Library's review
Anna Quindlen is a very talented writer. I knew that from reading her newspaper and magazine columns, and from reading one of her earlier novels, [Black and Blue], which looks domestic violence square in the eye and lives to tell about it. So I maybe should have expected that the lull I fell into
But even though the plot seemed a bit predictable, Quindlen's fine turns of phrase kept me reading, like this one as she contemplates how her growing children and husband no longer need her the way they once did:
Sometimes I feel as though the entire point of a woman's life is to fall in love with people who will leave her. The only variation I can see is the ones who fight the love, and the ones who fight the leaving. It's too late for me to be the first, and I'm trying not to be the second."
Just when I was figuratively rolling my hand in a "c'mon, get on with it" gesture, Quindlen turns the whole setup on its head in a way that left me gasping out loud, in a good way. I won't say more about that; I've already said too much, though apparently not as much as the dust jacket blurb, which many reviewers have cited as an unwelcome spoiler. In fact, don't run out and read Every Last One right now. Wait a few months until all you remember is that I told you that you must read it, but you don't remember why. You can thank me later.
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when I started reading Every Last One wouldn't last. Through the first 100-plus pages, I found myself getting a little impatient with what seemed like a typical Mom's Midlife Crisis book, with the mom in question, MaryBeth, juggling her landscape business with her less-than-passionate marriage and her oh-so-modern kids: the teenage girl who yearns to be a Writer and the fraternal twin boys who couldn't be less alike. But even though the plot seemed a bit predictable, Quindlen's fine turns of phrase kept me reading, like this one as she contemplates how her growing children and husband no longer need her the way they once did:
Sometimes I feel as though the entire point of a woman's life is to fall in love with people who will leave her. The only variation I can see is the ones who fight the love, and the ones who fight the leaving. It's too late for me to be the first, and I'm trying not to be the second."
Just when I was figuratively rolling my hand in a "c'mon, get on with it" gesture, Quindlen turns the whole setup on its head in a way that left me gasping out loud, in a good way. I won't say more about that; I've already said too much, though apparently not as much as the dust jacket blurb, which many reviewers have cited as an unwelcome spoiler. In fact, don't run out and read Every Last One right now. Wait a few months until all you remember is that I told you that you must read it, but you don't remember why. You can thank me later.
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Genres
Collection
Description
Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence.
Media reviews
From reading the summary of this book, I knew that something 'horrible' happens so to be honest, I was waiting for it and started each chapter with a slight anticipation. This likely skewed the beginning of the book for me because I found the pages until 'the event' too descriptive and too...
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boring, for lack of better word. Once the 'shocking act of violence' took place, the book did a 180 degree turn for me. I began to turn each page with a new vigor and couldn't wait to read what would happen next.
As a parent, this was a hard read. The images of the children in the book had the face of my son and as a result, I spent a good part of the book with tears in my eyes. Have you ever tried to read a book with tears in your eyes? It's not very easy. However, I have to say that if a book can make you cry, it has to be well written. To be able to relate to it on such a personal level is a sure sign that the autor, Anna Quindlen, researched her topic well and knew how to relate to her readers.
Overall, I feel that this book should be added to the 'to be read' list for most women but especially mothers. It really does make you look at your life and appreciate what you have while you have it right in front of you. Taking each day as it comes and not looking too far in the future! Show Less
This is Quindlen's sixth novel, and she knows how to build the armature of a story. Yet even as the Lathams become tenderly real to us, Quindlen fails to develop the necessary narrative urgency.
Each of Quindlen's characters -- kids, friends, neighbors and relatives -- seems real, and each could conceivably be the victim or perpetrator of the domestic dramas that lie ahead.
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2011)
Language
Original publication date
2010-04-13