Introduce Yourself

[Jessica]

Reply to this message to introduce yourself to the group, and share your first impressions of The Rest of Her Life.

[vivico1]

Hi, I am Vivian from Oklahoma and I'm a readaholic. ok so when I said hi I am Vivian, it sounded like a testimonial. Anyway, I read the info on this book and it sounded like a very interesting book about something that could happen to any of us at any time. So I am supposing there are probably a lot of things about oneself that this book will make you think about as the story unfolds. I am very much looking forward to it. Will be great to discuss the book with everyone.

[kiakar]

Hello;
I am Linda Huff from Central Virginia. I am somewhat of a old regular on barnes and Noble reading clubs. I was here for the old university a few years back or so. I consume books like some people consume food, now I can do that also. I know how to consume things up and away they go! I know this read will be fun!. Its a book that can be discussed by all of us all day long. Loved the book, Laura. I read your last one, it seems years ago and loved it. Have been watching for a new one, and finally it was announced on the club. Great! Can't wait for the discussion Monday!

[IBIS]

Hello, I'm IBIS and I live in Boston, MA. I read the blurb on THE REST OF HER LIFE, and was fascinated by the premise. When I started to read the first page, I was hooked by your writing. Leigh is very identifiably a mother of our times.

I have a daughter, and the questions raised of how mothers and daughters can unwittingly cause damage to each other without realizing it, intrigued me. They are such contemporary questions, and paradoxically so timeless.

I'm looking forward to discussing the repercussions of the complicated moral dilemma your characters have to face with you and with other readers.

[twinkbb42]

Hi. My name is Twink. I live on the S.W. coast of FL. Like Linda from VA I too have been around these groups for several years.

I had this book on my wishlist and when I saw that Laura would be here in October I bought it . I finished it last night. The topics of discussion for this book is going to be so interesting. I can see it getting explosive too. I think everyone can relate to the characters, the dynamics of how they interact with one another and the situations they find themselves in. You may even see yourself or someone you know in these characters.

I look forward to getting these talks started.

[kiakar]

Hi Twink: Have you been doing ok! I hope so! Linda

[Wrighty]

Hi, I'm Debbie from NY state and I am a new fan of Laura's. I heard such good reviews of the first book that I went and got it but before I could read it I saw this one advertised here at B&N. I'm really enjoying the book so far although the topic breaks my heart. I have three teenagers, two of them are drivers and it scares me to death. They are good drivers but they are young and fearless. Aren't all teenagers? And I always worry about the other guy coming down the road in the opposite direction. What if he's not a good driver? It's very scary. I'm really looking forward to this club and I'm sure we'll have some great discussions.

[twinkbb42]

Hey Linda. I sent you a private message. I look forward to hearing your take on the book.
Talk soon,
Twink

P.S. I lost your email address. When you have time send me something so I can have your address. Thanks.

[suetu]

Hi,

I'm Susan, a freelance editor and graduate school administrator in San Francisco. I'm the mother of a 15-year-old cat named Weasel. He doesn't drive. I've only been around these boards for a few months, but already I know a couple of you. Good to see you!

I picked up a couple galleys of this book at BEA. The back jacket copy (on the promotional galley) is TERRIBLE. Nonetheless, when it started circulating around the local book club I run in SF, it was getting RAVE reviews from everyone who read it. Now it's back in my hands, and I look forward to digging in as soon as I can. I'll be reading it and The Monsters of Templeton--which should be an interesting juxtaposition.

[vivico1]

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suetu wrote:
Hi,

I'm Susan, a freelance editor and graduate school administrator in San Francisco. I'm the mother of a 15-year-old cat named Weasel. He doesn't drive. I've only been around these boards for a few months, but already I know a couple of you. Good to see you!

I picked up a couple galleys of this book at BEA. The back jacket copy (on the promotional galley) is TERRIBLE. Nonetheless, when it started circulating around the local book club I run in SF, it was getting RAVE reviews from everyone who read it. Now it's back in my hands, and I look forward to digging in as soon as I can. I'll be reading it and The Monsters of Templeton--which should be an interesting juxtaposition.

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Hi again Susan. Hey, this is a good book, so hope you enjoy it too. What was on the back of the first one you got ?? You cant drop that line and not explain But it is a good read. I am not quite sure what this cover has to do with the story but maybe the author can tell us something about it. I enjoyed this one from the start much more than the other one you are in, but they are different types of books too.

[MissMandy]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Mandy and I am from Cincinnati, OH. I am a single mom with three young daughters and so reading is the ONE thing I like to do for myself that is all my own. I am looking forward to reading my first Laura Moriarty book - I have heard such great things. Since being a mom is what I know best ( although I am still very much learning ) I liked the premise of the book and look forward to buzzing through it. I have not started it yet, but vow to do so this evening when the girls go to bed. I can't wait to meet everyone back here for some grown-up conversation!

[LauraMoriarty]

Hi Mandy,
Welcome to the discussion. I am a single parent myself, so I know it must be hard for you to find time to read (especially since you've got three little ones - I've only got one). So I'm flattered you chose my book for your limited spare time. I actually get a lot of my reading done through audiobooks now -I listen to books on tape on a walkman when I have trouble sleeping.

As for Vivian's question about the cover . . . I suppose the girl on the front cover could be Kara, though I described her hair as dark blond in the book. And the background certainly looks like Kansas on a summer day. The image isn't lifted directly out of the text by any means, but I do like how you can't see her face - my working title for this book was 'Never Even Saw Her.' When I was researching accidents like this, I noticed that many of the devastated drivers said that they never saw the person they hit until after the accident. I thought that would be the most disturbing thing about causing an accident like this - the idea that you could do so much harm without realizing it, without even seeing the victim.

Also, in an emotional sense, Leigh doesn't see Kara clearly before the accident. She's too distracted - by her own thoughts, worries, and insecurities - to see her daughter clearly. There are also characters in the book who don't see themselves clearly - Leigh, of course, but also Eva (she denies being a gossip), and Leigh's mother. So the novel is really about blind spots, both physical and emotional.

But the publishers were worried that 'Never Even Saw Her' sounded to thriller-y, and I think they were right. We came up with 'The Rest of Her Life' together, and I like a lot of things about it. For one, the 'her' in the title could refer to Kara, but it could also refer to the mother of the victim, and it could also refer to Leigh. And I think there is muted hopefulness in the title - the premise of the book is tragic, but I do think the characters move toward the best places they can reasonably go by the end of the book. I think the cover conveys that same hopefulness.

Laura

[IBIS]

Actually, I liked the cover very much. That amazingly lush blonde hair echoed the golden Kansas field in the background. It was a very sunny picture. It telegraphed optimism to me. My first thought was... this girl's head looks to bright, and hopeful, and lovely.

[vivico1]

I like your idea of a young girl whose face you don't see on the cover. I hadnt thought of that but yeah, it could be the girl who is hit, it could be Kara's face you don't really see or something bout Leigh too, or the dead girl's mother for that matter. They are all "faces unseen" in some way or the other. I liked your original title too and why you chose it but I understand the publishers idea about it too. Actually, thinking about it now, I like the back of the head of a girl like you got, I dont get the field tho for this book, even tho you explained it, but how about the back of a girls head and "Faces Unseen" to take from one of your lines their lol. Or is that too ghostly hehe. You can pick apart any title I guess for this or that reason. You know as I look at this cover now, I dont know what Suetu saw on the back of one she had that she thought was terrible, this one is fine but with this girl in a wheat field, I looking away, I can see the publishers thought,the picture with that title might have made me think of a girl vanishing out there somewhere and never seen again. The wheat field still doesnt seem to fit tho.

Did the guy who designed yours also do Jacquelyn Mitchard's book Cage of Stars? I loved that book and glad to see she wrote about yours too. But her cover I thought wasn't quite what I expected even after reading the book all the way through, except, if you follow her cover around the edges, you do get the image of three little innocent looking girls, which does suit the book that way, like the back of the head does on yours.

Anyway, from what I am reading now, I love the book and will remember the name as a referral to others when I talk about it or share it but wonder if as in Cage, when I handed it off to a friend to read, she asked me, what does this cover have to do with this title? lol.

[MissMandy]

Thank you Laura. As a single parent, you probably understand the guilt factor of always asking yourself if you are making the right decisions, parenting as well as you would with a partner, those kind of things. If there is one thing I WILL teach my daughters - it is to READ, READ, READ. I am truly convinced that in my toughest times and days of "being too tired to parent, but having to anyway" books have saved my life.

I went to the bookstore today on my lunchbreak and bought the book and read the first chapter in my car! I really cannot wait to keep reading!

[vivico1]

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MissMandy wrote:


I went to the bookstore today on my lunchbreak and bought the book and read the first chapter in my car! I really cannot wait to keep reading!

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yeah but were you driving while you read it in your car?? lol , j/k, couldnt resist given the first chapter of the book.

[erinmarks]

Hi! My name is Erin and I live in Maryland. I am currently in grad school to get my Masters of Arts in Teaching Secondary with English content. Obviously then, I like to read, always have. Books are the one thing that no matter what, my parents would buy me when I was growning up. I haven't heard anything about this author, though, and so I am going into this rather blind to her and her previous works. This book just appealed the most to me out of the October book selections. I haven't even cracked the book yet, but based on what all of you are saying, I am excited to start. I am in the middle of "The Last American Man" which is quite good, but I think I will be puttin it down now to start this one. Between my grad school classes and my student teaching and a long distance relationship with much traveling and an attempted social life, there is only room in my life for one book at a time!

[kiakar]

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vivico1 wrote:

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MissMandy wrote:


I went to the bookstore today on my lunchbreak and bought the book and read the first chapter in my car! I really cannot wait to keep reading!

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yeah but were you driving while you read it in your car?? lol , j/k, couldnt resist given the first chapter of the book.

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Miss Mandy; don't mind Miss Viv! I bet she reads driving herself. hehehe

[kiakar]

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IBIS wrote:
Actually, I liked the cover very much. That amazingly lush blonde hair echoed the golden Kansas field in the background. It was a very sunny picture. It telegraphed optimism to me. My first thought was... this girl's head looks to bright, and hopeful, and lovely.

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I liked the picture on the cover also. But from the start, I have believed this is Kara.

[kiakar]

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erinmarks wrote:
Hi! My name is Erin and I live in Maryland. I am currently in grad school to get my Masters of Arts in Teaching Secondary with English content. Obviously then, I like to read, always have. Books are the one thing that no matter what, my parents would buy me when I was growning up. I haven't heard anything about this author, though, and so I am going into this rather blind to her and her previous works. This book just appealed the most to me out of the October book selections. I haven't even cracked the book yet, but based on what all of you are saying, I am excited to start. I am in the middle of "The Last American Man" which is quite good, but I think I will be puttin it down now to start this one. Between my grad school classes and my student teaching and a long distance relationship with much traveling and an attempted social life, there is only room in my life for one book at a time!

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Welcome Erin; You are a very busy person, aren't you?