Gone by Cathi Hanauer - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Jun 13, 2012 Harvee rated it 3 of 5 stars

A nutritionist, Eve Adams is caught up in raising her two children, serving her clients and handling their health as well as family problems. She has a full life. Her husband Eric is a sculptor who has lost his motivation and drive; he has no other concerns in life. Eve seems to handle the children all on her own. One evening, he drives off while taking the babysitter home and doesn't return. An interesting look at relationships, family, careers. I focused mostly on Eve and Eric's story and skip...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-fun

I have no idea what review I read that made me think I would like this book. Basically it is about a man leaving his wife and two kids after 15-or-so years of marriage. He's having a mid-life crisis because he can no longer create sculptures (waaaaaaaaaaaah!) and his wife, an annoying nutritionist carries on stoically without him in a totally unrealistic fashion.

The man is annoying baby. The wife is also annoying, especially as she "counts the skinny people" in the mall, much to her chagrin it i...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars

I've read other things written by this author, so I was really surprised by how little I cared for this book. Demographically (age, approx kids' ages), I have some things in common with the main character, Eve, and yet, I found her uncompelling, and even hard to believe. In fact, a good way in to the book (200 pages in), I was startled to realize that I still had not developed affection for any on the characters.
Eve's husband, an artist who is evidently temperamental, albeit in the blandest of...more I've read other things written by this author, so I was really surprised by how little I cared for this book. Demographically (age, approx kids' ages), I have some things in common with the main character, Eve, and yet, I found her uncompelling, and even hard to believe. In fact, a good way in to the book (200 pages in), I was startled to realize that I still had not developed affection for any on the characters.
Eve's husband, an artist who is evidently temperamental, albeit in the blandest of ways, suddenly takes off across the country--right after date night, while ostensibly driving the college-age sitter home. (The sitter is vaguely undermining of their marriage, but also rather bland and not fleshed-out.) Over the following weeks, Eve lets his phone calls to her go unanswered. Really! She doesn't give in to any temptation to yell at him, or make sure he is OK, or ask what his plans are, or put a guilt trip on him, or ask him about any household business, NOTHING. In fact, she becomes aware that he is texting with her 14 yr old daughter, and she doesn't even peek at the texts. She just decides to soldier on as a single mom, no clue where her husband's head is, not knowing whether this will be permanent. (And unless I missed it, she doesn't seem to be devastated emotionally, nor relieved. Just, eh.) Her journey as single mom is not very compelling, either. She already works, so nothing new to take on there, and when money is a tad tight, she sells one of hubby's sculptures for 10K. No biggie!
Meanwhile, her (again, FOURTEEN YEAR OLD) daughter was insufferable to me as a reader (even right away, before dad's departure has taken a toll). I have a daughter about this age, and I cannot conceive of the dynamic here. "Magnolia" is beyond mouthy--huge chip on her shoulder, very put-upon, sneaky, snotty, vulgar. And the mom just goes with it, rather than seem "dorky and old" by putting her in her place. Wimp! Magnolia bullies her mother, who at one point drives Maggie and a fast-living friend on a mini-shopping spree on Eve's dime for things like a Victoria's Secret push-up bra. The sexy clothes, Magnolia's friend tells Eve, will really show Magnolia's "cock-sucker" ex-boyfriend. Yes, she says this to a mom. And the mom doesn't react. On the way home, Eve lets them hop out of her car to go hang with some creepy-looking grown MEN that Eve doesn't know the names of! And God forbid Eve demand a curfew, or ask for names of people, or details of where they are going. The only time Eve seems ticked is when Magnolia comes home with a nose-piercing that was poorly done by some acquaintance, and it has become infected. I didn't necessarily need for Eve to flip out on her daughter, but the behaviors and choices warranted at the very least, a sit-down conversation. Eve seemed to shrug it off with little more than an eye roll. She could discuss it with her pointless best friend, but Loretta is too self-absorbed with her new baby, so all she seems to want to talk about is how her baby is on and off her "boob."
At any rate, the amount of time I gave this book was disproportionate to what I feel I received from it, and to spend any additional time on this review would be further tipping the scale.(less)

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Aug 22, 2012 Pam Asberry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh, how I loved this book! Eve Adams is a forty two-year old woman struggling to maintain the balance between home and work; her husband Eric, a once-brilliant sculptor, has lost his muse and, consequently, the ability to support his family. To help make ends meet, Eve has embarked on a career as a freelance nutritionist following the success of her recently published book on health and weight loss. Feeling more and more superfluous with each day that passes, Eric leaves to take the babysitter h...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hmmm what would I do if my husband just went to drop off the babysitter after a routine night out to dinner and just never came back? Our protagonist, Eve kind of went with it. She didn't panic. She didn't try to get a hold of him and she was completely calm with their two kids about it. "Daddy must need a break," she says. Turns out Eric did need a break. He took the babysitter across the country so she could be with her mother and his own happened to live near by so what the hell?
Eve is copi...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Wendy Hines rated it 4 of 5 stars

Simply an amazing book! Gone is a story about marriage, family and finding yourself. Cathi has done a remarkable job of character depiction - they seem so real, I can imagine them living next door. What a nightmare for any woman to think your husband has run off with the babysitter!

Gone is told from both points of view, Eric's and Eve's. Although the pace is slow, it's intricacies are the foundation for the instability of the marriage and how Eve and Eric work on not only trying to save their ma...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Rhonda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

One night, after a night out with his wife, Eric doesn't return home from driving the babysitter home...instead he drives across the country, WITH the babysitter, leaving his wife and two kids alone with no explanation.

Favorite Quotes:

"I read this poem once,' Nancy said, and Eve bet that even she was trying to shut Reenie up at this point, 'that marriage is like holding up a ceiling. Sometimes you're holding it together, but sometimes one person takes down their arms, and the other one has to d...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Gone is the story of the evolution of marriage. The introduction to Eve and Eric begins with Eve, lamenting that Eric ran off with the babysitter. This could easily be a simple, textbook case of a midlife crisis and a man suffering marriage malaise. Instead, the author paints a much more complex and complete picture.

The story of Eve and Eric is told by both points of view. It is present tense as they muddle through the sudden and unplanned separation. Given, Eric's decision to drive away is sudd...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Carolyn rated it 1 of 5 stars

It's too bad - I had heard so many good things about this book. The premise was good....but this is where everything fell short.

Spoiler alart - although there isn't MUCH to spoil 150 pages in...

I'm not sure why the author felt the need to write about 20 pages on her nutrition "interventions" with "clients". I found this whole sub-plot to be bizarre. (I used to work with dieticians so know the drill). Was it only to show us how competent the main character is, in contrast to her useless husband?...more It's too bad - I had heard so many good things about this book. The premise was good....but this is where everything fell short.

Spoiler alart - although there isn't MUCH to spoil 150 pages in...

I'm not sure why the author felt the need to write about 20 pages on her nutrition "interventions" with "clients". I found this whole sub-plot to be bizarre. (I used to work with dieticians so know the drill). Was it only to show us how competent the main character is, in contrast to her useless husband? How she is able to save the world through helthy (but not too healthy), food for her poor depraved clients, in the face of her husband not coming home? (eye roll)

The main character seems to be to good to be true. I kept saying to myself: Seriously? I could not identify with this character. She is SO great at EVERYTHING. And never complains. I would have hoped into the car with the babysitter too.

And the "other" main character - the husband - was more realistic but not within a relationship to super woman. I do not need to read another 50+ pages justifying and lamenting WHY he needed to go on a road trip with the babysitter. Then listen to him whine about why he is SO useless in the face of these competent women around him. PUL-EASE!

He is a brat by being able to only "feel connected" only to his 20-somethng babysitter and teenaged daughter. Don't most men feel this coming on, recognise it, and move on? Man up! I think the author has a world view that dumbs-down men and this is the chracter she wanted to portray.

If the female chracter is SO GREAT why would she have married, or at least put up with, a husband like that?

The author must STILL FEEL like she isn't quite hitting the message home, the author also transfers this same theme onto the children in the book. The firey teen girl about to take on the world even though her ex-boy friend is now dating the "societally driven perfect woman", and the quiet, sickly, gentle little boy, that needs his momma to take care of him. Too obvious. Barf.

Women are no longer buying into this need-to-be-everything-to-everyone-all-the-time-BS, nor are we buying into the men-are-pretty-dumb-thank-goodness-we-have-women-to-save-them-from-their-own-nonsense.

I could not continue my nutrition training, listening to the winner of the "woman of the year award", or listening to some loser having a mid-life crisis. The kids were molded in the same vein and it was unbelievable. Seriously. It was like Stepford wives by in reverse turned inside out.

If I want an agenda shoved down my throat I'll go find it elsewhere.

(less)

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Jul 06, 2012 Author Groupie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Years ago shortly after we had our first child, my husband and I read Cathi Hanuer's The Bitch in the House and had great belly laughs (while pointing fingers at one another) at her honest writing as well as the writing of others anthologized in the book. So, while reading Hanauer's article in Real Simple Magazine, I noticed she had recently published Gone, a novel in which I had not read (in case you were wondering how books find me- chance, mail, text recommendations in the middle of the night...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Karen & Gerard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, relationships, thought-provoking, funny

"Gone" by Cathi Hanauer is a story about a man who drove the babysitter home one night and just took off, leaving his wife, his 14-yr-old daughter and his young son to fend for themselves. Does he have an affair with the babysitter? How does his wife and kids get along without him? Does he come back? This was a good book, well worth my time! I liked the daughter best, then the wife and then the son but did not care for the husband at all.
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
Gone by Cathi Hanauer is...more "Gone" by Cathi Hanauer is a story about a man who drove the babysitter home one night and just took off, leaving his wife, his 14-yr-old daughter and his young son to fend for themselves. Does he have an affair with the babysitter? How does his wife and kids get along without him? Does he come back? This was a good book, well worth my time! I liked the daughter best, then the wife and then the son but did not care for the husband at all.
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
Gone by Cathi Hanauer is an excellent book about balancing work, family and marriage. Through the inner workings of the Adams family, the author shows the importance of communication between husband and wife and changes that inevitably happen in a marriage. Eve is a part-time nutritionist and new author whose book is selling well. Her husband is a sculpture whose lost his inspiration and hasn’t really sold anything for a couple years. Consequently, Eve feels angry and Erik feels useless which leads to depression and a little 6-week vacation that he neglects to tell his wife about. What really got Eve angry was that Eric took off with their babysitter! When he eventually does try to contact her, she ignores his calls. While he’s away, his two children continue growing up without him. Although Eric isn’t big on new technology, he did text his teenage daughter to keep in touch. My favorite character in this book was Danny, their young son who got a parakeet after the dad left them. My favorite part of the book was when the husband returned and his first interaction with his family was seeing his daughter sneaking out of the house, getting into a man’s car, and possibly doing drugs. That’s what finally gave him the courage to be “the dad” and step up, telling the guy to never come back and having a good father-daughter talk.

I liked this contemporary fiction book about modern family life and was glad it had a happy ending. I found it interesting that my husband and I liked different characters. He liked all except for the husband and I liked the husband and the son better than the mother and daughter. I think this could be a good book for a book club to discuss, not only the marriage aspect but also the wife’s work, Eric’s mother and sisters, and Eric’s work and the family dynamics. The bottom line is that a good marriage is high maintenance and needs constant attention. I recommend this book to any who like contemporary fiction about relationships.

(We got a complimentary copy of this book but that did not affect my review in any way.)(less)

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Jul 08, 2012 Book Him Danno rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, books-sent-by-author-publisher-for

Wow, wow, wow, wow, I don’t even know how to tell you that I loved this book. It was fantastic, I wanted to keep reading but I didn’t want it to end either. The closer I got to the end the slower I started to read, I wanted to know what would happen but I also knew that with this sort of book that the ending would really only be another beginning. I saw myself in these pages and it was fascinating and really made me double take often. Was this book about me? Well NO, but WOW…..or did I say that...more

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Jun 07, 2013 Ruthie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am pretty ambivalent about this book. A couple goes out for a celebratory dinner, the husband drives the babysitter home and doesn't return. The beginning was slow, the parts about the author/character's theories about nutrition and her clients (except for Michael) were dull, went on for too long, and did not really add much to the story. The middle part, where we see the wife react, and come to grips with what is happening was good. I felt that the author did a good job showing how the kids r...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Wynne Kontos rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cathi Hanauer is such an interesting writer. The first book I read by her, "My Sister's Bones," is to this day one of my favorites. Since then I've read "Sweet Ruin," and happened upon this one with much pleasure during a routine trip to the bookstore. On one hand, her characters are so real, so vivid, so true to the way life really is that it almost doesn't feel like reading a book. It's as though you're crouching underneath some family's living room window, watching as they live their lives in...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Joanne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read some good reviews from respected authors, but I was very disappointed with this book. The story is about a couple married for 14 years or so and the path marriage often takes when people change and respect is lost. Eve, the wife, is a nutritionist and her husband Eric an artist. Eric created beauty and art with his sculptures. However, he falls into a depressive state and can no longer function as an artist. Eve on the other hand has grown in her profession along with writing and publishi...more

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Jul 21, 2012 LORI CASWELL rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012

Eve Adams has worked part-time and taken care of her children while supporting her husband the sculptor. He has had some success in the past but now seems to be in a creative slump. Eve has taken her knowledge of food and written a book and counsels people how to eat healthy and lose weight. Her business is growing, the book goes into a second printing. Her husband, Eric. takes her out to celebrate. She thought the evening went fine until her husband leaves to take home the sitter and disappears...more Eve Adams has worked part-time and taken care of her children while supporting her husband the sculptor. He has had some success in the past but now seems to be in a creative slump. Eve has taken her knowledge of food and written a book and counsels people how to eat healthy and lose weight. Her business is growing, the book goes into a second printing. Her husband, Eric. takes her out to celebrate. She thought the evening went fine until her husband leaves to take home the sitter and disappears.

She has no idea where he went or what is going on but the sitter is missing too. She needs to take care of the kids, the house and the bills and wait to her from her husband. Is he gone forever?

Dollycas's Thoughts

The characters in this story were very interesting. For the most part real and each with their own set of flaws. The one thing that bothered me about this book was passivity of the wife. I understand staying strong for your kids, being scared for the future, and not wanting people to know your husband left you but I felt she needed to put more effort into what was really going on, especially after the husband contacted their daughter. She took on the whole load herself including their quickly emptying checkbook.

I wanted to hate Eric for just running away but he was definitely suffering from a major case of depression. I felt terrible for the kids and Eve had her hands full with a teenager trying to make the most of her father's absence by putting herself into some dangerous situations and a son just trying to understand why his dad left.

This is a story of family dynamics, trying to balance everything, work, kids, family, marriage and life in general. The ending was just too easy for me. This was a major upheaval in this marriage and the reactions of all the characters just seemed off.

The characters may not have acted in the way I wanted but this was still a good story of a very complicated life circumstances. I think that is what the author was going for, unexpected reactions by the characters. Otherwise this book would be like thousands of others. Written this way it creates conflict for the reader which got us involved in the story. You are actually upset with the way things are playing out and the pages keep turning.

Yes, I am a bit conflicted. This is not a story that I am going to scream and shout that you must read but it still a worthy read. It may be a good group read because I think it would prompt healthy discussion. Sometimes we need a story like this to shake up our views a bit.(less)

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Oct 03, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oh...not another "must read" that fell so far below disappointing. The writing was okay, the story was really eh. As I plodded through this story I felt, as I seem to feel often these days when reading new fiction, like I was reading someone else's self-indulgent boring story that, for whatever reason, begs the question of whether it's truly plausible or not. Guy has mid-life crisis and takes off in the middle of the night, wife - just on the verge of successful in her work - left home to wonder...more

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Jan 06, 2013 (Lonestarlibrarian) Keddy Ann Outlaw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nutritionist Eve Adams has two children and a husband, Eric, whose sculpture career is stalled. He takes off one night to drive a babysitter home and is not heard from for a few days. Eve thinks the worst, and we the readers do too, for at least a little while. Then the author starts to let us in on Eric's state of mind. He is clearly having a mid-life crisis. Eventually the family learns he is in Tucson, where he stays with his mother and starts teaching kung fu. He communicates with his daught...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: recentfiction

I was so disappointed at first, but after a while the characters grew on me. Hanauer clearly gets the challenges of marriage and parenting, but I wish her sentences had been more intriguing. Too much focus on what the characters are wearing; I'd have liked more about their interior life. When she does focus on that, I think the writing shifts and it is really wonderful. The section with Eric, he husband in Tucson with his mother, Penelope, was compelling for me, as were the chapters that dealt w...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Jody rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge, arc, fiction, beach-read, chick-lit, almost-abandoned

I rarely give out only one star but sometimes you just have to do it. I just didn't like the characters, didn't find the plot believable, and just kept doggedly reading because I hate to give up on a book. I felt like I was reading a really bad lifetime movie. I can't imagine anyone accepting their husband driving off into the night with the babysitter and acting as the main character, Eve, does. Also, the intent to spread awareness about the 'obesity epidemic' not only failed but offended me a...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Lesley rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 30, 2012 M rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I enjoyed about this book the most is that the author didn't try to sugercoat the ups and downs of marriage. The author allowed both Eve and Eric to make mistakes, and treated those mistakes not as epic failures but just as a part of their evolution individually and as a couple.

The concept that mistakes are made, and that that doesn't nessasarily mean that it's the end, is central to this book. With so many stories focusing on the dumping of the cheating/lying spouse as the answer for all...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book started out well and I was interested to read more when Eric, husband of Eve and father of two, leaves for a road trip with the babysitter. Eve only knows that Eric is gone and with whom and so she begins to live her life without Eric. I thought Hanauer did a nice job of the dialogues of an 8 year-old and a 14 year-old; they came across as believable and current. And I also enjoyed the food parts as Eve is a nutritionist, and I am interested in eating healthier. But the book did drag o...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Moira rated it 2 of 5 stars

Another purely subjective two-star book. Not badly written, just dull and predictable. I fully accept that it says everything about me that I couldn't summon empathy or interest in these average people and their difficulties. Guess I need more sturm und drang, or less bland revelations that yes, maybe you are depressed, or wow, I guess marriage is difficult. Hurrumph.

Beautiful cover art, though.

(EDIT: Re-reading this review, I'm wondering what kind of black mood I was in yesterday. Oy. "Average...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Dianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting story about how a dysfunctional couple cope when their marriage and relationships change with time.
We all think about just leaving, but in this case one of the pair runs away, back to mommy, like a child.
Set in Western Massachusetts where I grew up, the story reflects the more accepting ways of the area.
One thing I had to take issue with, there is no way you can drive from Western Mass in the afternoon, spend the rest of day in Manhattan and just drive home by just after supper. It i...more

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Jun 14, 2013 Karenbike Patterson rated it 3 of 5 stars

16 year marriage. Husband burned out being a sculptor. Wife's career on the rise. Two kids in the suburbs. Husband splits for 6 weeks. The books gets the voice of a modern marriage in a slump. It feels a little like going through a check list: soccer mom (check), flawed friends (check), hormonal teen daughter (check), depressed husband (check), hip career and book for wife (check). But Hanauer gets the voice of the wife accurately even though I didn't get the strong anger, betrayal, and rejectio...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Laurie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Eh, I was a little disappointed after having read an earlier novel, Sweet Ruin.

p 263 ".... 'Don't you agree you're depressed?'.... 'It matters,' said Fran, 'because if you accept it, you can work on it, and maybe even fix it. And when you start to fix it, you'd be amazed at how suddenly the things in your life that have been messed up for so long start to fix themselves.' .... 'When I'm depressed --and I don't mean just UNHAPPY, or DOWN, or whatever, because that's not really what depression is;...more Eh, I was a little disappointed after having read an earlier novel, Sweet Ruin.

p 263 ".... 'Don't you agree you're depressed?'.... 'It matters,' said Fran, 'because if you accept it, you can work on it, and maybe even fix it. And when you start to fix it, you'd be amazed at how suddenly the things in your life that have been messed up for so long start to fix themselves.' .... 'When I'm depressed --and I don't mean just UNHAPPY, or DOWN, or whatever, because that's not really what depression is; it's more about inaction. Shutting down the factory, opting out of the whole stupid mess.' .... 'Anyway. When I'm depressed, I mean really, clinically depressed, I can't face any of it. I don't want to do anything, go anywhere, see even my friends or my family. I can barely drag myself to work, and sometimes I can't at all. I sleep away entire weekends.'"

p. 267 ".... 'I feel like--like I'm using all my energy to stay afloat, day after day. And I'm sinking anyway.'"

p 273 "Once, across a crowded street in New York, he had seen a gentleman, dapper but elderly, trip and fall....Just as Eric jogged over to help--heart pounding; eyes, atypically, stinging with tears--he saw three young men, two white, one black, lift the man...and, in one quick motion, set him back on his feet....At the time, the sight had undone him. He kept imagining how it must feel to smack to the pavement, to lie there with people and traffic around you, to lose not just your footing but your dignity--and to know that now that it had happened once, now that you were vulnerable in that way, it would likely happen again, more and more as you aged....he'd told Eve what he had seen. But when he finished she said, 'What a great New York story! Everyone stops to help and then goes along their merry way. Even the little old man!' It hadn't remotely occurred to Eric to see the scene in that light....he knew he married the right person: someone who could take in the same thing he did but interpret it a different way, and then, in sharing her version with him, pull him ever so slightly away from the dark place he tended toward."

p 329 "'Maybe you weren't meant to be married, then,' he said. 'Maybe it wasn't the men, but you. Or the institution. It's not for everyone, right?' 'No, it's not,' she said thoughtfully. 'And it IS a pain. So high maintenance! Like some ridiculous pet, a chimpanzee, or a pot-bellied pig. You're always having to tend to it....I did always hate the way I felt in marriage. Not at first, but gradually. I lost myself. Or a part of myself, anyway. Something died, for me, along with the passion--which of course always dies, at least to some extent. Maybe just the idea of being free, or of being able to do whatever I want. Or maybe I didn't like the idea of being responsible for someone else. It kept me from seeing my own needs. That sounds selfish, I know, and the truth is, I never felt that way with you kids--or rather, I felt responsible, of course, but I didn't mind, because you were my babies. But with marriage, I resented that losing of myself. It kept me from feeling real joy, to a certain extent. That's the best I can explain it, except to say that it was always such a relief when I left the marriages and that feeling came back. It was heavenly--that feeling of being able to breathe, or spread out, or mess up, or SOMETHING, again.'"

Note to the Reader: poem referenced on p 300 "A Marriage," by Michael Blumenthal

You are holding up a ceiling/ with both arms. It is very heavy,/ but you must hold it up, or else/ it will fall down on you. Your arms/ are tired, terribly tired,/ and, as the day goes on, it feels/ as if either your arms or the ceiling/ will soon collapse.

But then,/ unexpectedly,/ something wonderful happens:/ Someone,/ a man or a woman,/ walks into the room/ and holds their arms up/ to the ceiling beside you.

So you finally get/ to take down your arms./ You feel the relief of respite,/ the blood flowing back/ to your fingers and arms./ And when your partner's arms tire,/ you hold up your own/ to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this/ for many years/ without the house falling.(less)

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May 03, 2013 Britt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting and entertaining story of what happens to a family when the husband takes a mysterious "leave of absence" from his life. Hanauer explores the variety of emotions that the wife and two children experience while also offering a glimpse into the husband's motivations. This book provides a more meaningful look into the dynamics of family and marriage than most on this subject. That being said, it remains more of an invitation to reflection than a fleshed-out examination of complex lives....more

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Jun 30, 2012 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, misc-fiction

I liked this book. I wouldn't put it in the romance category at all. In fact you could put it in the nutrition category for all the advice that the main character, Eve, monologues!!! I was a little bored by all that. I don't think the author should have come forward with the husband point of view so soon into the novel. It kinda ruined it a little for me, took some of the allure and mystery from the read. I would have liked to know what happened nearer to the end. Prolonged suspense and guessing...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Sarah added it

This story, about the apparent disintegration of a marriage and the unraveling of a family, starts out like your typical "husband leaves town with babysitter". A husband starts to feel outshone by his suddenly successful wife, his unhappiness causes him to leave town with a word to his family. But there is more to the story, and as I read this book, I really began to root for this family and especially the husband's journey back to himself and the people he loves.

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