Sandra Austin Mello

What You Carry Sandra Austin Mello

Set along the Florida Space Coast in the summer of 1976, WHAT YOU CARRY finds the Thompson family at its breaking point as Lyle Thompson's barely managed Schizophrenia expresses full bore.

Determined to fulfill his destiny as the Son of God, Lyle dissociates from his family, leaving them to deal with their earthly struggles -- as well as his illness -- on their own.


Steeped in pop culture and rooted in a time and place both familiar and exotic, WHAT YOU CARRY explores how our inheritance -- from blue eyes and strong teeth to depression and delusion -- shapes our lives. The Thompsons' insistence on survival, as individuals and as a family, is the heart of this taut and deeply human story.

We follow Lyle, his wife Tammy and their three children -- Theresa, Robert and Kitty -- as they try to shed the family burden, each using the means at hand, be it holy salvation or Valium, music or sex, embracing the Florida wilds or getting in the nearest car and hitching a ride.