Customer Reviews

All the Numbers: A Novel

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book was good, but the mother character just kept getting on my nerves. She loses her son and the book deals with her grief and how her life was affected.

For a while I could feel her grief, but as the book progressed, it seemed like she became a whiner, and I began to lose interest in her. Actually, she became an annoying figure.

Reading the other reviews, it seems I am alone with how I felt, but I read enough to know a good character when I read one.

Ballantine Books, New York
Fulk review by on Roses & Thorns

When Ellen Banks hugs her dead son's clothes to her breast and inhales his lingering boy-scent, I was overcome with a sad fatalistic caution, one which warned of falling hard into a mother's grieving world. The evidence is in the first pages of Judy Merrill Larsen's novel, All the Numbers: a mother prepares to enter the funeral home to face the finality of her son. However, although the book deals with the horrific--a child's death--there were elements of hope, love, and life.

Ellen's fury is realistically depicted, and lent a credibility to her grief. There were, however, sections of the book where I had a hard time tapping into Ellen's grief, when I felt Larsen was moving towards something she had in mind for Ellen and the other characters, and not paying careful attention to what was going on at the moment. That said, there were both moments of tender beauty and of harsh reality that were exquisitely written.

I particularly liked Daniel and how he works hard to make sense of his new role as the surviving child, and how he bravely faces the very place where his life was forever changed. He finally faces his mother, too, and through his bravery, forces her not only to see the destructive path her anger is taking her, but how it affects them as a family--even if that family has been tragically altered.

A final thought: I liked how Ellen and Anna both admitted their secret guilty thoughts at the moment of the accident--when the turmoil in the water cleared, and both mothers scanned the lake, of course, as any mother would know, Ellen hoped to see James and Daniel surface, and Ellen's friend Anna hoped to see her children were safe. Later, both felt guilty for what they perceived as a selfish action against the other, as if they had wished harm on another child, as if they were wrong for behaving in a way every mother would understand. What dilemma and tension for these friends, mothers, women to in essence admit: "I hoped it was your child and not mine"--one Larsen handled with aching insight

I have to be honest in sharing that I have had this book on my TBR (to be read) shelf for awhile. I have had mixed feelings about reading it and often picked it up to put it back on the shelf as I wasn't ready to read it. I "thought" that it would be a challenging emotional read as I could relate to the story in that I am a mother of a young son close in age to the boys in the book. This preconceived notion allowed me to postpone reading this book but I do wish that I had read it sooner. Yes...this is a book that pulls on your heartstrings as a mother as Ms. Larsen evokes such connection to the mother and children in this story. It was written in a way that was not violent or gratuitous rather in a respectful and heartfelt way. I knew what was coming and it helped prepare me for the story. I felt a deep connection to Ellen, the mother and could relate to her motherly feelings and focusing on the little things that are so precious as your children grow. For me, it was a testament to the love of mother and child and how important it is to stop and appreciate the small things along the way and not wish that your kids grow up too quickly. It captured me from the beginning to the end. It is truly a bittersweet novel of a mother's journey of the ultimate loss that one can experience in life. Yes, you will need a box of tissues handy but also you will be a stronger, more patient person after reading this book! I highly recommend it to all...don't delay as I did, pick up this book and you will also appreciate the wonderful writing and depth in this story.

Ellen Banks is a high school teacher who is spending the last weekend in summer, before the start of the school year, with her two sons at a friend's lake house. This is a ritual they have followed for many years. Unfortunately what starts out as a lazy summer day ends in tragedy with Ellen's son James being hit by a jet skier and suffering a catastrophic brain injury. So begins Ellen's journey into the unthinkable, the loss of a child.

Larsen expertly weaves a tale of unbearable tragedy. Step by step we walk with Ellen, as she transfers her eleven year old son to the hospital, through the air lift to another medical center, surgery and the heart breaking decision to take James off life support. We are one with Ellen as she tries to comprehend what has happened to her, as she tries to be strong for her remaining child, Daniel, himself only thirteen. We understand her anguish as she decides to donate James' organs, although the deed offers her no solace. We watch as she collapses, crawls into bed, weeps and goes through the motions. All the while Ellen's sole objective is to get justice for James by bringing the boy who caused his death to trial for manslaughter.

This is what my mom used to call a `three hankie tear jerker'. I cried so much at some points I had to put the book down. Although I had some minor problems with the book, overall it was engrossing, heart breaking and ultimately uplifting.

Be sure to block out a serious chuck of time when you sit down with Judy Merrill Larsen's debut novel, All The Numbers, because you won't want to put it down. And it wouldn't hurt to have a box of tissues nearby either. I called in sick at work so I could finish this story of grief and forgiving love.

It's the start of summer vacation for high school English teacher Ellen Banks and her two sons, eleven-year-old James and thirteen-year-old Daniel. It looks to be a rather normal summer: a visit to her see her parents in Missouri, the boys off to Detroit to spend a week with their dad, and the with the much-anticipated August week at Lake Augusta in southern Wisconsin, the final, lazy week before getting ready for back-to-school and the dreaded trip to buy James a new pair of school shoes. Ellen loves these summers to reconnect with her boys.

Life is pretty much well going along as planned until the Banks get to the lake house, owned by Ellen's dearest friend Anna and her husband, Sam. While the boys are frolicking in the lake with Anna and Sam's three girls, a Jet Ski roars into the shallow water and clips James on the head. From that moment on, Ellen's world is turned upside down. There's the decision to take him off life support, the decision about organ donation (and no, says Ellen, it doesn't make you feel any better), and the decision about who is to blame for James' death.

The book is well-paced, giving readers the perfect amount of information to learn about Ellen and her family before tragedy strikes. There are enough twists to give an old tale new life. The prologue was a bit melodramatic and was unnecessary, but on the other hand, it prepares readers for the Ellen's journey through the worst period of her life.

Armchair Interviews says: Grab a tissue and get set for a great read.

This was a wonderful novel. It captured me right from the beginning until the end. It is a bittersweet novel of one woman's journey through the ultimate loss that once can experience...that of a child. I am a parent of a young son and often I tried to put myself in the character's shoes and could feel some of those emotions. I also had lost my mother 2 years ago and I could relate to some of the grief related feelings that we all go through when experiencing the loss of a loved one.

The author of this book has written this book in such a way where you really are drawn into the character and all her emotions.

I highly recommend this book. I hope the author writes more novels as her writing style is simply wonderful.

Reader, beware. All the Numbers, a well-written novel by author Judy Merrill Larsen, should be read with a note of caution. The author evokes such a sense of pure grief that one cannot help but experience the death of an 11-year old boy named James. I truly felt his mother's pain.

I bought this book after reading a review in the Lakeland Times newspaper, a twice weekly paper serving northern Wisconsin, where local lakes are enjoyed by vacationers, including swimmers and jet-skiers. Because my two young children swim in front of our dock (in shallow water) on a daily basis, I believed this story would hold some relevance. It certainly did. This novel is many things, but for me, it's primarily a cautionary tale.

All the Numbers is indeed well written and a very quick read, even though much of the plot is driven by the mundane day-to-day musings of Ellen Banks, the mother. Every excruciating detail of each character's actions and each of her thoughts is laid bare. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to lose a child, or want to try to understand the anger and sadness of a mother going through such a loss, the all-encompassing grief expressed in these pages captures these emotions. I felt much of the story was predictable and at times, a bit like a steady "heart line" monitor that Ellen, a high school writing teacher, ironically uses as a metaphor about creating fiction without rising action; however, I cried real tears on the last page.

The story will stay with me for a long time. Well done.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.

Any one would be touched by this story, but especially mother's. It touches on that bond between mother and child that is timeless and unexplainable. I cried for Ellen and her family but I also cried for mine and all of the unknowns that we face each day. I have two good friends who have lost children in recent years and this book has helped me to better understand their loss.

This is definitely a book you can't put down until the end! The story captures you from the first page. Your heart will break for this mother.."All the Numbers" is a book I would recommend for all mothers to read.

I LOVED this book! I am being totally sincere when I say it is the best book I have read in ages. It is a true page turner, the story is so well written, and the characters so beautifully created you wont want to put this book down.
It is a tragic story, and it will make you cry. But its a book worth every tear.