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Synopsis
Edward is nearly four years old when he begins his slow, painful withdrawal from the world. For those who love him — his father, Jack; his pregnant mother, Rachel; his younger brother, Matt — the transformation of this happy, intelligent firstborn into a sleepless, feral stranger is a devastating blow, one that will send shockwaves through every nook and cranny of family life.
A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards is the story of Edward's descent into autism, and Rachel and Jack's struggle to sustain their marriage under this unanticipated strain. Threaded through the novel, too, is the tale of Rachel's late uncle Mickey, who may have suffered from a similar disorder during a time when society's notions of parenting, pediatrics, and psychology were dramatically different from today's. As Rachel delves into her own family history in search of answers, flashbacks to Mickey's life afford moving insights into both the nature of childhood trauma and the coping mechanisms that families employ. Carefully crafted and deeply entertaining, A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards reveals the author's remarkable gift for language and offers a striking exploration of domestic life that will resonate with readers everywhere.
The Washington Post - Carrie Brown
Many people grow up in this novel -- young Edward and his siblings, Rachel and Jack -- and not all of them arrive, panting but victorious, at the crest of the hill. A happy ending would be absurd here, and Bauer wisely stays clear of easy conclusions: valuable lessons learned, love triumphant, differences reconciled. Nonetheless, she steers this family through dreadfully difficult waters with a sense of the possibility of those things, and in the end those possibilities -- and the sad, enigmatic ghost of Mickey -- make A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards more than just an account of the end of innocence. It is also a story about how wisdom is acquired, one giant step at a time.