Review: Vividly, Descriptively Complex ....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
I got this book for free after seeing it on the Kindle Buffett list.  I did not know the author but the concept seemed like something that would interest me.  The book is excellent, and the cinematorgraphy the author uses via words to describe Olivia's dreams is divine (it made me think of scenes and the imagery from Oz).Olivia Hannity had a rich and vivid imagination prior to age 12 and then at age 12 she is raped by her 19 year old cousin (Van  Hannity) for a year while he was preMed at Duke in Durham, NC and living with her family to save money.  In her pre- rape dreams, Olivia befriends "Grim" who mostly appears like the madhatter from Alice in Wonderland (although every time she described him it made me think of Johnny Depp in his version of Alice in Wonderland) who later helps her cope with the assault she endures.  Later Grim shows her how to make Van stop by invading his dreams and the next morning 19 year old Van is found catatonic and is institutionalized for the rest of his life.  After the assault stops, Olivia's once vivid dreams become horrible nightmares and she tries for 28 years to get her sleep back (via Counseling, drugs, dream journaling) all to no avail.  She returns to Durham at age 41, after having been gone for 20+ years, to "get her sleep back", i.e. sort out the issues with Van which led to her lose sleep in the first place.  The process leads her to a lot of revelations and via forgiveness and perhaps a little "dream magic" she is able to send "the creeps" (name she gives to her horrible nightmares) away and find herself and her sleep, i.e. peace.My description might sound complicated but this is no ordinary work of fiction.  This book is complex and vivid fantasy interposed over some really tough subject matter (rape survival - PTSD)  There were very few errors and this is not a quick read because of its descriptive complextiy.  I was touched by the friendship between Pippa and Liv.  I desperately wanted Liv to break free of the creeps and to be really "awake" to her life.