5 of 5 stars
I still can’t pinpoint why I was so absorbed in this book, in Donald who is not a flashy man but is steady and devoted to his family. Maybe it’s the deep point of view or maybe it’s the hints that get dropped along the way or his humility as he confesses the small lies, omittances, and errors in judgment that led to a devastating event that changed his family forever.<br /><br />I missed Donald when the narrative switched to his wife Viv for a short time. But she filled in gaps in the story that Donald knew nothing about, why she did what she did based on unrealized dreams and her obsession with the horse Mercury that she didn’t own. When Donald comes back, knowing now what he missed before, he sees what his misperceptions were and how those gaps in his knowledge and his character shaped events.<br /><br />Livesey manages to weave themes of honesty, friendship, family, and marriage into a complicated, highly readable tapestry of modern life. I recognized her name on the library bookshelf because she had been a lead instructor in the MOOC Iowa Writer’s Workshop recent course of which I am a dropout. I hope to read more by her in the future.

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