#ellenullman

By Blood  is not your average read, but the story is compelling none the less.

Overview

Told through the eyes of a disgraced collage professor in 1970 who escapes to San Francisco and rents out space in an office building to stage his return to academics. Happening to be next door to a psychiatrist he begins overhearing her sessions with a patient, and quickly becomes obsessed with her (patient) story, setting the stage for the main plotline of the novel.

Ullman uses this eavesdropping professor  as a middleman to tell the story of our nameless patient's struggle for identity using a psychiatrist. It is an unusual, but effective, narrative as a patient's story quickly becomes a compelling query into her past. 

San Fran, while not overwhelmingly present, does provide some bonuses for the reader. While away from his 'beloved patient' we encounter some of San Francisco's culture, with some aggressive lesbians, the search for the Zodiac Killer, and references to the ever controversial Patty Hearst all peaking out from the background. 

My Take:

While this is one of the more unusual methods of storytelling I have come across, i have to say, once i got used to the narrative (ie being eavesdropped upon) the story the author was telling was an interesting one. There is one point however where we are hearing a story in an almost Inception like manor. Ie the prof hears the patient recall a story that was told to her by someone who had previously had it told to them by someone else. you get used to it, but yes it is hard to keep track of sometimes.

All in all, the story is entertaining, especially for someone who likes a good historical fiction.

Rating: 3.5/5 an unusual, but well crafted story that is defiantly worth  picking up for any fiction lover

Other Info

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2012/04/21/by_blood_by_ellen_ullman_review.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/books/review/by-blood-a-novel-by-ellen-ullman.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0