Publisher's Weekly Review
Family tragedy is healed by domestic routine in this quiet, tender memoir. When his daughter Amy died suddenly at the age of 38 from an asymptomatic heart condition, journalist and novelist Rosen-blatt (Lapham Rising) and his wife moved into her house to help her husband care for their three young children. Not much happens except for the mundane, crucial duties of child care: reading stories, helping with schoolwork, chasing after an indefatigable toddler who is "the busiest person I have ever known," making toast to order for finicky kids. Building on the small events of everyday life, Rosenblatt draws sharply etched portraits of his grandchildren; his stoic, gentle son-in-law; his wife, who feels slightly guilty that she is living her daughter's life; and Amy emerges as a smart, prickly, selfless figure whose significance the author never registered until her death. Rosenblatt avoids the sentimentality that might have weighed down the story; he writes with humor and an engagement with life that makes the occasional flashes of grief all the more telling. The result is a beautiful account of human loss, measured by the steady effort to fill in the void. (Feb. 16) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
When Roger and Ginny Rosenblatt's daughter, Amy, dies suddenly from a rare heart condition, the grandparents move in with their son-in-law to help take care of Jessica, Sammy, and James. Rosenblatt records the everyday details of this newly formed family and starts a new tradition called "Word of the Morning." Indeed, words in this world of "after" are a key theme: those that are spoken and unspoken, those that shouldn't have been uttered, and those that need to be all help the family through their grief. Without it ever needing to be mentioned, readers understand how fiercely Rosenblatt loved Amy. A moving tribute and an original, important contribution to grief literature. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/09.]-Elizabeth Brinkley, Granite Falls, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
