daughters

I love reading Anita Shreve—she can tell a story with grace, intelligence, and a mastery of the language, with intricate but clear plotlines, without resorting to hyperbole or far-fetched situations.  Shreve  is a delight to read and provides absorbing storylines, that seem to vary rather widely—South Africa,  Massachusetts in the early twentieth century, and now a setting in the present in Vermont, with characters from our own time.  But plot lines are only one attraction—it is Shreve’s nuanced handling of the emotions  and fragility at the root of our human structure is the reason I read

This biography is an up-close-and-personal view of mental illness as a father watches his teenage daughter develop psychotic manic-depressive disorder. It is a quick read, like reading a very long newspaper article. It is difficult, too, because you want a happy ending but know from the beginning that there is no way to cure the disease.

I picked the book up based on reviews from others and an ongoing interest in both parenting and mental health issues. I appreciated the first-person narrative and empathized with the father, but also thought that he over-emphasized the randomness of the

Kansas author Moriarty follows The Center of Everything with a second thoughtful book, The Rest of Her Life. When high school senior Kara accidentally hits and kills a fellow high school student in her car she changes the course of not only her own life, but of family, friends and strangers alike. Moriarty examines the repercussions of the accident from many different perspectives without resorting to fabricated melodrama.

Fans of Jodi Picoult and Chris Bohjalian will appreciate this novel not only for the exploration of character, but the truthful way the story unfolds.