Customer Reviews

The Rest of Her Life

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

What does a family do when it's tested by a child's terrible mistake? "The Rest of Her Life" makes a strong opening when eighteen-year-old Kara Churchill drives through a crosswalk on her way home from picking up her graduation gown. The family SUV strikes and kills another teenaged girl.

But this is Leigh Churchill's story, and right from the start her isolation shows. Leigh arrives home from the last day of school to find her husband, daughter and son circled in misery; and it's a closed circle.

Leigh has never had the relationship she hoped for with her independent daughter, and much of the book is devoted to Leigh's own painful childhood. Leigh and her sister Pam were raised by a self-absorbed mother who left to start her own life when Leigh was sixteen. Leigh carries the marks of that abandonment into her adult life.

In the hours and days after the accident Leigh shuts herself off from friends, co-workers, and the rest of their small Kansas town. The family copes with lawyers, court, reporters, and the mother of the dead girl.

Laura Moriarty writes beautifully and the elements of her story are all there for a great, thought-provoking read. The problem is that the entire book is from Leigh's point of view, and Leigh is not very likeable. She's lacking in joy and intimacy, and some of the dramatic scenes are "out of the blue" compared to her otherwise passive behavior. One scene that seems unsupported: when her mother visits to meet the infant Kara, Leigh berates her with an unfamiliar passion for being a bad mother.

There are other scenes that don't rise easily out of the story. Three examples: after two painful confrontations with the dead girl's mother, Leigh finds the key to defusing the woman's anger; she has an open and reconciling conversation with her only friend; and she reaches inside herself to build a bridge with her daughter. These redemptive scenes are certainly possible, but they would be more effective if we had a clearer view into Leigh's emotional journey.

The husband and son, and even Kara, are a bit lightly drawn. Kara becomes stronger as the book goes on and in the end, she shows a decisiveness and autonomy lacking in Leigh.

Overall I recommend "The Rest of Her Life" for the fine prose and the well-devised plot, while taking one star away for the limitations of its point of view.

Linda Bulger, 2008

I highly recommend this book for mothers, daughters and sisters.

The Rest of Her Life is a wonderful book about the complexities of motherhood -- the impact of our mothers on our hopes and aspirations for our children. It deals with never-ending assessments of our relationships.

It is also about perseverance while balancing your needs with those around you (especially in a time of tragedy). The book jacket asks "What would I do?" but the balance of the characters and their positions make it a tough question with multiple answers.

I was drawn in and read the entire book over the weekend. The characters were engaging and real. I especially enjoyed the part where Leigh was criticizing her mother for not seeing her as individual who wanted different things from life and realized her daughter felt the same way.

Halfway through the book, Leigh felt like a friend I should comfort and support.

I enjoyed The Center of Everything. I'm glad that Amazon recommended this one because I enjoyed it more.

Few relationships are as complex and as all-consuming as the one between mothers and daughters. Whether the bond is chilly and distant, or warm and loving, the mirror that we as females most often hold ourselves up to is that of the woman who raised us...and all too often there's that moment in a woman's life when she ruefully has to acknowledge that the words that just came out of her mouth sound exactly like those of her mother.

The intricacies of this relationship are at the heart of THE REST OF HER LIFE, a tense and completely absorbing novel by Laura Moriarty. Set against the backdrop of a single moment that will completely change a family's life forever, this is the kind of book that will keep you up and reading until the last page is turned.

Fans of Moriarty's debut, THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, will find much to savor in her second offering. The detailed characters and gripping plot will attract new readers --- Jodi Picoult's style comes to mind --- and I was also reminded of the wonderfully drawn relationships in Judith Guest's modern classic, ORDINARY PEOPLE.

The story centers on Leigh Churchill, a schoolteacher married to a wonderful college professor and mother to two. One day she comes home from work to find that life as she has known it is forever altered: her 18-year-old daughter, Kara, has run over and killed another teenager, one of her own former students. This tragedy sends everything in their family spinning --- Leigh's difficulties with Kara, which are juxtaposed against her husband's easier relationship with their daughter; her interaction with her friends and colleagues in town; and her difficult childhood with her own mother and sister. The impact that this event has on Leigh, her family, the victim's family and the entire town reverberates across every aspect of their lives.

Moriarty's deft touch with characters is strong and sure. Both Kara and her brother, Justin, are wonderfully crafted, and she creates an unforgettable portrait of Diane, the victim's mother, and Eva, Leigh's intriguing best friend. But it is with Leigh that the author's skills really shine. Instead of taking the easy route and making Leigh warm and likable, Moriarty creates a character who is prickly at best --- the true result of a child raised in difficult circumstances. This approach is both illuminating and frustrating. Because the novel is told from Leigh's point of view, it's difficult to get an accurate sense of what other characters might be feeling, but at the same time Leigh resonates with a truth that a less emotionally challenged character would never have.

THE REST OF HER LIFE is a compelling novel that takes a steady, unforgettable look at how an instant can change a family's life irrevocably. Readers looking for a well-crafted family drama with a page-turning plot will not be disappointed with Moriarty's latest work.

--- Reviewed by Lourdes Orive

For a second novel, this one stands out among the best and proves that Laura Moriarty is not a flash-in-the-pan. I'm glad she waited to publish this book because it is as excellent if not more so than the Center of Everything. I found the characters believable and the story engrossing. Can't wait for the next one!

Once again, Laura Moriarty proves that she has the most amazing instincts for character development and dialogue. You really feel like you know these people. They are three-dimensional: you don't always like them, but you GET them. I can't wait for the next one!!!

I was looking forward to this book for months after reading The Center of Everything, which was Moriarty's first novel. Once again she wrote a unique story with characters that were beautifully developed. She has a real talent for getting the complete character of a mother right, even when they are mothers that you may want to hate. I can't wait for her next book!

This novel weaves a spell. It starts when a teenage girl kills a classmate in an auto accident. It's a tough subject, but Moriarty handles it with grace. The ramifications on both families, and, in fact, the entire community are believable and honest. This is sure to be grist for some wonderful book club discussions.

The first chapter is captivating. Do you know that feeling, the one where you can't catch your breath, your heart just painfully contracts and your chest will not re-expand? The book tackles how one moment can ruin so many lives, so many dreams. But more importantly, it is about how tradgedy redefines us and our relationships. So many times I was tempted to jump to the end just to be able to take that deep breath. This book will make the "Best Of" lists this year.

I USUALLY READ MYSTERY/THRILLER BOOKS, BUT DECIDED TO CHECK THIS ONE OUT. I LOVED IT. I READ IT IN 2 DAYS.

The Rest of Her Life takes the reader into the life of a family whose lives are turned upside down in an instant. The book opens with Kara, a teenager who is about to graduate from high school and while driving makes a terrible mistake that changes the course of her life and those around her. This mistake also affects another teenager, Bethany and her family. I don't want to share all of the details of the story as it would give too much away.

The story is actually told through the eyes of Leigh, Kara's mother. Leigh was a complicated character but one that you got to know intimately as the story unfolds. I found the character development of this book outstanding. Leigh, grew up with her sister Pam and a narcissistic single mother who did her best which was truly not good enough for Leigh and Pam. As the story unfolds, we realize that as a mother, you may want what you "think" is best for your children and in reality you just may be repeating your own mothers mistakes. Leigh chose to go down a different path than her mother and made choices to go to college and married a respectable man, Gary who is a college professor. Leigh is a high school teacher and has a daughter, Kara and son, Justin who is twelve.

I found Leigh's character brutally honest and could relate to her as a mother and the depth of her honesty. She has isolated herself over the years and is not trusting of people and she has to confront all of her emotions when in one instant her daughters actions change the course of their lives completely. She must look at why her relationship with Kara is strained and why Kara instead turns to Gary, her father, for comfort instead of Leigh. Leigh must look at why her sister Pam is able to break through Kara's wall and even connect with Justin in a way that Leigh cannot. Justin is an awkward child and struggles socially and he is closer to Leigh who seems to understand him more than his father does.

This is a wonderful book about the complexities of motherhood, the relationships between mothers and daughter, mothers and sons and sisters. There is so much to this story that holds your attention as you read each page. I found the book enthralling and wanted to know what would happen next as we follow Leigh on this heartbreaking but cathartic journey. I found myself often stopping and wondering...What would I do in this situation? This is the kind of book that makes you think and assess your own choices and actions and how women grow and change from our roles as daughters to mothers.