

Like Normal People
Author: Karen E. Bender
Narrator: Alyssa Bresnahan
Unabridged: 10 hr 47 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 05/06/2016
Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction
Author: Karen E. Bender
Narrator: Alyssa Bresnahan
Unabridged: 10 hr 47 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 05/06/2016
Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction
Karen E. Bender is the author of Refund, a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction, short-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and long-listed for the Story Prize. She is also the author of the novels Like Normal People and A Town of Empty Rooms. She is the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at Hollins University.
I have such a hard time understanding how anyone could give this book less than 5 stars. It captured me wholly. I was completely engrossed in the characters and the slow description of their lives. I found them so uniquely interesting, and Karen Bender's imagery is so beautiful and thought provoking......more
The premise of this novel was promising. A married couple Ella and Lou. Their daughters, Lena who is retarded and Vivian who is normal. Vivian’s daughter Shelley. Ella and Lou despair over Lena’s future. Lena falls in love and marries Bob, a retarded man who works with her at Goodwill. Lou and Ella......more
Such a surprising and uplifting read. A study of love really - how we love those in our lives in different ways, according to their needs and the shape of our hearts, how we have space enough for everyone. For all those of us who have been fortunate enough to have 'normal' children, who have walked t......more
Very moving, with well imagined characters and incredible description that only occasionally goes on too long.......more
I came across this book by accident and immediately was drawn to the characters, especially the mother, Ella and her differently abled daughter, Lena. I connected with Ella, the mother, as I have a 38 year old daughter with special needs. This story was both heart wrenching and heart warming as Ella......more