This novel tells the story of a woman, Josie, whose boyfriend commits suicide. The victim, Michael, is not depicted much at all in this book, which is more concerned with how the living get past such an event.
While their relationship is rarely depicted, I think somewhat to the detriment of the story, the relationship that emerges between Josie and Michael's mother, Meredith, is central to the novel. They are both coping with the same struggle of recovering from this loss. This shared endeavor connects them, but the story reveals how differently they respond to the same event.
This book occasionally reads well and then it drags again. I think the author took on the challenge of depicting survivors of suicide, but often fails to depict this well. I do not speak from personal experience only from how the book read. The author often writes her thoughts with lofty ambitions, but the thoughts end up falling flat. Personally, I enjoyed White Oleander by this author more than this title. I might recommend the former to someone who I thought would have an interest in the subject matter; I cannot picture myself recommending this title to anyone.
