Joining the storytelling traditions of Alice Hoffman and Anne Tyler, Caroline Leavitt captures women at pivotal times in their lives--when unusual circumstances make ordinary people do extraordinary things. Leavitt studies three women, each from a different generation, and what happens when they lose the man they all love.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A reckless, anguished and adrenaline-charged road trip opens Leavitt's (Into Thin Air) latest novel: Lilly, distraught after her fiance Matt's accidental death two weeks before their marriage, is driving his uncooperative daughter, Dinah, 15, from Manhattan to the Pittsburgh home of Matt's mother, Dell. After this riveting scene, the narrative backtracks, providing snapshots of the lives of these four characters. Dinah's blissful Ohio childhood with her divorced veterinarian father is recalled, as is the larger-than-life long-distance courtship of Lilly and Matt: "He left work to race home and fetch the mail, and if there was even a postcard from Lilly, he was delirious." With these and other bits of background established (including the loss of the clairvoyant powers that once earned Lilly a comfortable living as a psychic), the story line returns to 1990, as Lilly leaves Dinah with Dell and sets out on a cross-country journey of mourning, thinking she's seen the last of the unhappy teenager. But unforeseen circumstances draw Lilly back to Pittsburgh, where?against her will?she lays down tentative roots and makes a stab at providing Dinah with a home. In the next two years, Dinah, Dell and Lilly each come to terms with the loss of the man who meant so much to them. Throughout, Leavitt evinces an intimate understanding of the process of mourning, and a keen eye for some of the unsympathetic ways in which people can react to displays of grief. Although the prose is occasionally overcharged , that won't prevent readers from surrendering to the heartfelt and beguiling story. First serial to Good Housekeeping.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Heartfelt and beguiling." -- Publisher's Weekly Starred review
"Leavitt makes characters both human and sympathetic." -- The New York Daily News
"One of the most gripping stories of people in crisis I have read since Ordinary People." -- Flint Journal
"Showcases her ability to create believable characters who behave badly without forfeting the reader's sympathy.. with aplomb." -- The New York Times Book Review
Caroline Leavitt's sixth novel showcases her ability to create believable characters who can behave badly without forfeiting the reader's sympathy. Living Other Lives dips in and out of its characters' thoughts to reveal confused but basically good people who desperately want to be loved, without having much idea how to go about it. Warmhearted without being saccharine, a delicate balancing act that Ms. Leavitt pulls off with aplomb. -- NYT Sunday Book Review
"Leavitt makes characters both human and sympathetic." -- The New York Daily News
"One of the most gripping stories of people in crisis I have read since Ordinary People." -- Flint Journal
"Showcases her ability to create believable characters who behave badly without forfeting the reader's sympathy.. with aplomb." -- The New York Times Book Review
Caroline Leavitt's sixth novel showcases her ability to create believable characters who can behave badly without forfeiting the reader's sympathy. Living Other Lives dips in and out of its characters' thoughts to reveal confused but basically good people who desperately want to be loved, without having much idea how to go about it. Warmhearted without being saccharine, a delicate balancing act that Ms. Leavitt pulls off with aplomb. -- NYT Sunday Book Review
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More About the Author
I'm the New York Times Bestselling author of Pictures of You, and the award-winning author of eight other novels. Pictures of You was a Costco "Pennie's Pick," a San Francisco Chronicle Lit Pick, and it was also on many Best of 2011 lists, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Providence Journal, Bookmarks Magazine, and Kirkus Reviews, which also put the novel on their Top Five Novels about Family and Love list. I've been writing since I was in grade school (I was the one who made up books and then wrote book reports for them.) I always knew I wanted to be a writer, though being a screenwriter came in a close second. I live for books and the movies and I teach writing at UCLA online, have private clients, and I'm a book critic for People and the Boston Globe. I'm deliriously happily married to the writer Jeff Tamarkin (his book, Got A Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane, was one of the top music books of the year) and we have a teenaged son.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that really stays with you.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Living Other Lives (Hardcover)
I have been a fan of Caroline Leavitt's ever since she wrote "Meeting Rozzy Halfway", but I think this book is her best. The characters are real and you become truly wrapped up in their lives. All of the author's books are enjoyable, but this one really lingers in your mind long after you've read it. I recommend it enthusiastically!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Heartwarming Story,
By Sheryl B. Ritzman (Newbury Park, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Living Other Lives (Hardcover)
I have recently discovered Caroline Leavitt's novels and this has been the lastest one I have read. Like her other novels, her characters are so vivid, they become like your good friends. This novel is no exception. The emotions the different characters embraced made my heart go out to them. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read a heartwarming story about various relationships intermingled with death, grief, and letting go.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A moving story of grief (have the tissues handy),
By
This review is from: Living Other Lives (Hardcover)
Caroline Leavitt's novel about a young woman dealing with the unexpected death of her fiance is believable and moving. All of Ms. Leavitt's books are great; I also highly recommend "Meeting Rozzy Halfway".
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