Between Here and April

Between Here and April

3.15 of 5 stars 3.15  ·  rating details  ·  1,029 ratings  ·  221 reviews
When a deep-rooted memory suddenly surfaces, Elizabeth Burns becomes obsessed with the long-ago disappearance of her childhood friend April Cassidy. Driven to investigate, Elizabeth discovers a thirty-five-year-old newspaper article revealing the details that had been hidden from her as a child: April's mother, Adele, drove with her two young daughters deep into the woods...more
Hardcover, 280 pages
Published October 7th 2008 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (first published January 1st 2008)
more details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,956)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
rivka
Sep 27, 2008 rivka rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mothers, especially those who have or had difficulty coping when their kids are/were small
Well-written and structurally sound, Between Here and April unfolds gradually, like a flower opening or like peeling an onion.

Motherhood is a very difficult thing, and as the book notes, we learn parenting from our own parents -- even though they and their parenting may well have been flawed and damaged. So the bad gets passed on along with the good . . . be it postpartum depression, lack of coping skills, garden-variety depression, marital tensions, or all of the above.

Intense and shocking, yet...more
Mara
This book is built around Elizabeth's search to find the truth about what happened to April, her first grade friend who disappeared from school one day. At the time, Elizabeth couldn't get an explanation from her teacher, and her mother was too busy with a new baby and her own issues to really notice that Elizabeth's friend was gone. The truth of what happened isn't too hard for Elizabeth to find out as an adult. After all, when a mother kills herself and her two daughters, there are newspapers...more
Kirsten
About halfway through, I realized I was really reading for plot more than anything. I really really disliked the main character, even more so as various revelations came out. She was passive and doing so many damaging things to herself, and not confronting her own truths. There were too many threads going on here, and not enough focus. We also learn that all men are evil workaholics with nasty tempers, and all women are depressive, neurotic and unappreciated. (Um, NO. You clearly need to get out...more
Laurie
The central charater in this novel is Elizabeth Burns, a journalist and a mother, who is trying desperately to manage the demands and desires of both. Frustrated both with the demands of her home life, as well as with the path her career has taken, Elizabeth tries to revitalize both by investigating the murder of her elementary school best friend, April. April mysteriously disappeared from school in first grade, and it was never entirely clear to 6 year-old Elizabeth precisely what had happened....more
Kris
I only gave the extra star because I appreciated how during the course of her investigation of April's mother's motives, the main character did not find any cut and dry answers. As well, the conclusion that she came to about how to tell the woman's story was realistic and refreshing, especially in today's news world of 48 hours, Dateline, and the like, where most everything is explained and wrapped up in an hour's time. She seemed to grasp the notion that not every detail has to be spelled out t...more
Billy
"People wanted to know the truth. Even if it hurt.",

Regarding this review & my relative understanding of the book, I offer because of the other reviews I have read; 1) I am a male, a happily married (and I certainly believe my wife of 10 years feels the same) father of 2 beautiful girls, 2) my wife had severe postpartum depression after the first of our girls was born, & I knew nothing of the condition until that time 3) I seemed to experience some sort of depression related to the birth...more
Florinda
I don't know if it's really news to anyone any more that motherhood isn't always sunshine and rainbows and butterflies - and I think we're lucky to be living in a time when that's more out in the open. It can be a struggle for many of us at times, and for some it's a challenge that may just be too much.

Elizabeth Burns' viewing of a production of Medea triggers a memory of her childhood friend April Cassidy, who was rumored to have been killed by her own mother in a murder/suicide. Once it comes...more
Emily
Elizabeth, a journalist and mother, is one evening jolted by the memory of a friend from first grade who one day "disappeared" from school. She embarks on a journey to find out what happened to the girl, April, and is forced to explore issues such as postpartum depression, patriarchal bias, and filicide. As she digs deeper into April's story, parallels to her own life and relationships, with her mother, her daughters and her husband, become clear. The result is a story that is both Elizabeth's,...more
April
I am not sure why I was drawn to this book. Okay, I am sure. New book in a used book store. $2 price tag. And the fact that the name April was in the title didn't hurt. With words such as "haunting page turner" and "riveting novel that will haunt you" on the back synopsis, I dove in unsure of what to expect.

Elizabeth Burns is the mother of two, a journalist, a wife, a daughter: a woman trying to successfully juggle and wear many different masks throughout the day. And she is having a hard time....more
Denise
3.0 out of 5 stars Maternal filicide....., September 8, 2008

This review is from: Between Here and April (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I thought this book was OK. I was hoping for more of a thriller given the premise that Elizabeth wants to solve the mystery of what happened to her friend April back when they were best friends in first grade. Not sure exactly how the memory "came" to her, but it was triggered and Elizabeth soon begins a very obsessive que...more
Carol
I expected Between Here and April to be more of a detective story instead of an intense fictional look at the darker side of motherhood, including post-partum depression and psychosis. Anyone who's ever read an article about a woman who has harmed her children, and thought "How could a mother ever do that?" may find some insight in this book.

The protagonist in the book is a mom of two, juggling a freelance career with her struggling marriage and the chaos of young children. When she begins havin...more
Christine
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Tiffany (Book Cover Justice)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Beth Gordon
The main character becomes fixated on her best friend back when she was 6 years old who had mysteriously disappeared from school one day. It turns out that she was a victim of a murder-suicide by her mother. An investigative reporter now, she tries to figure out what happened in the psyche of the mother and, in the process, has to deal with various present and past demons. This was a great novel - although the subject matter is hard to take at times.

The parallels between the main character and t...more
Laura
Though there are so many implausible aspects of the book, it held my interest until the very end. The main character remembered far too many details about her friendship at age 6 with a girl that she only knew for 2 months. Granted, that girl died (murdered with her sister by their mother in a murder-suicide), but it's very doubtful that anyone could remember a short-lived friendship in first grade, even if they had some inkling of the horrifying end. Also, her interviews with the long-ago neigh...more
Kaarin
Between Here and April is a story about motherhood, secrets, identity, and denial. Deborah Kopaken Cogan dares to ask, and somehow answer, the question, "What would push a mother to take the lives of her own children?" Elizabeth Burns is a seemingly happy mom and photojournalist until she passes out while attending a production of Medea. The play rips open a painful subject from her childhood and a mystery surrounding the disappearance of her best friend, April Cassidy, when she was 6. As Elizab...more
Innarsbcglobal.net
A nice, but very timid attempt to take an honest look on the reasons of the filicide.

The main character is searching for the reasons of the filicide case that happened 20 years back.

It would be much better if the author would not be too shy to look for the reasons of multiple cases of the filicide nowadays and would find enough bravery to admit that the reasons for the accident that happened 20 years ago was not the lack of the Prozac or lack of "postpartum depression" diagnosis.

All women in f...more
Carolyn
Thought provoking story about a woman in crisis. Her marriage is crumbling, her career is in stuck in limbo, and she is haunted by the death of her childhood friend. As she uncovers the truth behind her friend's death, she discovers that she has a lot more in common with her friend's mother than she would care to admit. A woman who committed a horrific crime: taking the lives of her two children and her own. This story really resonates. As a society, we are so quick to judge people, their lives,...more
Roxy
Jun 09, 2011 Roxy rated it 2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Roxy by: Mich
I had a hard time deciding what star-rank to give this book. I did not hate it, I did not love it but to say I liked it.....I couldn't quite commit to that either and yet I did not want to give it a negative-type review. I think I feel that way because I think the over-all topic, post-pardum depression, depression in women and adult suicide, is an important topic and novels trying to explore that should be brought to light.

That being said, my review as a novel in general....eh, so-so. I had a ha...more
Karlan
The author of the memoir SHUTTERBABE uses her experience as a journalist in this novel about the difficulty of being a mother whose husband is a workaholic. The novel is cleverly constructed and leads one to think about the agony of post partum depression. The story within a story is gripping and upsetting.
Grace
The first approximately 170 pages were boring. I kept wondering why I was still reading. The concept had such great potential and I felt that the author wasn't taking advantage of her idea. Everything skated on the surface and nothing went deeper - descriptions, characters, events, etc. Around page 170, there was a glimmer of depth and interest that carried me through the rest of the book, especially when I made the connection to what was going on in the beginning of the book. If you aren't payi...more
Ann
I am having a hard time rating this book and figuring out what to actually say about it. The narrator goes on a quest to find out about a mother how committed suicide and also killed her two daughters in the process back in the early 70s. The way it is first presented, you think that there is some mystery about it - maybe it was a murder? Turns out the book is a lot about postpartum depression and PMS -- two things that went un-diagnosed back in the late 60s/early 70s when the story unravels. I...more
Kelly Hager
This is a very compelling book, but I don't think there are many people I would recommend it to.

It's been a jarring day for me, because between marathon reading sessions, I attended a baby shower for two of my coworkers. I say jarring because the event at the crux of this novel is a woman who kills her two young daughters, then herself.

Eliza's best friend when she was six (April) was killed (along with her older sister, Lily) by their mother. Eliza had forgotten April's disappearance until atten...more
Cindy
This book has everything... this is a story of a woman journalist who out of the blue remembers her childhood best friend who "disappeared" and decides to write a story about what happened. It tells a story of a woman who while suffering from depression kills herself & her two daughters. There is also the storyline of a wife who was a victim of child abuse and who also was a victim of rape while working as a journalist in Iraq. There is storyline of an her affair and also dismay of her spous...more
Lisa
Dec 08, 2008 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one
Recommended to Lisa by: More magazine
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Christine Chapman
Absolutely wonderful. The book is written by a journalist who shares her struggle with settling for entertainment/pop journalism over the more high-risk and high-paced reporting in war zones when she has children. The book weaves stories of her childhood and the death of a friend whose own mother killed her and her sister while taking her own life. She honestly tells the story of generations of women who have struggled with misunderstood maternal psychosis and stereotypes of "good" women from mu...more
Vera Vanpool
I thought this book was going to be about the authors main character finding out what happened to a childhood friend. Instead it dealt with many other things, the main character is trying to find herself I think. She is a journalist and a mother and coping with an unsatisfactory marriage. She begins by wanting to find out what happened to her childhood friend many years ago, when the friend disappeared but ends up finding out many things about the little girls mother and her problems. I found my...more
Cambria
Loved this book right up until the very end. Some very real issues are tackled in a thoughtful, and open way without being too cliched. BUT THEN...at the end she stays with her husband. Despite the fact that he only wants a certain type of sex and she has a strong aversion to that particular act. Whaaaat?? Can people stay together and be happy when they both have completely differing types of sexuality? Too many questions! And not thought provoking questions, more like "how does that even make s...more
Babs
I am on the fence in reviewing this book. The story was crying out to be told, digested, understood but the act of filicide still is such an unknown in our culture, so black it is not even whispered about. So in reading this dark tale is similar to watching the Titanic. You know the ship is going down so how invested do you want to be in the characters who will ultimately fail us as well as themselves. Was Adele heroic by taking her children with her? Could someone who was so unbalanced be consi...more
Eileen Granfors
This is the story of a troubled marrriage and troubled motherhood aligned with an investigation into a murder-suicide. Engrossing page turner if a little facile in evidence.
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 65 66 next »
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
Between Here and April (Paperback)
Between Here and April (Kindle Edition)
Between Here and April (Hardcover)
Between Here and April (Paperback)
Between Here and April (Kindle Edition)

The Red Book Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War Hell Is Other Parents: And Other Tales of Maternal Combustion Het jaarboek

Share This Book

Your website
“Stories are how we make sense of our lives. To tell a story is to own it: to own the narrative thread to own a piece of our past. And when we own a story when we put it in a tidy box and store it on a high shelf it becomes manageable so that whatever negative effects it's been having on us are in theory lessened.” 2 people liked it
“My truth she'd said to him. What the hell is truth anyway
Two separate questions yes. But not wholly unrelated. For truth no matter the modifier is always intrinsically modified.”
1 person liked it
More quotes…