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A review by novabird
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
1.0
Does grief trump all responsibility?
Quindlen set up the first half of, “Every Last One,” with the use of a banal tone to paint a picture of normalcy in contrast to the sudden tragedy. To me this was so much a rather obvious structure, that I was forgiving of the author for boring me with the minutia of everyday life and I expected ELO to come to life in writing the after effects of such trauma.
Despite its focus on the mother, Mary Beth, I never get a real sense that she changes or grows as a character. As a matter of fact, she seems to deliberately turn a blind eye on her role
Does grief trump all responsibility? This may have been the underlying question that Quindlen sought to bring to light, but she totally disallows this questioned from being answered. This could have been a much better book had this question been addressed. ELO was a predictable, boring and dissatisfying read. Only because of what Quindlen omits and my seeking to understand why this was the case, gave this book any redeeming features 1
Quindlen set up the first half of, “Every Last One,” with the use of a banal tone to paint a picture of normalcy in contrast to the sudden tragedy. To me this was so much a rather obvious structure, that I was forgiving of the author for boring me with the minutia of everyday life and I expected ELO to come to life in writing the after effects of such trauma.
Despite its focus on the mother, Mary Beth, I never get a real sense that she changes or grows as a character. As a matter of fact, she seems to deliberately turn a blind eye on her role
Spoiler
and impact on Kiernan’s family with her infidelity with Kiernan’s father and her twice refusal to help the Kiernan family; once asked by Kiernan’s mother and the other asked by Kiernan himself. Not to mention, her blindness to seeing the danger to her daughter.Does grief trump all responsibility? This may have been the underlying question that Quindlen sought to bring to light, but she totally disallows this questioned from being answered. This could have been a much better book had this question been addressed. ELO was a predictable, boring and dissatisfying read. Only because of what Quindlen omits and my seeking to understand why this was the case, gave this book any redeeming features 1