![]() ![]() ![]() Then, evenhandedly and with great assurance, Hickman charts the course of loss and recovery for each family member. In bed, Laura discusses with Trace Annie's sudden burst into near-adulthood-she's having sex with her boyfriend, what does he think about that? They both think some issues may get settled on the family vacation in Colorado, but once there, suddenly and meaninglessly, Annie's killed while horseback riding. ![]() As the story begins, the family is trying to cope with the death of Laura's father and with her mother's grief, and Hickman captures in near-photographic detail the likable, contrary, selfish, and generous attitudes of a nice family dealing with the grieving widow and with one another. They have three children, two boys about to graduate from college and a 16-year-old daughter, Annie. She's married to a good-natured engineer, Trace, who takes comfort in facts and who isn't much for emotional expression-a common, likable sort whom Laura still loves dearly after many years. Hickman tells her quiet story through the eyes of Laura Randall, whose very name cries out ordinariness. A first novel that, beginning with its title, begs comparison to Judith Guest's Ordinary People, by an author best known for her nonfiction writing on grief (Healing After Loss, not reviewed, etc.). ![]()
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