Night Bookers' Book Club's Discussion of Uphill Wallkers: Portrait of a Family by Madeleine Blais

The group had interesting discussion of Uphill Walkers. The book is the memoir of Madeleine Blais, who lost her father at age 5, and her mother had to raise her and her five siblings on her own. Those who grew up in or lived in Western Massachusetts during the fifties and sixties appreciated the references to places of this era. Madeleine placed a lot of emphasis on her brother Ray, who spent some time at Northampton State Mental Hospital. People in the group sadly remembered the Northampton State Hospital. Many people there were not mentally ill. Ray did suffer from mental illness, but his family rallied behind him, and his mother always believed him. The group thought there were happy and funny moments in the book, like the Catholic references (Madeleine was an Irish Catholic), and the times the sisters got together to talk about old times. Someone questioned why this book was a Massachusetts Honor Book. Someone else voiced the opinion that it was written well, and the setting was local. An interesting discussion about a local book.