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    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands: A Novel
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    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands: A Novel
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    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands: A Novel

    Written by Chris Bohjalian

    Narrated by Grace Blewer

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.

    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself -- an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.

    A story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is one of Chris Bohjalian's finest novels to date-breathtaking, wise, and utterly transporting.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 8, 2014
    ISBN9780307917461
    Unavailable
    Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands: A Novel
    Author

    Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian is the author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers, Secrets of Eden, The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Midwives.  His work has been translated into twenty-six languages.  He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.   Visit him at www.chrisbohjalian.com or www.facebook.com .

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    Reviews for Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

    3.5/5

    236 ratings50 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      I had this as an audio book and I just could NOT finish it. The reader was very dry with barely any emotion. I didn't like how the story was being told to me instead of living it with the person. Maybe it would be better if I read the hard copy but the audio is a skip.
    • 3/5
      I'd give this one 3.5 stars if it'd let me...

      CB is usually one of my favorite authors, but Close Your Eyes kind of fell short for me. I think Emily lacked the depth of emotion I experienced as a teen. She seems so complacent. I had a hard time trying to relate to her. Also the disjointed nature of the storytelling was jolting, which I'm sure was the author's intention.
    • 5/5
      eading two great books back to back leaves me hoping that the next read will continue to be just as wonderful.Emily is by all standards a brat. She receives much from her parents, and she gives little or nothing in return. Except, of course, a nasty, bad mouth attitude that doesn't quit. She does not apply herself in school, though teachers note to her parents that she has untapped potential that she simply refuses to take the time to tap into.An only child of a father who is the chief engineer of a local nuclear power plant, and a mother who is the public relations expert in dealing with local media regarding the benefits and safety of nuclear power, Emily doesn't give a second thought to her parent's vocations.And then, one day, it all comes explosively to an end. Uncommon heavy rainfalls in the far northern part of Vermont lead to the fact that the power plant built in the 1960's with then state-of-the art engineering, now flooded the areas of the plant that would have saved it from a nuclear catastrophe. When the power is lost, engineers struggled to work by flashlight to find the switch that may have averted the meltdown of the radioactive core. Struggling under the tremendous pressure of time, and needing clear thought, those in the plant try as best as they can to avert the meltdown.The author writes very convincingly of what happens when all chaos breaks loose in a small town whose residents are unprepared for the worse. Emily is at the local prestigious prep school when all children are quickly bused out of the area. Making a quick decision not to go on the bus with others, but to stay behind to find her parents leads to a long, sad journey.Unfortunately, Emily soon learned that both parents were killed in the explosion. And, since the town needs someone to blame, her father is the one who is, in his death, angrily held accountable. Hearing incredibly, unfair blasphemy about her father, she feels that the town will soon hold her as the scapegoat of the tragic accident.Emily makes another mistake, and she runs. Stealing a bike from a neighborhood friend, she peddles her way through the backed up traffic. Not thinking of where she will go, or how she will live and support herself, her only thought is to get away. Scared, penniless and parentless, she doesn't seek help, but gets out as fast as she can. The core of the book focuses on her poor decisions as she becomes homeless, abuses drugs and runs with a wild group. The issue of homelessness is covered quite accurately. It is obvious that Bohjalian did a lot of research on this national problem of what happens to those who have no where to go and no safety net to help them.While I own many of this author's books, this is the first I've read. I will be sure to read more.Five well deserved stars
    • 5/5
      Emily is telling her story in only a way that a seventeen year old girl can tell. It is, at times, a bit random and very Double Bind (ish). The title of the book, too, seems a bit random and confusing until it is revealed. And, boy oh boy, when it was revealed, it took my breath away. A quote from the book (w/o giving anything away), "It seems to me that if you didn't know the context of those words, they were kind of pretty."

      I had the opportunity to meet Chris this past summer at a book reading for The Sandcastle Girls at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters. I was in such a state of excitement that I found myself as giddy as any teenage schoolgirl with a crush. Thank you for that, Chris!

      I highly recommend this book and many thanks to Doubleday and Edelweiss for giving me the opportunity to read this. Expected publication for this bad boy is July, 2014 and I will be buying this for my bookshelf.
    • 3/5
      I've been sitting here deciding what kind of rating I want to give this title. I usually know instantly upon completing a book what I think of it, but for some reason I'm struggling with this one. I like this author, and I found I had no trouble reading this book, my problem is I'm not sure I really liked it very much.
      It has a bit of a dystopian feel about it, but it seems kind of a half hearted effort, and he doesn't really commit to that genre, but instead focuses most of the story on homelessness and how Emily Shephard, our main character, has to live to survive. It's a disturbing story of a 16 year old girl, with some mental health issues, turning tricks, taking drugs and living rough. Really sad and dark.



    • 4/5
      A heartbreaking tale told by a homeless teenager living in a trash bag igloo . Six months ago, a nuclear plant inVermont experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily’s parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge and it may have been his fault. This is a story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe.
    • 3/5
      Story of a young girl who is left to fend for herself after a nuclear reactor meltdown in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Written as a journal recounting her memories, with interspersed Emily Dickinson verses.
    • 4/5
      Very powerful and interesting story. A slight mystery throughout the book, but not a mystery/suspense feeling. Written from a slightly too-precocious teenage perspective.
    • 4/5
      Emily is a fairly normal teen living with her parents and their dog in northeast Vermont. Both of her parents work at the nearby nuclear plant. One day while Emily is at school, the nuclear plant suffers a meltdown, the school and all surrounding areas are evacuated, and suddenly Emily is homeless and without a family, her parents assumed killed in the disaster. As rumors start to emerge about her father being at fault for the meltdown, Emily bolts and finds herself living on the streets, afraid to reveal her true identity.I've enjoyed, for the most part, all of Bohjalian's novels that I've read so far. He's a talented writer and he explores a variety of topics that are interesting and somewhat unique. I mostly enjoyed this, although it was not my favorite of his. It was, as he himself states in the interview at the end of the book, a tragically sad story. And that was what I was feeling throughout the majority of this book -- utter sadness. While I'm certainly not a reader who gravitates toward more happy, sappy books and I feel like all good stories need some sort of discord to make the story real, this one was almost too sad and depressing, even for me. I also wasn't really able to relate to or like Emily's character, and that may have influenced my feelings as well. I read this on audio, which was narrated by Bohjalian's daughter Grace, and while this may have added a nice touch and she certainly read capably enough, I found her voice too flat without much change in inflection. Overall, an interesting book, but it hovered somewhere between good and so-so for me.
    • 5/5
      I don't know why I began my story with the igloo. The igloo was really the beginning of the end-or, maybe, the end of the beginning.I am used to reading, and really enjoying, historical fiction from Chris Bohjalian. This book is vastly different from what I've read from him but it was just as enjoyable. This book follows Emily Shepard and what her life becomes after a nuclear reactor explodes at the nuclear plant where her father is chief engineer. After her father is blamed for the explosion she runs away and takes on a new identity.This book might be a little frustrating for some people because this is written as though Emily is writing in a journal letting people know about her experiences and she tends to jump around a lot. Normally this would drive me insane but since Emily was a character that I was easily able to identify with the jumping around didn't bother me one bit.I genuinely enjoyed reading about Emily. She goes through some pretty horrible things and does some bad things and I couldn't help but want her to get through her difficult times and get the help she didn't know she needed. I loved how authentic her tone was throughout the book. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Cameron and I loved how protective Emily was towards him. I enjoyed Emily's discussions throughout the book about Emily Dickinson as I too enjoy her poems (I used to write poems like Emily Shepard and boy did I think I was such a pretty). I don't want to say much about the ending, just that I felt it was a great ending and definitely fit with what had previously happened. It was great getting to read something different and fresh from Chris Bohjalian and I look forward to reading whatever he has in store next.
    • 2/5
      I am not enamored by the writing of Chris Bohjalian, and this is my second attempt. This installation is a quasi-science fiction attempt, which leaves me feeling empty. The main characters is not likeable, and thus rests the story. First, I am not a fan of the science fiction genre, and therefore, I started off on the wrong track. The story starts very slowly, and seems to go nowhere.
    • 4/5
      Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, by Chris Bohjalian is about a teenage girl who has run away after a nuclear meltdown at the plant where both of her parents work. Emily fears that the community will blame her parents for the meltdown, and in turn, hate her. She runs away and spends 9 months living in shelters and the streets. I really enjoyed this book and was impressed with the authors ability to give truth and make a teenage girls voice seem believable. I also thought the descriptions of being homeless were realistic. Excellent choice for book clubs, with lots of information to discuss.
    • 4/5
      Teenage girl runs away from a nuclear disaster that her father is purportedly responsible for causing instead of facing the consequences of being an orphan and a target of ridicule for her father's misdeeds.
    • 3/5
      This is a heartbreaking novel about a young girl,Emily Shepard whose parents work at a power plant and die in the tragic accident. The author wrote her 17 year old voice and what happens toher after the meltdown very convincingly.
    • 5/5
      Teenage girls make appealing heroines because they are vulnerable on so many fronts. Chris Bohjalian pulled out all the stops in creating Emily Shepherd and putting her in a world of hurt. She is beautifully drawn, and her every step and word ring true.

      After you've read this one--and you really ought to--hand it to your older teen.
    • 4/5
      Close Your Eyes, Hold Your Hands by Chris Bohjalian is a well written book, as I have come to expect from this gifted author. While I preferred some of his previous books to the more, I do not want to give the impression this book is not an exceptional read. He brings the character of Emily Shepard to life and tells her deeply sad and tragic tale quite realistically. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands would make for a wonderful discussion group pick.
    • 4/5
      such a heartbreaking story about a girl who runs away after a tragedy in her hometown. The author wrote her 17-year-old voice so convincingly.
    • 2/5
      I really wanted to love this book but it was just ok for me. I had a hard time following the timeline of events and I didn't connect with Emily.
    • 3/5
      One of the most depressing books I've read in a while. It's a current take on a town devastated by a nuclear reactor melt down, and the next year in the life of the daughter of the man responsible.
    • 4/5
      If you are at all familiar with my reviews, then you know that I am a fan of Chris Bohjalian. He first won me over with THE DOUBLE BIND, then he wrecked my heart with MIDWIVES, and it's all been over since those two books. While I've loved some of his books more than others, I have to say that CLOSE YOUR EYES, HOLD HANDS, is by far the most inventive and out-of-his-box book I've seen yet. When I finished CLOSE YOUR EYES, I didn't even know what to think and, I'm not even kidding here, I even double-checked to make sure that the author was the same guy I thought it was. But that's not a bad thing at all because, let me tell you, I can always count on Bohjalian to throw me for a loop and this time he did it with the very style of writing he was doing.Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on August 20, 2014.
    • 5/5
      This book is very different than Chris Bohjalian's previous books but it proves to me what a fantastic author he is because he can write a fantastic book that is different every time! I thought that this was one of his best yet! This is the story of Emily Shepard, a troubled high school student in Vermont who wants to be a writer and loves Emily Dickinson. Her parents work at the local nuclear power plant. There is an explosion at the plant and the area is evacuated. Emily's parents are killed and her father may have been at fault for the meltdown. Emily disappears into a homeless life of drugs and trying to stay alive while she stays hidden from the world. The story is disjointed but it is how Emily's mind was processing her ideas and it isn't difficult to follow. Its amazing to me how well the author was able to capture the voice of this character. The book is dark but very powerful. It is a definite MUST READ!
    • 5/5
      Emily Shepard didn't have a perfect family life. Her parents drank too much, especially her father. They fought, usually about the drinking. But they provided Emily with everything a girl could ask for: a great education, travel, a wonderful home, and love (in between the drinking and fighting). All that changes when the nuclear power plant that her father is responsible for melts down and explodes. Suddenly her world is turned upside down and her parents are considered the biggest losers in the world. Is it any wonder that Emily decides to run to escape the chaos after this disaster?What Emily doesn't know at age sixteen is that you can't run away from life. She quickly learns that her privileged life hasn't really prepared her for a life on the streets. She also learns that when you're down-and-out you're willing to do almost anything in order to survive. Emily learns that prostitution at the local truck stop can provide her with quick cash. She learns to work the system in order to get a bath, where you can hangout during the day, which shops she can shoplift from and which ones she can't. She makes up a life for herself and tries to drown her sorrows, fear and grief in drugs and self-mutilation. Over the course of nine months Emily learns how to survive on the streets and becomes a big sister/mother figure to another runaway, nine-year-old Cameron. Emily's carefully constructed life quickly disintegrates when another tragedy strikes. Will she be able to survive this latest tragedy or will she completely self-destruct?Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is presented in the form of journal entries by Emily as she reflects on her life after the power plant accident. Emily hints at the notion that she may have a mental health issue and she learns to self-medicate with drugs while on the street. Her reflections on the power plant accident, her journey to Burlington, her struggles to remake herself, the prostitution, the self-abuse or cutting, the stealing, the drugs and the friends she makes and loses could make for a disheartening story. However Chris Bohjalian is a master at telling a story that truly plucks at your heartstrings and uplifts at the same time. Emily's story could be the story of almost any teenager left without family or friends after a natural disaster, the only difference is her father is blamed for this disaster and it is by no means natural in origins. This wasn't an easy read and it shouldn't be given the themes that are discussed. Seriously, nuclear meltdown, radiation contamination, mass population exodus, teenage prostitution, teenage drug abuse, homelessness, and child and teen runaways aren't exactly light topics. Nonetheless, Mr. Bohjalian has crafted a story that deals with these dark themes and still provides the reader with a sense of hope that things will work out in the end. This isn't a story about good versus evil, but simply a story about self-awareness, self-acceptance, and survival. If you want to read a moving story that will make you think for hours, if not days or weeks, after reading it, then run out and buy a copy of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands now. Trust me, this is a great read!
    • 3/5
      I wanted to read this one because it sounds like a combo of a type of dystopia/post-apocalytpic and the contemporary grittiness that I enjoy. Emily sounds like such a fighter and a fighter in order to survive not only a literal nuclear meltdown, but also losing both of her parents that same day. The idea of homelessness hasn't been explored much in YA and I think that its an important topic too, and hopefully one that most readers would never face, but we also hope that readers don't have to experience the bad stuff of the contemporaries out there. Or the chilling government or earth/town ending things like aliens, meltdowns, power losses, etc. And while it scares me that things like this have happened and can happen again, I still can't stop being drawn to the genre. The world building was believable. I just have to wonder what the actual fall out would be, if the impact would be larger, how we'd react in a similar real life situation. But I don't think that anything was stretched or out of the realm of possibility. On top of the hair-raising, hope to goodness never happens to me element of the story, I liked Emily. True to my prediction she was so strong, she had a will to keep surviving and to protect herself. She was easy to pull for even though I can imagine if it were real life I might be like the other kids and be wary of her because of her parents involvement with the plant. The beginning did take a bit to get me in, but I liked the premise so I stuck with it, and I was rewarded for that. I think that the jumps in time were a little abrupt and it was pulling me out of the story. I understand that its giving a full picture of Emily's life and what happened before, during and after for her. At times it did start to ramble and I would skim a little bit, but I always got pulled back in. It felt very literary and then other times just like a teenage girl talking to me. Cameron was another highlight. He is a kid that she picked up along the way with her journeys, and they effected each other a lot and I saw growth and development with both of them. Bottom Line: Gritty and thorough account of a girl before and after a nuclear melt-through.
    • 3/5
      This story had promise. The setting is interesting and current. Parts of the book were believable and perhaps socially conscious raising, but for me, the story didn't quite fulfill its promise. The protagonist is a teen named Emily, and the book really focuses on her and the challenges she faces as well as those she assumes. It is clear that Emily is at heart a sweet girl, but also possibly, by her own admission, a bit off balance and unlikely to make the best decisions in some circumstances. For me, her experience as a run-away from the disastrous situation in which she finds herself, originally was catchy. She seems to be the victim of many and Mr. Bohjalian's writing style creates a powerful sense of drama and a clear voice for Emily. It was mostly the other characters or lack of characters that really left me a bit flat as the story progressed. It was hard to see Emily continue to make mistakes in judging who was a friend and who was her enemy. Her choices were occasionally pathetic, and the reader sees her spiral down from a poor situation to a miserable one. I guess I just got tired of her not making the choices she needed to in order to get help as well as the apathy of those she makes connections with. She seems to have a built in distrust of adults and lack of value in herself as an individual. This is in spite of the fact that she has some great talent as a writer and a kind heart. I found the book worth reading for its quality of literature, but I was disappointed by the direction that it took. I was neither let down, nor thrilled by the ending. It is consistent with the story. At least the author didn't decide to dust things with fairy dust and make them all better at the end (not entirely anyway). I was able to read a copy of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. I thank them for the opportunity to read and share my opinion. It seems to be a bit inconsistent with many readers, and as such I would recommend anyone wishing to read this book, to give it a try. The author is a quality storyteller and writer, and at the very least, you will enjoy it as a current literary work.
    • 5/5
      completed 5/31/14. 5 stars, excellent, very moving, brilliantly written
    • 5/5
      It was a quick read but one I won't forget. Emily's world is difficult, to put it mildly, but her strength is amazing. It was so easy to dive right in and live it along with her, even through the worst parts.

      I never would have guessed where the title came from, and when it was revealed was a truly sad moment.

      The thing that I'm most awed by is Mr. Bohjalian's ability to take the reader to a whole new place that we ( and he) have never been before. He never fails to pull the rug out from under me when I least expect it, and that's what I really enjoy about reading.
    • 3/5
      A touching story about a teenage girl who becomes homeless and orphaned after a nuclear meltdown kills both her parents.
    • 5/5
      Sometimes Bohjalian's characters are not so easy to like. Emily Shepherd is one of those characters. She is smart and at many times caring, but there are many times I cannot understand her actions. I think that is why I like Bohjalian's books so much. He does not always write about easily likeable characters.
    • 3/5
      Recommend the audiobook. It's read by CB's daughter, well done!
    • 1/5
      I just couldn't get into this book. I listened to it on cd. It just seemed like I was hearing a diary and not a story. Maybe it was the reader? Maybe it was meant for younger people? I don't know but just couldn't get into it.