Reviews

"Outside the Ordinary World, a first novel by Dori Ostermiller, is one of the best books I've read this year. It's got everything I love in a turn-off-the-iPhone, read-in-one-sitting book: religious convictions gone awry; rich, sensual prose; a protagonist making sense of her past by opening all the same doors in her present-day life. At the heart of this book, like the elephant in the living room, sits marital infidelity, a subject which Ostermiller handles with spellbinding grace. A fascinating portrait. ''

-- A. MANETTE ANSAY, The Miami Herlad

'Partly set against the fire-shocked California coast in the 1970s, the age of “The Joy of Sex’’ and Helen Reddy songs about female empowerment, (Outside the Ordinary World) captures what it’s like to be a child caught in a sticky web of family drama...

Reminiscent of Mona Simpson and Elizabeth Strout in the way Ostermiller expertly explores family dynamics and mother-daughter bonds, the novel gives a shattering portrait of ordinary people breaking asunder and helplessly trying to glue back together.

“The world comes apart quietly with the smallest, most ordinary gesture,’’ Ostermiller writes, but it should be noted that there’s absolutely nothing ordinary about this astonishingly moving and complex novel.'

--Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe (Click Here for full review)

"It’s the rare novel that stays in your mind for a long time after you read it and yet that’s exactly what you’ll get with Outside the Ordinary World.
(Ostermiller's) characters are all well thought out, three dimensional and all totally necessary to the novel. Her protagonist Sylvia is an exceptionally portrayed character and readers will find themselves entranced by her and will share in her sorrow and cheer in her triumphs and at times will want to slap her silly. This is no romance but there is a thought provoking love story here, one that will make her audience sit up and take notice, one that will resonate within all of us, especially those of us who like me can relate to it. The love scenes are creative and thoughtful and here is where you’ll find her most imaginative prose.

Outside the Ordinary World is a masterpiece of the written word. It’s a hard story to tell and yet one that needs to be told. So if you’re looking for a world class piece of literary fiction, a story on the dark side of family turmoil with that all elusive light at the end of the tunnel, then give this wonderful novel a try. It’s not an easy read but it’s one that needs to be read. So if this is the kind of tale that floats your boat believe me you will not be sorry that you took the plunge. It’s bound to get critical accolades, it’s that good."

--Debbie Haupt, The Reading Frenzy (Click Here for full review)

"...Ostermiller's gift for storytelling with precision and restraint makes "Outside the Ordinary World" anything but ordinary. That it so easily crosses genres, from literary to mainstream and women's fiction, with prose that is visceral in its beauty, makes it an astonishing debut.

Whether narrating as Sylvie the child or Sylvie the woman, her voice echoes off the page with authority and compassion for those who have betrayed her and those she has betrayed. The child Sylvie is captivating and keenly observant.

As a woman, she is magnetic; hers is a voice of poignancy and lyricism, her story, an unsettling tale of the power of family legacy and its inextricable pull on the trajectory of our lives.

No character in this compelling montage of past and present is wholly virtuous or vile.

Instead, the author illuminates each with a balance of frailty, fortitude, and possibility that is the human condition.

With skill and sensitivity, Ostermiller not only strips away the impulse to judge them, but also elevates them to the realm of unforgettable...."

--Rita Marks, The Springfield Republican (Click Here for full review

Ostermiller grabs you from the first paragraph in this intensely emotional novel. She deftly weaves a modern story line with a lyrical writing style and her characters have a rich depth... The true prize is the plumbing of the psychological effects of modern family life on our relationships with each other—parents, children, spouses and lovers.

(4.5 out of 5 stars) --Victoria Frerichs RT Book Reviews

... (A) beautifully written novel that reveals the fault lines in the tectonic plates of the heart.

--J.M. Cornwell, Authorlink (Click Here for a full review)

Outside The Ordinary World is an engaging character study. Sylvia has begun to appreciate what her mom went through as she considers an extramarital affair though turning deeply devout at the same time seems too hypocritical to her. This strong family drama makes it seem history is soon ready to repeat itself..."

--Harriet Klausner, Mainstream Fiction (Click Here for full review)

Ostermiller writes exquisitely. Her prose style is as dynamic as her fire imagery; it gently flickers, quietly smolders, suddenly sears, or can rage unpredictably. Read this: "I was trembling like an addict as I stumbled after him, my thoughts feral and haphazard –predestination, species extinction. The last plagues – how many were there again? What were they called?" Ah, prose with a comedic, self-observing ego that doesn't take itself too seriously. Well, until it does...

Over and over again, sentences like these held me, asking me to not let them go, and while I could see the storyline over their shoulders –a beckoning force —I let them hold me, not a difficult choice really, it is what I hunger for when I read and too often find myself settling instead for meager lesses.

If other reviewers proclaim, "I couldn't put this book down", do not think I misled you. Yes I savored sentences, and often, but they also afforded me some relief from a deftly contrived tension that Ostermiller sets up -- and fans continually-- the potential that devastating family secrets (as safe as love letters hidden in a flimsy cardboard box) could be uncovered at any moment..."

--India Nolen, Librarian (Click Here for full review)

“This gripping novel is a story of love, lies, betrayal and regret. It’s a story about the relationships between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives... Although Sylvia tells herself she is not like her mother and will not make the same mistakes, she is tempted to make decisions that have the potential to destroy everything she holds dear. Outside the Ordinary World will have you reevaluating the relationships in your life. It will make you think deeply about what is really important and how to hold onto it!”

--Friday Morning Bookclub (Click Here for full review)

“I found Dori Ostermiller gripping me with her writing and her uncanny ability to lot the emotional seismograph of a woman on the brink of an affair...”

--Roger Brunyate, MostlyFiction Book Reviews (Click Here for full review)

“Outside the Ordinary World is well-paced and beautifully written. Dori Ostermiller does a fantastic job conveying Sylvia’s interior life, as well as the complicated family ties and tumult that surround her... All of the characters in the novel—even the unsympathetic ones—are written vividly and with great sensitivity, keeping the reader engaged on every page... Outside the Ordinary World turns the stuff of every day life into an intimate, gripping tale; it will linger in your thoughts and imagination, long after the final page is read...”

--Bestromancestories.com (Click Here for full review)

“A beautiful and eloquently written debut novel, Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is a powerful story of infidelity, secrets and the bonds between mothers and daughters. Ostermiller’s debut is an extraordinary work of literary prose with compelling and captivating storylines begging the question is one destined to become one’s mother and if so when does the process begin...”
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“Ostermiller delves into her characters as though she is not just their creator, but their private audience as well. These richly woven characters seem to spread their wings and fly into being almost effortlessly...”
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“Outside the Ordinary World is a carefully crafted, nuanced and deeply sympathetic novel about fulfilling promises, being loyal -- both to others and to yourself. Ostermiller's Outside the Ordinary World is a satisfying and unusual read...”
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“Dori Ostermiller has written a beautiful book in telling Sylvia's story and that of her family. It's a book that has a bit of everything. It opens the doors to rooms that most people don't want others to see, and she does it with complete honesty. If there was ever a book to get lost in, OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY WORLD is that book...” Click here for full review.