The Painted Table

By Suzanne Field

The Norwegian table, a century-old heirloom ingrained with family memory, has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget—a childhood disrupted by her mother’s mental illness.

Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother’s obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint and heavy with unsettling memories.

After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. She must confront her mother’s torment if she wants to defend herself against it.

Traversing four generations over the course of a century, The Painted Table is a beautiful portrait of inherited memory. It is a sprawling narrative affirmation that a family artifact—like a family member—can bear the marks of one’s past . . . as well as intimations of one’s redemption.

“This difficult but beautiful story of hurt and healing, desperation and hope, offers an intriguing view inside the world of the mentally ill and their loved ones.” —Publishers Weekly

“Describes a descent into darkness [and a] redemptive ascent into light . . . [The Painted Table is a] deeply moving experience.” —Melvin W. Hanna, PhD, author of Mood Food: Nourishing Your God Given Emotions

"[C]ompelling . . . [The Painted Table] point[s] readers toward redemption, the kind that removes all the layers of anesthetic we use to try—and fail—to numb our pain, and replaces them with beauty that can come only through grief and surrender." —ChristianityToday.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Dec 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781401689711

Book preview

Reviews for The Painted Table

[rascalstar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story about a large family from Norway living in North Dakota during dustbowl days, initially. One child, Josephine, grows up to have a family of two girls, married to a man from the old country. I loved how the author used language to portray his accent and that of others at times. She did this very well. The two girls, Saffee and April, grow up with a mother that is slowly going insane or has schizophrenia. The father is stoic and loyal to their mother and refuses for years to believe there is anything wrong.

Later in the book, it's obvious there is a religious element to all their lives, but it's a realistic story mostly about a dining table brought from the old country and what I comes to mean to various family members, along with memories, some good, some bad. And it's about Saffee's journey with her mother and family and then later when she has her own family and how she learns to be her own person and fit into the world in a way that her mother never did. Lovely story with loads of symbolism.

[mattidw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book made me feel so many different emotions that I am not even sure what to write for the review. This book takes you in so many different directions and makes you feel so many different things that it was at times hard to read but at the same time I didn't want to put the book down. I was amazed that the author could make me feel the way I did at times. The story never once got boring or made me want to stop reading. This is an amazing story for someone who has or knows people who have a mental illness.

[campingmomma · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I only got through the first 50 pages of this book & I feel like maybe I didn't really give it a chance b/c the other reviews were so positive and it seemed right up my alley, but I have 2 books looming over my head for book club, one of which is 700+ pages, so maybe I was distracted by that. I promise I will come back to it at a later date and give it a fair shot.

[mbarkman_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What does the painted table represent? Is it the safe haven for Joann the motherless child? Is it the stigma of a dysfunctional family for Saffee? Is it an inanimate object with a living memory? It is all of that, but it is also an article of hope and redemption. The story of Joann and her daughter Saffee are intertwined with the beautifully carved table that was sent from Norway to America to be handed down as an heirloom. But the heritage can only be appreciated by the ones who truly understand what inheritance means.I found this book hard to follow, but only because the very issue of darkness is hard to follow. My heart ached even as I realized that the story was fiction, but very well told fiction involving young daughters and their mothers. If I knew the intimate history and the memories of my mother, would our interaction be different? I think that as was the case for Joann and Saffee, perhaps our perceived memories are some that are not mentioned between family members, and hidden they tend to grow and fester. The golden thread of hope and redemption are spun throughout this novel.I received this book free from Amy at LitfusePulicity Group and Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review. A positive critique was not required. The opinions are my own.

[amym53 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I recieved this from first reads for an honest review. The beginning starts off with the norway table being gifted to Clara and Knute by their family after they move to american and make their living on a prairie farm. The life on the farm is described for Joanne (who will become Saffe's mother ) and her siblings. Once life in the prairie starts to become a burden they move to a lake side resort house. Joanne loves to dance and have a good time and soon is married to a dairy man Nels. Joanne and Nels go on to have 2 children together Sapphire Eve " Saffie" and April and in the beginning the only abnormality that can be seen in Joanne is her extreme awkwardness towards others and her being clingy towards Nels. Over the years Joanne's condition deteriorates with recurrent nightmares about prairie fires and obsessive painting of the norway table. Saffie is given more of a spotlight in the book then her sister April and it's described her feelings on her mother's behavior and she turns to reading and her faith to help her through the hard times. Later on when Saffie is married she reluctantly takes the norway table and while stripping away all the layers of paint uses it as a spiritual journey to lift all the negative emotions and memories there is with the norway table for her and her mother.I enjoyed being able to look through Saffee and April's eyes and feel what it's like to have a mother that slips into psychosis. I loved the ending and when Saffe was describing her dream to Nels it was such a sweet moment.

[vintagebeckie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Suzanne Field has penned an impressive debut in her novel, The Painted Table. She takes the reader on an emotional journey through the trauma of mental illness. With an unusual subject for Christian fiction, this book presents a realistic and jarring portrayal of the impact of mental illness on a family and the healing that can take place through the redeeming love of God. Not an especially easy read, but one that I highly recommend.Joann has survived, if barely, childhood trauma. Her insecurities continue to grow into bizarre behavior, mood swings and paranoia. Her family, unsure how to deal with her, cope as best they can. Husband Nels smooths over her behavior and protects her from things that will set her off. Daughters Saffee and April seek safety in different ways — Saffee retreats, April runs away. But Saffee finally confronts the demons that haunted her childhood and effected her as an adult and seeks healing not only for herself, but her family — current and future.The strength of The Painted Table is in its characters. Flawed, clueless, deeply troubled, they are well-developed and realistic. They are also not always likable, much like real people. They make big mistakes, but God is faithful to draw them and heal them. I really liked how Field has Saffee travel a path of discovery through a message of watch, listen and learn. Saffee is determined to break the patterns of the past and allows God to redeem her life.The novel is written in third person, present tense. This was a bit jarring for me, since the novel spans over 50 years. But I think I get what the author is trying to do. The past is very present for these characters. Trauma that is not confronted continues to shape their lives in very destructive ways. A candid and powerful story, The Painted Table is going to stay with me for days to come.Highly Recommended.(Thank you to LitFuse for my review copy. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)