I hadn’t heard any buzz about this book, but the cover caught my eye from the “express read” shelf as I was hurrying past it on my way to the “holds” shelf at the library. When that happens (more often than I should probably admit) I read the synopsis on the inside cover but I also flip through the book and read some random sentences and the first line. How could I resist a book whose first line read “I found the perfect wife for my husband”?
I LIKED MY LIFE by Abby Fabiaschi
Madeline is devoted to her teenage daughter, still in love (mostly) with her husband and proud of being a stay at home mom. She, possibly rightly, knows that she is the glue that holds her family together. She’s happy with her family and her accomplishments. That’s what she and everyone around her thought until Maddy, for reasons unknown, went to the roof of the library building where she worked and ended up dead and broken on the tarmac below.
As her family comes to terms with her unexpected death Madeline finds that although her mortal life is over she is not quite ready to leave her family totally to their own devices. A presence - but not really a ghost - Madeline has to learn how to navigate in this limbo where she finds herself and, more importantly, how to steer her family in the right direction before she ascends to wherever she is meant to go.
Told from the perspective of the three family members, Brady (husband and father), Eve (daughter) and Maddy herself. This style is perfect for this book because it gives the reader the insight they need into all three characters that an omniscient narrator could never accomplish in the same satisfying manner. Despite the fact that this book primarily deals with the death of woman, the pain and the grief her husband and daughter go through and their tense, often difficult, road toward forming a new type of relationship at it’s heart this is a feel good book. Yes, it is sad in places and I can even admit to being angry with each of the characters at different points, it made me smile at others and, boy, I liked this book.
It never occurred to me while I was enthralled in the read but if you liked “Lovely Bones” then this is a book you should definitely pick up and read. The books are different in many ways, the same in others but certainly with the same type of feels.
It didn’t take too much deciding to come up with my 5 star rating but I hesitated for a couple of moments wondering if I enjoyed this book so much because of my age. It will definitely appeal to the “mature” woman but I truly believe it will appeal to young women and older teens just as much. It’s a story of family, love and friendship and how to get through the tough times.
* Twenty percent of the author’s proceeds support women and children’s charities around the globe.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her website)
After graduating from The Taft School in 1998 and Babson College in 2002, Abby climbed the corporate ladder in high technology. When her children turned three and four in what felt like one season, she resigned to pursue writing.
In March, Abby signed a two-book, hardcover deal with St. Martin’s Press. Her debut upmarket women’s fiction novel, I Liked My Life, will be released January 31, 2017.
Abby is a human rights advocate interested in economic solutions to social/cultural problems.
She is Director of the Board for Made By Survivors, an international nonprofit organization with a unique prosperity model that uplifts victims from sex trafficking and extreme abuse.
She and her family divide their time between West Hartford, Connecticut and Park City, Utah. When not writing or watching the comedy show that is her children, she enjoys reading across genres, skiing, hiking, and yoga. Oh, and travel. Who doesn’t love vacation?
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