Blue Rise

Author:

Rebecca Hill has written several novels including Blue Rise, Among Birches, and A Killing Time in St. Cloud. Blue Rise was published in 1983, won the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award, and was nominated for a Hemingway Award.

She was born in Mississippi in 1944 and lived in the state until she was about 9 years old. The Hill family moved to Palos Park, Illinois in 1953 and stayed there for the next twenty years. Blue Rise is set in one of the Mississippi counties where Hill briefly lived, and similar to the main character’s experience in the book, Hill reports that her and her family felt like outsiders living in the north after growing up in the south. Hill earned a degree in business administration from Grinnell College in Iowa and earned her master’s degree from Harvard University.

Learn More about Rebecca Hill

Three words to describe this read:

Honest- No one seems to mention that even when you grow up and move away, your relationship with your parents continues with all its complications and nuances. Hill demonstrates through her character’s experiences how difficult it can be to navigate your grown-up perspectives alongside your parents’ and hometown traditions.

Reflective- Having moved away from my small hometown, I can relate to the conflict of the main character, but regardless of the reader's experience the book makes you think. How do you change your own ideals while still honoring the values instilled in you from childhood? How do you respect those who disagree? How can you ignore the fact that where you live heavily impacts your perspectives and opinions?

Emotional- What was supposed to be a relaxing and restorative visit home turns into an emotional and at times unsettling saga for Jeanine as she tries and fails to open up to her mother. All the themes of grief, nostalgia, tension, and reflection leave the reader feeling just as emotional as the main character.

Quote:

“I am here because my life doesn’t work, and in taking the thing apart and putting it back together again, I don’t seem to find enough pieces. I think it’s possible I may have left some of them here. I think I have come here because this place may have a piece of my puzzle.”

As much as I liked this quote and the idea that returning home will give you the answers to your problems, it's pretty idealistic. In reality, I think that going home can reset your perspective and remind you where you started. Sometimes that is just what you need. It may not solve all your problems, but it might give you the space that you need and remind you of the important things in life.