I liked my life

Abby Fabiaschi

Book - 2017

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Subjects
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2017.
Language
English
Main Author
Abby Fabiaschi (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
262 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781250084873
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Maddy's husband, Brady, and their teenage daughter, Eve, have been struggling after Maddy's suicide. Wanting to help her shattered family move on without her, Maddy hovers from the beyond, seeking the right woman to take her place. She finds the perfect person to help Brady and Eve move past their loss in Rory, an elementary teacher, and she plants thoughts in their heads to bring Rory and her family together. But Rory has experienced her own loss and may be just as much in need of learning to live again as Brady and Eve are. Fabiaschi excels at depicting the confusion Eve and Brady experience as they desperately try to reconcile their Maddy with the one who committed suicide. Excerpts from Maddy's journal and multiple narrators add to the complexity of Maddy's character as well as the layers of strained relationship history between Brady and Eve. Readers will be enveloped by the emotional impact of Fabiaschi's writing. Warm and hopeful, this marvelous debut stands next to novels from Catherine McKenzie and Carolyn Parkhurst in taking the reader on the emotional rides that define marriage and family.--Babiasz, Tracy Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

It's been two weeks since Maddy jumped off the roof of the Wellesley College library, leaving behind a husband, Brady, and a teenage daughter, Eve. Narrating from beyond the grave, Maddy continues to watch over (and exert influence on) her family in the hope that she can help them move past their grief. She's even picked out a new wife for Brady: Rory, an elementary school teacher who survived a terrible tragedy of her own. Although Rory does indeed strike up a connection with both Eve and Brady in the months that follow, father and daughter will have to find their own paths and reconnect with each other in order to move forward. Brady delves into a family secret from his own past; Eve copes with her emotions through peeks at her mother's diary and becomes inspired to find a voice of her own. As Fabiaschi employs ever more convoluted narrative machinations to hide a big twist at the end, the story loses the emotional impact it needs to maintain a connection with the reader. As such, it's hard to grieve along with Eve and Brady, and the disparate plot elements don't fully come together. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Maddy was a devoted mother and wife who seemed to have it all, until the day she stepped off the roof of the Wellesley College Library. Gradually, through narration by Maddy, her 16-year-old daughter, Eve, and husband Brady, readers will discover the whole story. After the tragedy, while still somewhere beyond, Maddy watches her loved ones and influences the living. She won't let go until she can find someone to replace her in her family's lives. Brady and Eve, both struggling with grief and their private guilt, are unable to comfort each other. Slowly, through the memories of the three narrators and entries from Maddy's journal, the truth is revealed. -VERDICT Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, this hard-to-put-down, engrossing debut will have readers wondering until the very end. It examines life and death, despair and faith, parenthood and marriage, the choices we make, and, most of all, love-making it a perfect choice for book clubs.- Catherine Coyne, Mansfield P.L., MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

After her suicide, a mother hovers beyond life, observing her family and trying to help them move on.Maddy had shown no signs of suicidal behavior and didn't leave a note; her life actually seemed pretty great, and in the passages she narrates from beyond the grave, she agrees (hence the title). She adored her teenage daughter, Eve, and her hardworking husband, Brady. Though they had their share of fights, Maddy and her family lived privileged, protected lives, a steep improvement from the neglectful households in which both Maddy and Brady were raised. The mood is one of frustration: Maddy's frustration that she left her family in this horrible state of grief and, in their own narrative passages, Brady's and Eve's frustration with the lack of answers. This is eased slightly when Maddy discovers that she can concentrate thoughts and energy down at her loved ones to guide their behavior and remind them of her love. She also tries to matchmake Brady with a new woman so he and Eve can again have a mother and wife. Meddling seems uncharacteristic of Maddy, but she has limited time in her interstitial state. Debut author Fabiaschi's even tone and her characters' bright intelligence inspire empathy and, for the most part, keep the proceedings away from the maudlin. Great pains are initially taken to explore the main theme: tragedy often has no reason, and those experiencing it must contend with the reasonlessness as well as the loss. As the book goes on, however, this universal poignancy is undercut by plot devices, some melodramatic and some simply unnecessary. But then, when one of the protagonists is a loving, helpful ghost, a certain amount of wishful thinking is part of the deal. An earnest effort from a natural storyteller. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.