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The View on the Way Down  By  cover art

The View on the Way Down

By: Rebecca Wait
Narrated by: Mandy Weston, Carl Prekopp
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Publisher's summary

This audiobook will open your eyes and break your heart.

It is the story of Emma’s two brothers: the one who died five years ago, Kit, and Jamie, who left home on the day of the funeral and has not returned since. It is the story of their parents, who have been keeping the truth from Emma and from each other. The past is not discussed or acknowledged, until a chance encounter brings devastating secrets to the surface and once again the family must face a crisis which may ultimately save them.

The View on the Way Down captures the insidious, sometimes violent, force of depression and its ability to tip lives into chaos. Gripping, moving, and ultimately hopeful, The View on the Way Down will have you rooting for the family’s redemption.

Rebecca Wait graduated from Oxford University in 2010 with a first class degree in English, having been mentored by the poet and novelist Craig Raine at New College. She’s been writing since she was a child and has won numerous prizes for short stories and plays. Rebecca wrote The View on the Way Down in the evenings whilst working as a teaching assistant the year after graduating. In March 2013, Rebecca thrashed the competition to triumph as a Literary Death Match champion.

©2013 Rebecca Wait (P)2013 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"The View on the Way Down is a novel that deserves to win awards as well as a huge readership. It’s a wise, honest, wonderful read that marks Rebecca Wait not just as a writer to watch out for, but one to appreciate now." (Daniel Clay, author of Broken)
"The View on the Way Down is deeply moving – yet unsentimental – and profound, and has a family secret at the heart of it that will remain with you for a long time after you finish reading. It is a novel that needed to be written and which will touch many people . . . a fine achievement." (Mark Gartside, author of What Will Survive)
"The View on the Way Down is written with great sympathy and an aching tenderness. Rebecca Wait’s evocative storytelling is alive to the tragedies and miracles of everyday life, illuminating the grey area between protecting and deceiving the ones we love." (Laura Harrington, author of Alice Bliss)

What listeners say about The View on the Way Down

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Debut Novel - I LOVED THIS BOOK

This is a book that packs a lot of emotional punch in less than 8 hours - truly poignant and yet avoids being maudlin or manipulative. I am in awe of the ability of this young author to so clearly convey the feeling of deep depression from the POV of the sufferer while at the same time so skillfully demonstrating the devastating impact this affliction has on anyone who loves someone in the throes of depression. But that's not all - this very insightful view of depression and its painful rippling affects is presented in a beautifully written book that is NOT depressing. It is definitely moving, sometimes quite sad, but there is humor and ultimately a kind of genuine hopefulness that runs through the novel that makes it a book that's good and good for you.

When we meet Emma and her family, it is 5 years after the death of Emma's oldest brother Kit. 14-year-old Emma and her mother and father live under one roof, but barely function as a family; middle brother Jamie is completely estranged from the family. The plot line becomes not so much what happens from there, but how these characters deal with what has already happened and whether they can find a way to move forward together.

The novel is primarily relayed in 3rd person and rotates POV among the primary characters with one epistolary section - Jamie's letters to his father. As the point of view shifts, Wait unobtrusively builds empathy for each character in turn and you realize as you meet each of these people that what looked like unattractive character flaws in each person (overeating, shyness, isolationism, anger, panic, denial, OCD, etc.) when viewed from the outside were, in fact, coping mechanisms of the walking wounded. None of these emotional crutches truly worked toward healing, but they did allow each person to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And when the coping mechanisms begin to fail, the family faces a second crisis which ultimately brings them to the climax of the novel. These characters are brilliant. I not only recognized this people, I've been these people.

Fortunately this lovely book was afforded some lovely narrators; this is a good audio production.

Highly Recommended!

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11 people found this helpful

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A Powerful First Novel

The View on the Way Down is about the different ways grief and loss affect the lives of the family left behind. The publishers summary makes it clear that one of teenage Emma's brothers has died and part 1 is told from her point of view. Bullied at school, disillusioned with God and becoming ever more miserable at home, she turns to food for comfort. Emma's parents response to the tragedy is to retreat into their own misery barely acknowledging each other or Emma. They are all estranged from the surviving brother.
Put this way, the story sounds simplistic. But don't be fooled by the simple almost gentle way the story unfolds. This book is powerful. It is well researched beautifully written and expertly narrated. I highly recommend this truly amazing story from first time author 25 year old Rebecca Wait. She apparently wrote The View on the Way Down in the evening while working as a teachers assistant. I eagerly await her next novel.

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6 people found this helpful

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Depression & its repercussions, but not depressing

The View On The Way Down is a solid 3.5 stars, rounded up because Rebecca Wait was able to make me begin to understand depression and its many repercussions. The opening scene of a happy family enjoying a day at the beach shifts abruptly to what has become of that same fractured family five years after the suicide of older son Kit. Younger son Jamie was estranged from the family on the day of Kit's funeral; Emma, the youngest child, is left not knowing exactly what happened, but trying to cope with the losses of her brothers through Jesus and food, and parents Rose and Joe are understandably just barely hanging on. Jamie's ex-girlfriend has a chance meeting with him, and this encounter sets in motion the events that may begin to help these utterly broken people become less so.

I haven't had any personal experience with depression, so I know I don't fully understand it. I appreciate it is far beyond sadness, and I certainly recognize that "Don't worry, be happy" won't work with clinical depression, but through her character portrayals, Wait was able to give me at least an introduction to understanding the depths of depression, and how suicide could possibly become more attractive than living. The middle of the book details the back story through letters from Jamie to his father. These may not be entirely realistic, but they do provide necessary detail in a poignant way. I found Emma a bit too childlike in some instances, but she is forced to bear the brunt of absent brothers and uncommunicative, shattered parents, so immaturity may be the result of her circumstances. It's a bit ironic that many family members don't want to talk about things to avoid causing more pain for themselves or others, but by refusing to face the situation that is exactly what has happened. The ending is appropriate, especially for a book that deals with difficult subjects and can be uncomfortable to read at times. I love that Wait never resorts to platitudes or becomes maudlin in The View On The Way Down. This is a book that will make you think - about depression, loss, sibling relationships, and families.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Stand out

I wish all debut novels were this good.

This family are broken by the severe depression of their eldest son & the consequences. I felt their pain. None of them are making great decisions & all of them are suffering.

The story was great all the way through - until the end. I wasn't sure the ending felt realistic given the rest of the story, however it didn't spoil the book for me.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Pitch perfect for the subject matter

Any additional comments?

The View on the way down is about depression and suicide. And more than that it is the effects of depression and suicide on a family. For subject matter that some would consider taboo, it read to me as a very everyday story. Which is as it should be because depression and suicide are all around us. There is nothing sensational or melodramatic in this book. This is a regular family dealing with that “permanent solution to a temporary problem”. I think Rebecca Wait got the pitch just right. She knows her subject matter, but doesn’t showboat it. She doesn’t dwell on the details of the illness, but instead shows us the devastating results to all that surround it.

I noticed an interesting trait that all the characters had. At various points in the book the all had to mentally force themselves to say or do something that they weren’t comfortable doing. This was written as if it is something that we all have to do every day. Which made me think this was an everyday occurrence for Rebecca Wait, and that she was no stranger to mental health. Though I think the whole book is testament to that. You just could not write a book like this through research alone.

The plot is kept interesting by flicking between various characters perspectives; sister, brother, girlfriend, father, mother. It becomes subtly compelling to find out what will become of each of them.

On a lighter note, whenever I saw this book cover, I wondered why on earth did they have an upside-down flying witch on the cover? It was only when I saw a bigger version that I realized it was a girl on a swing.

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