There Is No Blue

(Paperback)

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A memoir of cascading grief and survival from the author of The Incident Report

Three essays, three deaths. The first isthe death of the authors mother, a protracted disappearance, leaving space for thoughtfulness and ritual: the washing of her body, the making of a death mask. The second considers Baillie's father, his remoteness, his charm, a lacuna at the center of the family even before his death, earlier than her mother's. And then, third, shockingly, the authors sister, a visual artist and writer living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, who writes three reasons to die on her bedroom wall and then takes her life, just before the book the sisters co-authored is due to come out.

In this close observation of a family, few absolutes hold, as experiences of reality diverge.Martha Baillies richly layered response to her mothers passing, her father's life, and her sisters suicide is an exploration of how the body, the rooms we inhabit, and our languages offer the psyche a home, if only for a time.

Reviews

Baillie delivers a work of magical realism that captures the experience of postcolonial guilt ... and gives voice to a silenced past. Publishers Weekly, starred review ofThe Search for Heinrich Schlgel

A poetic journey into mystery that asks hazy questions about time, culture and ones sense of self. Kirkus ReviewsonThe Search for Heinrich Schlgel

The beautiful descriptions of the wild outdoors in northern Canada alone make this book worth reading. Baillie is an excellent storyteller, combining adventure with deeper elements and the characters' search for self. Highly recommended. Library JournalonThe Search for Heinrich Schlgel

Clara, despite her volatility, is the novel's linchpin a creative choice that speaks to Baillie's characteristic cerebral playfulness as well as her allegiance to characters held on society's margins Baillie's empathetic portrayal of Clara shows a mind following its own kind of logic. There's a lighter tone to this novel, so it might surprise readers how much it has to say about creativity and the fractured self. The Globe and MailonIf Clara

If Clara finds Baillie at the top of her game with this complex, deftly layered new novel a richly rewarding read to sink into for a solitary afternoon. The Toronto Star onIf Clara

Author Bio

Martha Baillie lives and works in Toronto. Her novel The Incident Report was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and is to be released as a feature film in 2023. The Search for Heinrich Schlgel was an Oprah editors pick. Sister Language, co-written with her late sister, Christina Baillie, was a 2020 Trillium Award finalist. Marthas non-fiction can be found in Brick: A Literary Journal. Her poetry has appeared in the Iowa Review. Her multimedia project based on The Search for Heinrich Schlgel is archived at www.schlogel.ca.