The Sleepwalker: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

I have liked Bohjalian books in the past (for example, The Midwife), but I cannot recommend The Sleepwalker. It doesn't go anywhere. First, each chapter begins with a tidbit of information about sleepwalking and its analogs, which is more academic than helpful. Second, the story drags on and on with unnecessary incidents that seem to only fill up space until the dramatic denouement. Nothing much happens for most of the book besides giving the reader examples of sleepwalkers' nocturnal activities. It's hard to feel sympathy for the characters. The mother's name is Annalee, leading this English major to see a correlation with Edgar Allen Poe's poem, Annabel Lee. The linkage is obvious, especially to the poem's last two lines. Irrelevant twists are present, like the question of who is Paige's father, but they're not red herrings in that they have nothing to do with any possible resolution. I did not like this book.

Chris Bohjalian is one of my favorite authors, and I believe he is one of our greatest storytellers. I am always excited when he publishes something new. This book, his latest, is marketed as a mystery thriller. But Bohjalian is such a gifted writer I prefer to say that this is a literary thriller (his novels always improve my vocabulary even though I need to stop reading to look up the meaning of a word). This tale reminds me of an old foreign film, meaning that the pace is slow (unlike most thrillers), but worth the wait. Our location is a small Vermont town. I love when he writes stories located in rural Vermont, since I live there in the summers and get a kick out of local references. The book begins in early 2000. Remember our Y2K fear when we were all waiting for computers to crash? Or when there were no smart phones or social media? This is important to the plot, as the story is about a missing woman, and how much harder it was just 17 years ago to search for a missing person.

In a family of four, father, mother, and their 21-year-old and 12-year-old daughters--it is the mother who goes missing. The mother also happens to be a sleepwalker, of which the whole town is aware. The mother and the rest of the family are ashamed of her public sleepwalking. The tale raises provocative questions about what goes on in our minds during the eerie period (for some) when we are not really sleeping and not really awake. I learned much about sleep disorders, and our unconscious sexual state. I actually googled the phenomenon to make sure Bohjalian wasn’t making them seem more bizarre than they actually are. He didn’t.

The 21-year old daughter is the narrator throughout the story. She is an amateur magician. It took me awhile to understand that her magic has a connection to her mom’s magical state of sleepwalking. Once her mom goes missing, she does not return to college. Instead she stays home and takes on the role of housewife and mother. I found this to be unnerving. The author chooses to leave the reader wondering if she is being a supportive family member, if she was in a depressed state, or if her new responsibilities where making her feel delusional. I felt it was a bit of all three. Again, I thought about her job as an amateur magician, and the mysterious and delusions of magic.

I was a tad disappointed when the elder daughter begins a probably unethical relationship with a detective on the case. And as the family secrets are slowly revealed, I found it hard to believe that she would not end the relationship with him (if I explain more here it will be a spoiler). But I tried to remember that this character was only 21-years-old, at an age when most of us are not thinking clearly about love affairs. Still, I didn’t think the affair was needed in the plot. There were so many suspicious persons and reasons that may have been involved in wanting her mother to disappear or be killed. I felt the romance made this superior novel a bit more like a classic detective story yarn. But maybe that is just me as I do not care for the genre of contemporary romance. All in all, the author gives us another knockout story with Hitchcockian suspense. The ending had me going back to see if I could find the clues that I missed

Chris Bohjalian, masterful storyteller and brilliant writer - I should post this review without delving into The Sleepwalker. Not since reading his magnum opus, Sandcastle Girls, have I been this affected by one of his books. As one of Chris Bohjalian's most enthusiastic admirers, I have read every book he has written and am constantly awed by his wide range of subjects; every book differs entirely from his previous work.

Annalee Ahlberg, a beautiful and talented architect, goes missing from her family's red Victorian Vermont home on an August night. Her daughters, Lianna and Paige, and husband, Warren, immediately fear the worst because Annalee is afflicted with sleepwalking.

As someone who suffers from poor sleep hygiene, I have studied the complexities of sleep for years. Preconceived notions aside, I learned that sleepwalking is not a cheesy parlor trick and in fact can be dangerous. During one of Annalee's episodes, for example, Lianna pulled her mother from a bridge spanning the Gale River.

The story is narrated by Lianna, an Amherst student and amateur magician. It wasn't until I had read several pages that I realized the narrator is a young woman. I have the feeling that Chris Bohjalian is playing a trick on the reader. He skillfully adopts the persona of an intelligent 21-year-old woman, a feat many writers cannot satisfactorily achieve.

Described by many as a psychological thriller, The Sleepwalker also articulates family dynamics, life in a small Vermont town and Lianna's first adult love interest. It is the story of the special bond between mother and daughter. And it is a riveting mystery that I was unable to solve. Chris Bohjalian's love of the English language again shines through the pages. Parts of the book are almost poetic, making me savor the words. What a great irony: a book about sleepwalking is mesmerizing and sometimes hypnotic. I only wish that other readers enjoy The Sleepwalker as much as I did.

A great read, and you'll never think of sleepwalking the same way again.

Chris Bohjalian's book is, like all mysteries, a tale filled with surprises. But what carries the story is the people involved. Lianna, the narrator, is a well-captured 21 year old coming to terms with what has happened to her mother. We see her also wrestle with her self, her fears, and the need to face both what happened and what her life will be.

And while we read we learn about the strange life of people who walk, and do more, in their sleep.

It's a fascinating tale, and you definitely don't want to fall asleep while reading it.

I have been a faithful reader of this author since Midwives, which I loved. I haven't been so fond of subsequent novels until this one; I loved this book and often would go back and reread some chapters on my Kindle to make it last.
PS: A message to all authors: I don't like the prequels :(

I loved The Sleepwalker - the characters, the page turning developments, and the wallop of an ending. Mr. Bohjalian skillfully places the reader in the thick of the event/family/setting through vivid description, gut wrenching emotion, and total empathy for the protagonist and her dogged determination. All of his books easily draw the reader in without hesitation so that they can begin their own assessment of the circumstances and readily develop intimate relationships with the very raw and real characters. Impossible to put down, and energizing throughout, this novel is among Mr. Bohjalian’s finest.