false 394225 14 When her mom committed suicide 30 years ago, Sarabeth moved in with Liz, finding a safe haven with Liz's warm and nurturing family. But now it's Liz who is in need of comfort, following the suicide attempt of her depressed 15-year-old daughter, Lauren. For Sarabeth, however, the traumatic incident triggers old memories and "distant music, familiar and sad. A song without words." She doesn't call or visit for days afterward, and Liz feels shut out and let down. All of their dissimilarities emerge: Liz is the staid stay-at-home suburban mom, while Sarabeth is the artsy, single urbanite. Meanwhile, Liz's husband, Brody, and son, Joe, deal with Lauren's illness in totally different ways, leading to a rift in the marriage and the family. 118497 4 9 2007 Songs Without Words total:1765|5:84|4:390|3:732|2:420|1:139| 1765 5155 2799 506 4 4 false false Wed May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 06:04:43 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 06:28:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 18:15:22 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 18:23:58 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 08:01:29 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 26 13:41:30 -0800 2008
I liked Lillian's review of the book so much that I thought I would copy it to mine to say, I agree.
It took me forever to f...more...]]> 2 3 false false Mon Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 08:46:36 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 20:01:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 29 21:59:06 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 29 22:36:05 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Mar 21 14:37:35 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 14:47:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 1 false false Sat Aug 09 20:27:48 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 14:20:59 -0800 2008
I call that fluff. And the portion of t...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Feb 09 01:25:49 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 18:34:46 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 01:25:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 07:49:02 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 07:57:18 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 true false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 17:14:26 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 15 17:20:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Nov 30 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 30 10:09:47 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 10:10:11 -0800 2009 "Sarabeth and Liz grew up across the street from each other, their girlhood friendship deepened by the tragedy of Sarabeth's mother's suicide when the girls were in high school. Packer offers their history in a brief prologue, and the first chapter of the novel finds...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 29 17:38:23 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 17:46:45 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 10:14:43 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 10:19:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 19:38:31 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 22:12:26 -0700 2008 1
The characters were well developed - so much that I found myself angry at them and was talking to them while reading the book!

I like the way Packer...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Mar 02 22:35:19 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 22:37:23 -0800 2009
Ann Packer was hailed as a gifted chronicler of the interior lives of women after her debut novel, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier (2002). In it, a you...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:51:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:51:00 -0800 2009 Ann Packer stunned critics with her debut novel, the acclaimed Dive From Clausen's Pier (2002). Songs inevitably raised comparisons to this first novel's exploration of how crises of untold proportions test love and lead to guilt, despair, and morally ambiguous actions. Critics agreed that Packer de...

more...]]> 2 1 true false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 06 09:01:58 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 06 09:05:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 12 09:36:05 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 10:50:40 -0700 2009 In the begin...more...]]> 1 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 09:31:01 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 09:33:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 00:01:39 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 10:27:57 -0700 2008 more...]]>