is written to the theme of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and there are many references to the classic tale throughout the book. Each chapter heading is named after an element of Alice In Wonderland.

    This, in my opinion, is one of Melody Carlson's finest pieces is of work. It's so real, but it's done tastefully. Melody has a way of giving you a front row seat to some crazy situations in her stories without making you feel dirty after you've read them. You really feel like Alice is falling down the rabbit hole as you read along. Yet this novel is full of hope. I know there is a lot of controversy over the portrayal of mental institutions in this book, but even though Alice starts out in a terrible institution, she finds her way to a wonderful one and I find that very inspiring. And the journey told throughout the book is a great testament to the awesomeness and love of God.

    To this date, I believe I've read this book three times in the last three years. That may not sound like a lot, but when you're someone who tries to read as many new books as you can, it says something when you've read a book more than once. All in all, I love this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

I give this book a 5 out of 5