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All Things Cease to Appear: A Novel
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All Things Cease to Appear: A Novel
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All Things Cease to Appear: A Novel
Audiobook14 hours

All Things Cease to Appear: A Novel

Written by Elizabeth Brundage

Narrated by Kirsten Potter

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

A dark, riveting, beautifully written audiobook-by "a brilliant novelist," according to Richard Bausch-that combines noir and the gothic in a story about two families entwined in their own unhappiness, with, at its heart, a gruesome and unsolved murder

Late one winter afternoon in upstate New York, George Clare comes home to find his wife killed and their three-year-old daughter alone-for how many hours?-in her room across the hall. He had recently, begrudgingly, taken a position at a nearby private college (far too expensive for local kids to attend) teaching art history, and moved his family into a tight-knit, impoverished town that has lately been discovered by wealthy outsiders in search of a rural idyll.

George is of course the immediate suspect-the question of his guilt echoing in a story shot through with secrets both personal and professional. While his parents rescue him from suspicion, a persistent cop is stymied at every turn in proving Clare a heartless murderer. And three teenage brothers (orphaned by tragic circumstances) find themselves entangled in this mystery, not least because the Clares had moved into their childhood home, a once-thriving dairy farm. The pall of death is ongoing, and relentless; behind one crime there are others, and more than twenty years will pass before a hard kind of justice is finally served.

A rich and complex portrait of a psychopath and a marriage, this is also an astute study of the various taints that can scar very different families, and even an entire community. Elizabeth Brundage is an essential talent who has given us a true modern classic.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 8, 2016
ISBN9780399567797
Unavailable
All Things Cease to Appear: A Novel
Author

Elizabeth Brundage

Elizabeth Brundage is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she earned an MFA in fiction and a James Michener award. Her short fiction has been published in the Greensboro Review, Witness Magazine, and New Letters, and she contributed to the anthology Thicker Than Blood: I’ve Always Meant to Tell You, Letters to Our Mothers.

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Reviews for All Things Cease to Appear

Rating: 3.807693418803419 out of 5 stars
4/5

117 ratings23 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's part murder mystery and part ghost story. It is also a close look at how guilt from the past affects the present and the future...and how what we often want is not what we sometimes get. We learn early on in the story that it’s not only houses that can be haunted...but people also. The novel asks so many questions that can't always be answered without lots of thought such as how well can we really know anyone? Is there even such a thing as evil? Does the spirit or energy last and thrive after death? And maybe the most important...how do we ever heal from violence and loss? It's a read that can only be described as riveting and absorbing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed this novel immensely. The prose was absolutely beautiful, and the story left me speechless. Although it was slow-paced and mentioned a lot of philosophy and art (neither of which I am too fascinated by), everything made sense and fell into place in an enjoyable way. I loved reading from multiple perspectives, even when there were story lines that had nothing to do with the main crime. I felt that those random insights into the lives of others in the community gave the novel more depth. Many reviewers have complained about the fact that there are no quotations used in the entire book, thereby making it hard to see what is a description or thought versus something someone actually said. While I also faced some difficulty in that aspect, I could appreciate the effect it created; it made it more clear how fine of a line there is between our inner misgivings and feelings and our outward behaviour and words. And this line was different for all of the characters, so it actually helped me see them as unique entities. I don't know, maybe I'm making it out to be more than it really is, but either way it didn't bother me and didn't hurt the story. There was a supernatural aspect to this novel, that was an interesting touch, but did not really have that much of a purpose and was perhaps unnecessary. Overall, however, I found this novel to be absolutely fantastic and I wouldn't change one thing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm not sure what to think about this one. The blurb calls it a literary thriller, and the prologue sets it up as a ghost story with some good spooky potential. And then ... it turns into a regular old novel, a study of marriage between incompatible people, and the damage it does to the children born into it. "Regular old novel" probably isn't quite fair, because I thought it was really well-written, and interesting, and the author created some great characters who were very memorable and either sympathetic or not, as needed, but ... the ghost is still there, but not at all spooky, and what seemed like it might be a murder mystery with supernatural elements turned out to be much more straightforward than that. So ... yeah. I don't know what to think about this one. My criteria for 3.5 stars is "I'm glad I read this" and I guess I am. So there's that.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Though this was not my typical read, I admit that I grew intrigued in this self described murder mystery with haunting overtones. Interestingly it begins with a brutal axe murder, where Catherine, the novel's most sympathetic character, has been killed. The author then flashes back to provide the background on a number of characters that will become integral to the story. George, her husband, reminds me a lot of Lotto from Groff's Fates and Furies, but has a much darker, psychopathic side. Other characters include the family who lived in the old farm house before the Clare family. The brothers, Eddy, Wade and Cole become close to Catherine, helping her fix up what was their house before their parents held hands in bed while the carbon monoxide ended their lives. Brundage's construction of the novel allowed her to develop some interesting characters and some, like Willis, a troubled waitress who gets sucked into George's spell, become important to the novel at the end. On the author's webpage she writes about a farmhouse that she explored with her children and eventually built. Like this novel this house too had a troubled history and spirits that seemed to linger. "Building a book is something like building a house. You begin with the land, the type of soil and its history, the landscape. You pour your foundation and construct the frame that will support the floors overhead. In this novel, the foundation is made of the bones of a dead woman, a woman I had read about in a newspaper once, whose murder has never been solved. That dark history cannot be contained in the muddy cellar. It rises up through the old wood boards, seeping out through the cracks, filling the empty rooms. It shouts its terrible story in the faintest whisper."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is an absorbing novel. It is the story of a house where true evil has resided and still lingers when a young couple buys it during foreclosure proceedings. George Clare, a professor at a local college, knows the history of the house and chooses not to share that knowledge with his wife, Catherine. Catherine and their young daughter, Franny, bond with the Hale brothers who are all too familiar with the house. The plot lines in this book are well developed, as are the characters and their histories. I am avoidant of any book description that contains the word "ghosts;" however, there are believable spirits at work throughout this engrossing story that enhance the unfolding horrors. This is a novel that I won't easily forget.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved this book. It is a combination murder mystery, ghost story and tale of strong women that is beautifully written. The characters and action are complex, weaving the present with the past, showing the reader how various lives intertwine to create this masterful work. It is a must read for 2016.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    George Clare comes home from work to find his wife has been murdered and their three year old daughter alone in the house. This is a riveting start to this book and it draws you in quickly. Then, we start going back in time to the farming family that lived in this house and what happened to them. George insists on buying the house knowing what happened here but doesn't tell his wife, Catherine. There is a slow and languid pace to the story which continues to pull you in as you become more and more horrified wanting to shout out to Catherine, "Get out, get out now!"
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Thank you, FirsttoRead for my complimentary review copy. George Clare, an art history professor, comes home from work to discover his wife, Catherine, murdered. His young daughter, Franny, is alone in her bedroom. He scoops his daughter up and heads to their neighbors', the Pratts. The police are summoned and the investigation begins. An old farm(the Hale farm, bought in foreclosure), in a small town in the dreary, grey, and cold dead of winter makes for an atmospheric setting. The vivid descriptions set the scene. The story is told from multiple points of view. Virtually every character in the story is represented, but it was sometimes hard to tell who was speaking. Also, without quotation marks, following the dialogue was difficult. There were also time shifts to keep track of. Although informative and relevant to the storyline, I found that the passages on art history, philosophy, and poetry slowed me down and distracted from the plot.The plot, itself, was compelling and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. The pacing varied. Sometimes I found myself flipping pages rapidly, eager to find out what happens next. Other times, my mind wandered and I had to read the same passage multiple times. Overall, I liked the book enough to finish it. The premise was intriguing and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. However, I felt that the time leaps were too large. Also, the ending was rushed and unsatisfying. I would have liked to read more about Franny, Willis, Cole, and Eddy. Too much detail of their lives was glossed over.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is almost impossible to describe, though it starts with a horrific murder, so since I am feeling creative today I have decided to compare this book to fishing. Not fly fishing but the lazy kind of fishing where you spend the morning waiting for the fish to bite. The place I fish is beautiful, just as the land where the farmhouse sits that the Clares buy is absolutely breathtaking. I am hopeful that this will be a wonderful fishing day, the picture of the Clares with their three year old daughter show they seem hopeful that this will be a new start to their marriage even if the farmhouse already has a tragic past. I sit and wait and things seem to happen very slowly but at last a bite and soon my line is tightening, just as the tension in this novel tightens and builds, my line bows, the fish is large and it is running down the river trying to escape. Soon my pole bows and I start reeling the fish in, just as this novel draws the reader in completely. I reel my fish in and just when I can see how large it is, and it is close to shore, the line snaps and the fish swims away. If I had a net I could have had this fish but I did not have the right supplies. Just as the police officer in this case does, not have all the information he needs to successfully being this murderer to justice, people who have information but cannot or will not share this. But the day is long and there is more time, maybe someday I will catch this fish. Sometimes things just take longer than we want them too. And since we will not be having fish for dinner, others are affected.This actually all makes more sense than is apparent and if you read this book, and you should, you will see what I mean. Arc from publisher.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a novel about a difficult marriage with infidelity, an eerie old farm house where crime and suicides have taken place, and its former tenants (young boys) who miss their mother and home.There were several annoying things that keep me from giving it more than 3 stars: (1) there were no quotation marks for the dialogue so it was difficult to recognize actual conversations, (2) this is not a thriller by any means. It's a slow-moving crime story with dark characters who were hard to like, and (3) there was so much character information, it felt as though the author was just trying to make the novel longer. I am sure some readers felt that all the character information made them well-developed. I felt that a lot of it didn't contribute much to the story.Most likely there are readers who will like this book more than I did. I was glad when I finished it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was well into this, deciding that I really did not like ANY of the characters---but the story evolves and I was totally drawn in and at the same time, I grew to like several of the characters. The ending....hmmmm.....I wanted more to happen to one of the characters---easier to understand that comment if you read the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A well-written novel featuring violent emotions, violent people and violent deeds. Usually structured and highly unsatisfactory in the end. Brundage creates a thoroughly repulsive villain, offers no real proof of his guilt of one crime, offers much for other crimes; all of which go unpunished. Ugh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.Stick with this book.It starts out with a bang, then seems to drift around somewhat, going back and forth in time, getting in the heads of so many different characters you may find yourself unsure if you are keeping track of them all correctly.But stick with this book. It all has a purpose, a beautifully written, haunting purpose.All Things Cease to Appear is the story of families, of tragedies, of love and lack thereof, of men and women and children. It is the story of murder, of societal expectations, of religion and disbelief, of the past and present and what it means when they collide.Brundage is not afraid to tackle massive topics, and she handles them beautifully. There is so much to unpack in this novel, the kind of story you can imagine a college professor (somewhat ironically, given events in the story) teaching to their Literature students. But it's also a story that can be read, absorbed, and thought about in the comfort of your living room, on the train on the way to work, during a lunch break.Stick with this book. It is so very, very worth
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A book which, once entered, is difficult to leave. There will be quibbles about quotation marks (none) and cavils about the ending (rushed in comparison to the unhurried pages that precede it) but it is a story told with all the trimmings, satisfying and true to the many genres it touches upon. NOTE: There ARE ghosts but, if that is strictly your attraction to this book, you may be disappointed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I actually did enjoy this but it was a little hard to get into at times. There were times I couldn't stop reading and other times I would have rather read something else. I did like that I was pretty sure I knew who the guilty party was, but yet, I could see how several other people couldn't have been the murderer. I felt that it had a good ending and I was satisfied! It's also told in the point of view of many people in the community so at times it was a little hard to tell who's view it was. It's a pretty dark story.

    I received this courtesy of the First To Read program in exchange for my honest review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    After reading some of the other reviews of this book, I'm glad I listened to the audio version. The lack of quotation marks did not interfere with my enjoyment, although some of the chararacter transitions took a minute or two for me to catch up with. There is a great deal of sadness conveyed with the Cole family losing their farm and parents, Justine's accident, plus the murder of Katherine Clare going unsolved for 20 some years. However, the descriptions of the area and townsfolk drew me in and kept me listening late into the night. There were twists and surprises that kept me guessing, even though I was pretty sure I knew what was going on.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ALL THINGS CEASE TO APPEAR - ELIZABETH BRUNDAGE *****PratītyasamutpādaI don’t know if the title of this book is a known saying or epithet, it isn’t credited as such but it brought to mind the pragmatic Sanskrit concept of ‘Pratītyasamutpāda’. And it was a pleasure to read this book, no, it was more than that, it was a privilege. A beautifully constructed story that luxuriated in the depths of its language. Some perceptive metaphors and observations that make you think ‘Yes, that’s it, exactly’, as you read it. A novel where you savour every word, for every word fulfils its role in this story. Ms. Brundart’s words are characters too.This is a multi layered fiction; on the surface it tells a chilling, thrilling, unsettling tale of families in a small town, an octopus novel with its tentacles delving richly into the psychological, the spiritual, the supernatural, sometimes gothic, sometimes contemporary, moving between time periods. And it’s also an eloquent piece of prose writing where words and phrases can lift and inspire you as only a good writer can do. The characters are keenly observed and developed, brought to life as we are encouraged to both loathe and empathise and our emotions are manipulated almost but with the assurance that what we are feeling is just how we should feel. The writer seems to be able to get under the skin of all, particularly the women in the novel, despite their difference in age and personality. They are all three dimensional.In some ways it is a book without a conclusion but paradoxically the conclusion was always there right from the beginning. The plot is almost clear from the start but in a curious way the plot is secondary to the other aspects of the novel, another character, as it were, satisfying its role in this story.I am tempted to put aside other commitments and seek out all of Elizabeth Brundage’s other work for she is a new writer to me.But I’ve waxed lyrical about this book long enough. Long enough, I hope, for you to seriously consider reading it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book had a strong beginning, but unfortunately fizzled out quickly. It starts with a man coming home from work to find his wife murdered in their remote farmhouse, and their 3-year old daughter was the only witness. It then jumps back to tell the tragic tale of the family who owned the house prior, which made me think there would be a build up to something shocking – there were ghosts left behind, after all. No, after the initial reveal, the book had a hard time holding my attention. The pacing was slow, and there was a lot of talking about and describing characters. Unlikable characters for the most part. Definitely more of a character study than a thriller/ghost story like I was expecting. The ending was okay, but I was hoping for something a little more surprising.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Last week I reviewed The Undertaking which is a marvelous read in that it allows the reader to fully revel in feelings of rage, disgust and retribution (which is necessary relief if you’re watching political news these days). This is not the case in Elizabeth Brundage’s novel All Things Cease to Appear. It is much more attuned to contemporary times, when even though a crime is committed and the villain appears certain, there may be no justice. The best that can be hoped for is the passage of time and a collective loss of memory about the event. In this case, the setting is a small town in upstate New York and the crime is the vicious murder of a young mother, while her child sleeps in another room and her husband is off at work. All Things Cease to Appear is infused with a feeling of melancholy from the beginning. Even in sunshine the air is saturated with it, letting the reader know that despite the bucolic setting all is not well. This is likely because the house where Catherine Clare will be found dead is one already familiar with death. The Hale dairy farm had been in one family for generations, but thanks to the current one and the economy it’s going to be auctioned off. Unable to face this, the parents kill themselves leaving three teenage boys behind. Boys who will watch as everything they’ve ever known goes away. When George Clare buys the house for his wife and daughter he decides not to tell Catherine of the house’s recent history, providing a quick flash of insight into their marriage. George is perfectly portrayed as the unlikable character—entitled, lazy, spoiled. He married Catherine because she got pregnant. Throughout their marriage he feels nothing more than a mild disinterest in her and a certainty that he is better than his wife. After a brief period of trying Catherine’s own feelings wither:But in truth they rarely spoke about anything beyond the superficial. He rarely confided in her, and in turn she neglected to ask any probing questions; perhaps, on some level, she knew he continually deceived her and somehow could not admit to it. P. 81All things point to George wanting to be rid of his boring wife and Brundage does not disabuse the reader of that notion, but there are oddities aplenty, making the novel feel like a literary version of the painting American Gothic. Even the house is suspect, with Catherine complaining that she feels watched and that there are cold drafts throughout. And if the present isn’t enough Brundage’s explorations of everyone’s past ramps up the dysfunction and widens the pool of suspects from the obvious to the quiet ones. There comes a point in any good novel where the author has to have done their work well enough that the reader can suspend their critical brain and simply relax into the ride. Brundage achieves this because there is not much subtlety to All Things Cease to Appear. Melancholy, foreboding, and gloom abound, but it’s all right because she assembles the novel with the same care and thought that goes into a 100,000 piece jigsaw puzzles. And in the same way, while you’re trying to put together the sky with 20 shades of blue and you think it doesn’t matter, only as you get further along do you realize how important it is. There are a lot of characters and stories in All Things Cease and Brundage gives each their time on the page—even the villain, because there is one, just as there is in life. What will be difficult for some is that also much like in life, there is no easy justice. Instead, each of the puzzle piece characters, in all their shades and tones, ultimately fit together and the whole picture becomes clear.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    One wonders if Elizabeth Brundage did a close reading of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMMD)” section on antisocial personality disorders prior to creating George Clare, the protagonist of her novel, ALL THINGS CEASE TO APPEAR. With George, she hits just about all of the classical psychopathic traits as they are described in the DSMMD. He has a charming and disarming personality; is highly manipulative; easily gains trust; can mimic normal human emotions, despite actually being unable to feel them; has little regard for laws or social mores; and especially is prone to act violently. She does a masterful job of demonstrating what people with this disorder are like and especially how their personalities impact their loved ones. In fact, it is not difficult to occasionally pause while reading about George, his family and friends to realize that you may have actually known one or more people with this affliction in your own life. Although most psychopaths are not serial killers, the converse may be true. Brundage’s narrative touches on several genres, including murder mystery, domestic drama, police procedural and even a little bit of ghost story. This variety notwithstanding, the most compelling element in the novel by far is the character study of a psychopath. Brundage uses multiple points of view, time shifts and characterizations throughout to slowly reveal George’s depravity after opening with the brutal ax murder of his wife, Catherine. In a way, the reader gets to know George’s true nature much like one gets to know psychopaths in real life—slowly and almost by accident. George and Catherine Clare move to the rural community of Chosen, NY along with their three-year-old daughter Franny. George has been hired by the local college to teach art history. They acquire the Hale dairy farm at a foreclosure auction. The farm presents a dark mood to the narrative because it is rundown, abandoned, and possibly haunted by its previous owners who committed suicide there. The Hale’s three sons are still attracted to the place and thus play minor roles in the plot. Although Brundage’s portrait of George is complex and engaging, her plot tends to meander and develop slowly. Moreover, her characterizations of Catherine, Franny and the most of the citizens of Chosen are favorable with little complexity. Even George’s young mistress, Willis, comes across as a troubled yet principled woman. Alternatively, all of the big city types—George’s parents and Willis’ lawyer father—are depicted as flawed, self-involved and greedy people. The concluding chapters are unfortunate and probably unnecessary. They are epigraphic, aimed at clarifying life’s messiness but give the story a regrettable fairy tale quality.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It’s the late 70s and George, Catherine, and Franny Clare move to Chosen, a small town in upstate New York where George has secured a position in the art department of the local college. They buy the Hale dairy farm and settle in until one day George comes home to find Catherine dead with an axe in her head. Townspeople are reminded of another tragedy that took place in the Hale/Clare home and think the house unlucky. So begins Elizabeth Brundage’s All Things Cease to Appear. From here she backtracks to before the death, the story of the Hales and the Hale boys, the beginning of George and Catherine and the tragedy of their marriage. I found this book to be totally engrossing, the time period accurately represented and the characters realistic. There’s a very real sense of doom while you read and this made me not want to put the book down.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved every minute of this book about two tragic families, first the Hale family and then the Clare family. I didn’t want the book to end but I feel the story will haunt my heart and mind for some time to come so it's not really out of my life yet.George Clare appears at his neighbor’s home one day, carrying his 3-yr-old daughter, Frannie, telling them that something has happened to his wife. Catherine has been murdered and little Frannie left unattended in the house with her dead mother. So starts a very compelling tale.While this is an engrossing crime story, it’s much more than that. It’s also the story of marriage, love and family. It’s the story of three teenage boys trying to come to terms with the loss of their parents and home. It’s the story of a young woman who married the wrong man and tries to make the best of it. It’s the story of a man with a dark soul. It’s the story of an old farmhouse that seems to be cursed and the ghosts that haunt it. And it’s all so beautifully written it will take your breath away. From the first chapter to the last, it held me firmly in its grip.This author has a wonderful insight into human nature and knows how to captivate her reading audience. She obviously is a poet at heart and loves language. This book is the epitome of why I love to read. Highly recommended.This book was given to me by the publisher through First to Read in return for an honest review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    One of those stories where you know most of the end at the beginning. The rest of the book fills in the parts between with a switching perspective between married couple Catherine and George, and towards the end, their daughter Frannie. It's a subtle twist on the haunted house format. Here, it's the adults who are haunted (from the outside, we'll never know the ghosts in a marriage or the personal demons people are contending with is kind of the idea) and how that affects the kids growing up in their care.It reminded me a bit of Patricia Highsmith's, The Talented Mr. Ripley.Opinions on the ending vary, but I thought the resolution was satisfying overall. Poetic, if not actual, justice is served.Subtle and artful - recommended.