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GIVEAWAY & REVIEW: Unsaid by Neil Abramson

July 6, 2011 By Mary

Description

UNSAID is told from the perspective of Helena Colden, a veterinarian who has just died of breast cancer. Helena is forced to witness the rapid emotional deterioration of her husband David. With Helena’s passing, David, a successful Manhattan attorney, loses the only connection that made his life full. He tries to carry on the life that Helena had created for them, but he is too grief-stricken, too angry, and too quickly reabsorbed into the demands of his career. Helena’s animals likewise struggle with the loss of their understanding and compassionate human companion. Because of Helena, David becomes involved in a court case to save the life of a chimpanzee that may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of animals consciousness. Through this case all the threads of Helena’s life entwine and explode – unexpectedly, painfully, beautifully.

About the Author

Neil Abramson is a partner in a Manhattan law firm, and his wife is a veterinarian. Abramson is also a past board member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an award recipient from the ASPCA for his legal work on behalf of animals, and a founding member of the New York City Bar Association Committee on Legal Issues Relating to Animals.

Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Center Street (August 4, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1599954109
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599954103

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

In a way, this book should have had the word atonement in the title since the story revolves around life, death and getting things right or merely getting things on the right path in order to resolve all those ethical questions that occur in everyone.  Helena has just died from cancer and returns to her home and life as a veterinarian  to check up on her husband, friends and animals.  She finds her lawyer-husband David overwrought and not coping very well with the loss.  Helena took in strays of all sorts, from horses to cats and anything in between, so David must cope with the misfit animals while trying to go back to his high powered career.  The story becomes a legal thriller as well as one of redemption when Jaycee, Helena’s best friend and research partner, requests David’s help in a legal issue.

Helena is just an observer and narrates her life history and the current affairs in her loved ones lives in such a profound and beautiful way.  Her love of all animals has been a driving force in her life and David never really understood it until he faces the animals he must now care for.  The animals are portrayed so perfectly that they just jump off the page with life.  There are many little twists and turns in David’s healing process and through each step he finds help in unusual ways.  He hires Sally, a vet tech who is out of work, to care for the menagerie and along with Sally comes her autistic son, Clifford who really adds another dimension to the book.

The end of the book truly caught me off guard.  I really wasn’t expecting the book to end this way, but everything is nicely resolved (sorry, no spoilers here).  Any animal lover will adore this book since it gets right to the heart of animal rights.  Fans of Garth Stein and  Temple Grandin will love this sweet and powerful story about the human-animal connection.

WANT TO WIN A COPY THIS BOOKS?

 Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a US or Canadian mailing address and ends 7.30.11
Winner will be chosen by Random.org on 7.31.11.  Only one winner per mailing address.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen
This giveaway is sponsored by Center Street Publishing and supplied by the publisher for ONE WINNER!
Complete the form below!
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Comments

  1. Darlene says

    July 6, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    FYI, Neil’s RSS feed link is not working. It says “Page not found” when I click on it.

  2. Margaret says

    July 6, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    This sounds like a great summer read Thanks!

    Margaret
    singitm@hotmail.com

  3. holdenj says

    July 7, 2011 at 12:23 am

    This sounds like a story that certainly has a lot of twists. Thanks for the chance to win. Enjoyed Neil’s Q&A too.
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. Bethie says

    July 7, 2011 at 2:31 am

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    lizzi0915 at oal dot com

  5. Krystal says

    July 7, 2011 at 3:16 am

    tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/Icecream1891/status/88807975057244160

  6. holdenj says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:39 am

    Daily entry 7/7. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  7. Bethie says

    July 7, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    Daily Entry 7.7

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  8. holdenj says

    July 8, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    Daily entry 7/8. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  9. Bethie says

    July 9, 2011 at 2:50 am

    Daily Entry 7/8

    Lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  10. holdenj says

    July 9, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Daily entry 7/9. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  11. Bethie says

    July 9, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    Daily Entry 7/9

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  12. Samantha Cheng says

    July 9, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    Mmmm I love animals :3 Thanks for this giveaway!!

    hsiu_an(at)hotmail(dot)com

  13. mamabunny13 says

    July 9, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    I love that he is giving 25% of the sales from this book for the care of abuse and homeless animals. 🙂
    mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

  14. holdenj says

    July 10, 2011 at 11:51 am

    Daily entry 7/10. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  15. Bethie says

    July 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    Daily Entry 7/10

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  16. holdenj says

    July 11, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Daily entry 7/11. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  17. Bethie says

    July 12, 2011 at 12:15 am

    Daily Entry 7/11

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  18. holdenj says

    July 12, 2011 at 11:53 am

    Daily entry 7/12. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  19. Bethie says

    July 12, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    Daily Entry 7/12

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  20. holdenj says

    July 13, 2011 at 11:25 am

    Daily entry 7/13. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  21. Bethie says

    July 13, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    Daily Entry 7/13

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  22. holdenj says

    July 14, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    Daily entry 7/14. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  23. Bethie says

    July 15, 2011 at 2:15 am

    Daily Entry 7/14

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  24. holdenj says

    July 15, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    Daily entry 7/15. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  25. holdenj says

    July 16, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    Daily entry 7/16. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  26. holdenj says

    July 17, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    Daily entry 7/17. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  27. mamabunny13 says

    July 17, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    (I mistakenly filled out the form again. Can please delete that entry for me?)

    Daily entry 7/17
    mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

  28. Mary (BookHounds) says

    July 17, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    @mamabunny — no worries about the form!

  29. holdenj says

    July 18, 2011 at 11:47 am

    Daily entry 7/18. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  30. Bethie says

    July 18, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    Daily Entry 7/18

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  31. nicolesender says

    July 19, 2011 at 4:00 am

    I would love to win this book!
    7/18
    nicolesender(at)yahoo(dot)com

  32. holdenj says

    July 19, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Daily entry 7/19. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  33. Bethie says

    July 20, 2011 at 12:17 am

    Daily Entry 7/19

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  34. holdenj says

    July 20, 2011 at 11:42 am

    Daily entry 7/20. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  35. Bethie says

    July 20, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    Daily Entry 7/20

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  36. holdenj says

    July 21, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Daily entry 7/21. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  37. Bethie says

    July 22, 2011 at 1:56 am

    Daily Entry 7/21

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  38. holdenj says

    July 22, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    Daily entry 7/22. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  39. Bethie says

    July 22, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    Daily Entry 7/22

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  40. holdenj says

    July 23, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Daily entry 7/23. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  41. Bethie says

    July 24, 2011 at 12:38 am

    Daily Entry 7/23

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  42. holdenj says

    July 24, 2011 at 3:02 pm

    Daily entry 7/24. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  43. Bethie says

    July 24, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    Daily Entry 7/24

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  44. holdenj says

    July 25, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Daily entry 7/25. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  45. holdenj says

    July 26, 2011 at 11:27 am

    Daily entry 7/26. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  46. Bethie says

    July 27, 2011 at 1:43 am

    Daily entry 7/26

    Lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  47. holdenj says

    July 27, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Daily entry 7/27. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  48. holdenj says

    July 28, 2011 at 11:26 am

    Daily entry 7/28. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  49. Anonymous says

    July 29, 2011 at 12:56 am

    Thanks so much for the opportunity.

  50. Sue says

    July 29, 2011 at 12:57 am

    Thanks for the insight and opportunity.

  51. mamabunny13 says

    July 29, 2011 at 4:25 am

    Daily entry 7/29 Thanks!
    mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

  52. holdenj says

    July 29, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Daily entry 7/29. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  53. Bethie says

    July 30, 2011 at 2:28 am

    Daily entry 7/29

    Lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  54. Bethie says

    July 30, 2011 at 11:25 am

    Daily entry 7/30

    Lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  55. holdenj says

    July 30, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    Daily entry 7/30. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  56. holdenj says

    July 31, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Daily entry 7/31. Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  57. Mary (BookHounds) says

    August 2, 2011 at 1:52 am

    JULIA — JHolden

    An email has been sent to the lucky people named above (first part of their email address in case my note ends up in spam). The winner(s) has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

    Thanks to all who entered.

    PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOR THE EMAIL FROM BOOKHOUNDS @ HOTMAIL REQUESTING YOUR MAILING ADDRESS!

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