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    The Map of True Places
    The Map of True Places
    The Map of True Places
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Map of True Places

    Written by Brunonia Barry

    Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “Masterfully woven…The Map of True Places is a gripping quest for truth that kept me reading at the edge of my seat to the very last page.”
    —Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice

     

    Brunonia Barry, author of the beloved New York Times and international bestseller The Lace Reader is back with The Map of True Places, an emotionally resonant novel of tragedy, secrets, identity, and love. The moving and remarkable tale of a psychotherapist who discovers the strands of her own life in the death of a troubled patient, The Map of True Places is another glorious display of the unique storytelling prowess that inspired Toronto’s Globe and Mail to exclaim, “Brunonia Barry can write. Boy can she write.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 4, 2010
    ISBN9780061988707
    The Map of True Places
    Author

    Brunonia Barry

    Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry studied literature and creative writing at Green Mountain College in Vermont and at the University of New Hampshire. After nearly a decade in Hollywood, Barry returned to Massachusetts, where, along with her husband, she founded an innovative company that creates award-winning word, visual and logic puzzles. Happily married, Barry lives with her husband and her twelve-year old Golden Retriever named Byzantium

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    Reviews for The Map of True Places

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    • 5/5
      Although I was afraid that this book was going to be too sad to read, it wasn't. I liked The Lace Reader but The Map of True Places was even better. The setting, the characters, the language were all lovely. This book was more complex than The Lace Reader but in a positive and satisfying way. I loved this book and will recommend it to my family and friends.
    • 4/5
      From my blogI wanted something different to read, that wasn't y usual mystery genre, and I was able to pick a great one. This has been on my to read list for over 3 years. I highly recommend this one for book clubs, so much to discuss. Zee is a psychiatrist that lost her mom to suicide and now has crossed the lines with a client that reminds her of her moms death. Unfortunately the suicide has impacted her and she takes time off to spend with her father. Her father had Parkinson's but she didn't realize how far the disease had progressed and now she wants to be his caregiver also. Is Zee helping or is she running away from life? "It's not down on any map; true places never are."-- Herman Melville This was a great quote from the book. Finding the place that you need to be and should be at the perfect moment. Realising you are living life for others instead of yourself. I enjoyed this thought that was in the background of the story. It also made you think if daughters try to relive our mothers lives. Each section in the book started with a quote or motivation around the stars, celestial navigation, which became a beautiful part of the story, you enjoyed the journey of understanding the stars. There was lots going on in The Map of True Places but a beautiful transition from one part of Zee's life to another, it captures you and makes you just want to continue reading. When Zee gets to her dad, she realizes he has broken up with his life partner but she remains close as they have been an important part of her life growing up. Both her and her dad have ended relationships, another life change. The bonus for me is there was a mystery element for Zee, I was shocked by it but loved how it really showed you, you never know who you will love. What a beautiful story of life, the sadness and beautiful parts of life and how all things connect, making you realize the world is smaller then we think.
    • 3/5
      This second novel by Barry has a lot in common with her first, "The Lace Reader." On the plus side, this means it features a compelling female protagonist and great descriptions of Salem, Mass. On the down side, that means it also includes a draggy middle section and names so improbably ridiculous that they detract from the story.
    • 4/5
      Consider a family with secrets, throw in good intentions, fateful circumstances, mental & physical illness, and you have the nucleus of this story. That Zee, our heroine, has any mental health (after all she's witnessed & endured by the end of the book) is a miracle. I love the setting of Salem and the symbolism of maps & sextants; how difficult it is to navigate life & "find our way home." I've lived long enough to recognize that life is crazy & rarely turns out the way we expect it to, so the twists & turns of this story don't bother me. I have to admit that I guessed Melville's big secret about 1/2 way through the book. A nice rainy weekend read.
    • 4/5
      Zee, a psychiatrist whose mother committed suicide when Zee was twelve, loses a patient to suicide and goes home to Salem, Mass. to reground herself. However, her Father's progressing Parkinson's and then the onset of Alzheimer's just add to all the unsettled feelings she came home with. There are interesting relationships, believable processing and a believable ending. Some parts dragged on but most of it held my interest well.
    • 4/5
      A story of fate and destiny and the fine line between real life and fairy tales.
    • 4/5
      The Map of True Places is the story of Zee Finch, a psychotherapist whose world is shaken up when one of her patients commits suicide. Zee goes home to Salem and discovers that her father Finch’s Parkinson’s disease is much more advanced than she’d thought. Zee’s mother killed herself when Zee was twelve and now Finch’s longtime companion has moved out. Zee extends her visit in Salem to care for her ailing father. While there, Zee must confront her unresolved issues about both her mother and her patient’s suicides.The plot of this book moved fairly slowly in the first two-thirds of the book and then turned into a roller coaster of twists and turns in the last third. For me, the pay-off in the last third was worth the wait – I didn’t see any of the twists coming. I haven’t read Brunonia Barry’s first book, The Lace Reader. From what I understand a few of the main characters in that book are minor characters in this book but it’s not a sequel. I don’t feel like I missed anything not having read the first book.
    • 4/5
      Psychotherapist Zee Finch is forced to come to terms with her own past as she attempts to treat a patient who is remarkably similar to her mother, who committed suicide when Zee was just 13 years old. Zee’s patient leads Zee back into her past and also back to her father, a Parkinson’s sufferer who now needs Zee’s caretaking.The Map of True Places is a stirring family drama, filled with complex characters and even more complex interactions. For the most part, the novel’s intricate plot is engaging, but it occasionally strains credibility, particularly with a suspenseful subplot involving Zee’s patient that is only introduced near the end of the novel. This sensitive portrayal of family connections would have benefitted from some careful editing, but, even it its current form, it is an engaging novel.
    • 4/5
      The Map of True Places is the second novel that I've read by Brunonia Barry. The first was The Lace Reader, which I read last year and enjoyed. Both of Barry's novels are set in Salem Massachusetts, the hometown of Brunonia Barry and rich with culture and history that she weaves into her novels. The Map of True Places, is a moving story of Zee, a young psychotherapist who finds connection and self discovery through the death of one of her patients. Zee is in a place in her life where she seems to have it all, a wonderful career with a great mentor Dr. Mattei, a fiance and family that love her. Things change drastically in Zee's life after the death of her patient and Zee must also confront the declining health of her adored father Finch. Zee's life goes off course and she must find a way to get herself back on track and find answers to many questions from her past. Barry has a way with storytelling that immerses you as a reader right into the story. I found the characters to be interesting and well written and the background of Salem and navigational themes held together the story. If you've read The Lace Reader, you will find some of the characters mentioned along the way. I enjoyed The Lace Reader and was surprised to find that I enjoyed The Map of True Places even more. This would make a great book to discuss with a book club as there is so much to discuss with themes related to secrets, identity, love, family, suicide, and much more.
    • 4/5
      Zee Finch loses her mother at a young age and ends up spending part of her childhood stealing boats— which has earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a psychotherapist and is about to marry Michael. But the suicide of her patient Lilly throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her to Salem after Lilly's funeral where her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father.
      Zee becomes overwhelmed by her new role as caregiver, and becomes uncertain about her future. She meets Hawks and they set out on a relationship that brings back memories of a story her mother wrote. There are several twists and turns in this story. You feel for Zee struggling to do the right thing for Finch and also for Melville who loves Finch dearly yet has been thrown out of the house by Finch. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.
    • 4/5
      For readers of The Lace Reader, Barry keeps to her original location, with appearances/mentions of characters from the first book. However, this is not a sequel; it is its own story. Barry has a mystical quality in her writing but it is not overpowering. I loved Zee and the rest of the characters. They were realistic and likeable. The story about her dad and his advancing disease was heart wrenching. Barry brought Salem to life with her vivid descriptions of the town. I also liked the theme of finding Zee at a crossroads in her life. The time with her father and family was just what she needed to find her way. It was all done in a touching and memorable story that had a bit of mystery, thriller and romance thrown in.
    • 5/5
      I just love a book full of several characters with complicated interwoven realationships, allusions to classic literature, and symoblism worth pondering long after the last page. I found myself truly taking my time and just enjoying the writing.
    • 3/5
      Zee Finch is a respected psychotherepist. One of her patients jumps off a bridge and Zee puts her career on hold and returns home to care for her father and to find answers to her own mother's suicide.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the characters in the book. I enjoyed the writing style. However, the book got jumbled for me trying to deal with too many issues:Mental illnessRole of caregiverAbuseMarriageInfidelitySuicideDoctor-patient relationshipLoveIt was just too much for me. I would have enjoyed seeing fewer of the story lines but each one more developed.
    • 5/5
      Once again the story was well told. Loved the twist and turns of the book.
    • 5/5
      Readers rejoice! Brunonia Barry, author of The Lace Reader, is back with another gripping novel of human relationships and their consequences. It's again set in Salem, with some returning characters, which made it very easy to fall into the place and just flow with the story. Zee Finch, a psychotherapist, has come home to take care of her ailing father and to try to figure out her own life after the suicide of one of her patients, which was made even more difficult by Zee's past--her mother committed suicide herself, in front of her. There is a complex weave of past and present, love and betrayals, beginnings and endings in this story that reads quickly and leaves you longing for Barry's next book and a chance to visit her Salem yet again.
    • 4/5
      I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.Zee is working as a psychotherapist when one of her patients commits suicide. The tragedy brings up all kinds of issues for Zee and forces her to confront her past. In the middle of trying to work through the tragedy, Zee must return home to Salem to care for her father who is suffering from late stage Parkinson's. During her time in Salem, Zee tries to come to terms with the past and the suicide of her own mother when she was a young girl. As family secrets come to light and Zee learns to open her heart, another tragedy may be just around the corner.THE MAP OF TRUE PLACES is filled with references to celestial navigation and it is a very effective device. Coupling that with the setting in Salem, Massachusetts was particularly good. Zee is a deeply flawed person trying to make sense of her tragic past and how it shaped her present. This struggle against the backdrop of her caring for her ailing father is very moving. Barry does an excellent job revealing the flaws of all the characters while keeping them human and relatable. The celestial navigation methapor works so well as Zee tries to find her way back to herself. I found myself wanting to run out and learn about celestial navigation after reading this book.I really enjoyed MAP OF TRUE PLACES. I thought the characters were interesting and I loved Zee's story and the focus on how our past affects who we are and the choices that we make. The setting in Salem was perfect and very effective. The book has everything from buried family secrets to witches to Nathanial Hawthorne to pirates to the threat of violence. It covers a lot of ground. I have already decided to go back and read Barry's LACE READER since I enjoyed this one so much.BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. A great story of family secrets and letting go of the past with a terrific setting. You will want to go out sailing and navigate by the stars after reading this.
    • 5/5
      This could have been a really depressing book. After all the subjects are suicide, bi-polar disorder, Parkinson's disease, betrayal, and depression. Instead of leaving the reader reaching for the Prozac bottle, the story ends leaving the reader with a tad bit of a letdown--(more on that later).It is a great story about a story, and about a young woman's search for herself, her mother, and her future. Zee Finch is a pyschologist whose patient (a young woman close to her age) jumps off a bridge when she should have been at her appointment with Zee. Since Lilly (the patient) reminds Zee of her own mother whose bi-polar disease caused her to commit suicide when Zee was 13, our heroine is doubly bummed. In addition, her fiance is pressuring her to make plans for their scheduled wedding and Zee seems unable to make any decisions.She instead chooses to go home to see her father, whom everyone calls "Finch," a noted Hawthorne scholar who lives directly across the street from Hawthorne's house in Salem. Finch suffers from Parkinson's disease, and it becomes immediately evident to Zee that his condition has dramatically worsened. The story that follows is touching. To tell the rest of the story here would be to ruin an excellent read. The short chapters, the crisp prose, the building suspense surrounding several characters, all lend themselves to keeping the reader awake long past bedtime.I almost wish this book didn't have an epilogue. Although the story's ending is quite well-done, the epilogue seems to have been written to answer all the questions a reader might have about "what happened after that?" Instead of leaving us with a delightful suspicion and willing to use our own imagination to write several different scenarios of what might have been, the author seem intent upon tying up every last string so everything can be shoved neatly into the little package. Still in all, it is a book worth savoring.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. I found it hard to put down. The characters were believeable and likeable. The story was compelling. However, I often felt like some of the details were off -- how can someone have a birthday at the end of August if her mom was telling her husband she was pregnant in the summer -- either she was REALLY pregnant when the news came out, or she was pregnant for a year? Little things like that distracted me. Overall an enjoyable read though.
    • 4/5
      Not having read Barry's previous novel, The Lace reader, I didn't know what to expect from The Map of True Places. What I found was a book that hooked me from the start and kept my interest until the last page. When Zee Finch, a Boston psychotherapist, learns that her patient Lilly Braedon has jumped off the Tobin Bridge into the Mystic River below, she is heartsick. The suicide of her patient brought back all the feelings of guilt she experienced when her bipolar mother commit suicide years ago. She felt in both case as if she could have done more second guess herself over her actions.Zee returns to Salem for the funeral and while she is there she visits her father. She finds him in bad shape; his live in love has left and his Parkinson's disease has advanced a lot since she last saw him. Zee takes a leave of absence from her practice with Dr. Liz Mattei to care for her father and in the process comes to some realizations in her life. Zee had always done what was expected of her but now Zee questions what she really wants out of life and tries to find her true place in the world; not an easy process. It involves a lot of introspection and re examination of the sometimes painful past. Barry tells the story in different time frames, going back and forth from the past to the present, slowly giving the reader more layers of the back story of her parents relationships, her mother's illness and fairy tale writings. A lot of the present day story involves her father's disease and how she deals with it. I found this part of the book very realistic. One of the things I enjoyed the most about the book was the setting so aptly described by Barry that I felt as if I were walking the streets of Salem along with Zee. Barry did a wonderful job of fleshing out all the characters in the story and weaving all the plot threads together while still managing to throw in a few twists along the way. I definitely would recommend the book and plan to read The Lace Reader in the near future.Disclosure: a review copy of the book was provided by William Morrow through LibraryThing's early reviewers program.
    • 3/5
      I so much wanted to love this book, since her first novel, The Lace Reader, was one of my favorite novels. It's set in Salem, MA, so I saved it for our family vacation to Cape Cod. The book had an interesting plot, but I found the characters a bit flat. Good plot, though and still a fun 'beach read'.
    • 5/5
      Hepzibah Thompson Finch (aka Zee) was into her profession of therapy for five years when it happened. Her patient committed suicide. Jumped from abridge into the river. Someone tried to stop her but was too late. Zee, engaged to a very upscale guy named Michael, crumbled. She was convinced that the woman didn't take her own life, she was pushed to it. She had a male friend named Adam which whom she was having an affair and who had abused her many times. Zee thinks it was his fault.The issue haunts Zee through the defining moments of her life: her father, a renowned Hawthorne scholar is in the latter years of Parkinson's, regressing to Alzheimers. Finch has tossed his boyfriend out of the house for some unknown reasons and won't see him. Zee's mother committed suicide when she was 8 and Zee has always known there was more than she was told about the incident. Her mother wrote True Love stories and had always searched for true love for herself. Was Zee meant to end up just like her? Never finding "The One", but looking until she gives up in despair? While all this is happening, Zee discovers many things about herself, her family and her life. One of the more important is that she meets a man named Hawk who seems destined to make her happy if, in fact, she can ever be. But she ruins that as well. Then she comes face-to-face with Adam. Can Zee save herself? Her family? In Brunonia Berry's second wonderful novel of the Salem area she sure tries to. Succeeding in everything is something else entirely and you must go along with Zee on her chosen paths to see just how strong a woman she can be. An excellent summer read!
    • 4/5
      Zee Finch is a young psychotherapist who is thrown into turmoil when a patient of hers commits suicide. Zee struggles with guilt and is left to wonder if she has crossed the line in treatment and if she could have prevented the death. At the same time, her patient's suicide brings up unresolved feelings and memories of her own mother's suicide when Zee was a child. Other plot threads include Zee's taking time off from her practice, moving home to Salem, MA to care for her father, his rapidly deteriorating health and the breakdown of his relationship with his partner and family secrets. Hawk, a handyman, comes into Zee's life with a warning that he "is not what he seems to be." Through the course of the book, Zee struggles to find a way to develop her own life and take the time to face her own issues after so many years of trying to please and/or care for others. This book was Library Thing Early Reviewers copy. It was a good read with many emotions that rang true. Issues of mental health, domestic abuse and aging were thought-provoking, bringing to mind "what would you do in this situation." Without giving away the ending, I did think that the plot involving Roy was "over the top." I was disappointed that the author felt the story needed that aspect of the story.
    • 5/5
      This a another moving yet mysterious tale from Brunonia Barry, who returns to Salem and some familiar characters in this wonderful novel. I loved Zee, a therapist whose life was shaped by her own mother's suicide. When she returns to her childhood home to care for her father, a rapidly deteriorating Parkinson's patient, she is forced to assess her life and her understanding of herself and others. The underlying mysteries are not difficult to unravel, but it is in finding some level of truth that Zee also finds herself. Though this story was not as dark as The Lace Reader, it was no less emotionally compelling. Definitely a must read!
    • 5/5
      I want to live in a Brunonia Barry novel. She is amazing at creating a sense of place in her novels, and while Salem is less of a character in its own right in The Map of True Places than it was in The Lace Reader, it is still an integral part of the story.Zee, a successful therapist in Boston, returns to Salem to care for her ailing father and to take a little breather from work in the wake of the suicide of one of her patients. Once she arrives, she finds her father, once a leading Hawthorne scholar, living alone across from the House of Seven Gables, having kicked out Melville, his longtime partner. While trying to reconcile her father with Melville, once the love of his life, she drags up quite a bit about both men’s pasts and the past of her late mother. Getting over her mother’s suicide, which Zee witnessed, has been a lifelong journey for Zee, one that has not been helped by the similarities between her mother and the patient Zee so recently lost.Barry’s gift for layering stories is clear as she melts the pasts of so many characters together into one cohesive narrative. Some of the connections between the characters run much deeper than they seem, and even though the same events are looked at or played out multiple times, there is a new revelation with every telling and an ending that left be both in awe and misty-eyed.There are a few characters from The Lace Reader that make appearances in The Map of True Places, and there is talk of the work done on Yellow Dog Island. All of this is either fully explained or unimportant to this story. Reading the former is not a prerequisite for reading the latter.Book source: ARC received from the publisher, William Morris, through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.
    • 5/5
      Brunonia Barry of ‘The Lace Reader’ fame returns with a new fiction offering set in Salem, ‘The Map of True Places.’ And it fittingly begins with the famous Melville quote: “It is not down in any map; true places never are.” This is a novel of true places and those who seek them.Psychologist Zee Finch returns to Salem to care for her ailing father, who is in the latter stages of Parkinson’s. Her life in Boston hasn’t been going well; her fiancé has broken their engagement and she has lost a patient to suicide. Zee is indeed in need of a map, but before she can plan a future she must in true fictive fashion explore her own past. And that proves to be a complicated journey. Barry handles the various threads of the novel quite ably. Zee’s father, Finch, and his lover Melville, Finch’s healthcare provider Jessina, Maureen, Zee’s story teller mother, and Hawk, her new romantic interest, are each complex and well-developed characters who ring true. What was the relationship between Finch, Maureen, and Melville? Each character seems to view it differently. Did Lilly, Zee’s patient, actually commit suicide? How is Zee to find her way through the differing perspectives each character offers? As Finch loses his memory to dementia and Hawk teaches her celestial navigation, Zee must chart a path of her own through the past.Barry’s novel is addictive reading. It is at once entertaining and thought provoking.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book! The story of Zee Finch and her family history was very compelling and fascinating. The characters are interesting and well defined with very few exceptions. The history and description of the setting is well done and adds much to the story itself. I also enjoyed how the author brought in aspects of her previous novel, The Lace Reader, that added to this story but could be understood without having read the previous novel. This is a wonderfully written book that is very hard to put down.
    • 5/5
      This book was truly phenomenal and a real page-turner. The twists and turns that occurred left me muttering only one word as I closed the book after the last page: "wow." I would definitely say I recommend this book to others and I cannot wait to read The Lace Reader, also by Brunonia Barry. I hope that it is even half as good as the Map of True Places.
    • 4/5
      Brunonia Barry's "The Map of True Places" was hard to put down once I cracked the cover. Her characters are real, warts and all. I enjoyed how Barry wove the past, present and imagined together so that they paralleled one another (with a few interesting twists thrown in for good measure).
    • 3/5
      On the whole I enjoyed this story. I never felt fully immersed in it, the way I sometimes do with a book, but it was sufficiently interesting to keep my attention. I liked the coastal Massachusetts setting (I'd never actually realised that Salem was on the coast, for some reason...) and the interweaving of nautical navigational facts. Wasn't so keen on the insistence that human beings can't get through life without hours of therapy, though. Zee seemed to treat her own therapy sessions as though they were a regular, essential thing: like a car service or a dental check-up. And yet one of the messages of the book was that therapy doesn't always work and, indeed, the main character manages to work out her problems without the help of therapy in the end.