Saturday, March 24, 2012

Carry The One



Carol Anshaw's Carry The One has been receiving a lot of buzz lately. Beginning in the early 80's at the wedding of Carmen and Matthew, a group of friends leaves the wedding that night and are involved in a tragedy that follows them for the rest of their lives. A young girl was crossing the road at the exact moment they were driving on this very same road, ending the girl's life and altering theirs.

The rest of this book is devoted to following three siblings affected by the accident. Carmen, the bride and her husband Matthew plod along in their marriage, having a child together. Nick, her brother, who had been in the car at the time of the accident, struggles with a life of addiction. Their sister, Alice, is involved with Matthew's sister, Maude, a woman who seems to have a hypnotic hold on Alice.

Spanning decades, I was reminded of Jean Thompson's 2011 novel, The Year We Left Home, another book about a Midwest family's joys and struggles. Although the novel begins with the death of the young girl, the accident is really just a catalyst for the story- which to me seems to be about Carmen, Nick and Alice more than the accident.

Carry the One should be a popular choice for book clubs and was a great women's fiction read.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Gosh, I haven't actually heard of this one yet, but I'm not very good at keeping up with adult fiction. It sounds like a story with a lot going on - definitely a good book club choice. (If only I were in a book club :)

Unknown said...

Wow! The book sounds great. It sounds like an intense read and would really suit being made into a movie!

Book Enslaved

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Looking forward to this one myself.

Kristen said...

Great review. I was curious about this book because the plot sounded interesting but I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. Hopefully I can get my hands on a copy soon!