What We're Reading:

Current Picks from

the Watermark Staff

"The Rest of Her Life" by Laura Moriarty (Hyperion, ISBN 1401302718, $24.95)

It has been four years since the release of Laura Moriarty's beloved Kansas
novel "The Center of Everything," a book that continues to captivate women's
book clubs, teachers, and individual readers. The novel grapples with real-life
Kansas events that shape the moral development of young women growing up in our Sunflower State.

"The Rest of Her Life," Moriarty's new novel, proves that the intelligence she
displayed in "The Center of Everything" was not first-timer's luck. In the wake
of a tragic and fatal car accident, a family responds to grief almost beyond
imagining. Moriarty elevates their experiences and displays emotions to which
any mother, daughter, or sister will relate.

Again, the setting is Kansas. Again, we have issues of morality and schools that
test the bounds of an "acceptable" curriculum. Once again we have redemption and empathy across a spectrum of characters. And again, Moriarty shows how a
provincial Midwestern town can be suffocating and be a source of tremendous love and kindness. The book will enliven our lives as we discuss the provocative and encouraging look at a family and community in crisis.

Review by Sarah Bagby, August 16, 2007

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