The Tyler family had the perfectlife - until sixteen-year-old Leah decided she didn't want to beperfect anymore.
While her parents fight to save their daughter from destroying herbrilliant future, Leah's younger sister, Justine, must cope withthe damage her out-of-control sibling leaves in her wake.
Will this family survive? What happens when love just isn'tenough?
Jodi Picoult fans will love this beautifully written and absorbingnovel.
2011 Book Bundlz Book Pick
Recipient of CTRR, Reviewer's Recommend Award
The Story Behind This Book
When I wrote the first draft of In Leah's Wake, our children were teens. With four teenage daughters, I worried constantly. Like Zoe, I used to think, if only I knew everything would turn out well I wouldn’t worry so much. Of course we can’t see into the future, so I was always anxious.
The teen years are a vulnerable time; even nice kids from the best families sometimes fall in with the wrong crowd. I had a friend – a smart, caring, lovely woman – whose youngest child was a coke addict, in and out of jail. My friend’s husband would leave money in the car, knowing that their son would come by at night to “steal” it. This was one of the most well-regarded families in town. The other three children were never in trouble, wonderful kids who grew up to be successful adults. You just never know.
Watching these things happen, experiencing our own normal challenges, made me want to hold tightly to my children – every minute of every day. At the same time, if we want our children to become independent adults, we have to let go. Defining that line, figuring out when to hold on, how tightly, and when to open your arms and set them free is, to my mind, among the most difficult challenges parents face. And it was one of the driving forces behind this novel.
Praise and Reviews
Terri Long's accomplished first novel takes the reader on a
passionate roller-coaster ride through contemporary parenthood and
marriage. It's sometimes scary, sometimes sad, and always tender.
Susan
Straight, National Book Award Finalist, author of Take One Candle Light a
Room
In this story of a talented teenager rejecting her golden
future, Terri Long accomplishes something quite extraordinary. She
manages to write with equal empathy about both Leah and her parents
and in so doing creates a powerful and intimate portrait of a
family in disarray. I felt I knew these characters better than my
friends and neighbors. In Leah's Wake is a beautifully written and
absorbing novel. Margot Livesey, award-winning
author of Banishing
Verona and Eva
Moves the Furniture
In Leah's Wake is an irresistible read. The characters immediately
take up residence in your heart because they are people you know.
By turns howlingly funny and achingly sad, the book details the
vivid, harrowing journey of a fragile family that unravels and
finds redemption thanks to a teenager's rebellion. Along the
way, there are unflinching truths about adolescence and
contemporary society, told in prose that leaps off the page like
poetry. By the book's end, we are stunned by the gritty realization
that, no matter how we try, it is impossible for any parent to hold
a child safe and close forever. We can only hope that luck is on
our side, and love our kids as if there is no tomorrow.
Holly Robinson, Contributing writer, Family Circle,
Parents, and Ladies Home Journal magazines, author of The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A
Memoir
There are no quick and easy solutions here for Leah or for her
parents. They each struggle through, learning in their own ways and
taking responsibility for their actions in their own times, but as
they are doing so, they pulled me right along as I continued to
make comparisons to my own life. Jennifer Donovan, Managing
Editor 5 Minutes for Books, Top 50 Book Blogger
As a mom, I felt what Zoe felt. It tore my heart out to see the
promise of a child being replaced with the nightmare of reality.
I'm adding Terri Giuliano Long to my list of authors I want to
be stranded with. Susie Kline, Blogger,
Motherhoot
I give In Leah's Wake 5 stars and recommend reading to anyone
with tweens. Although it is fiction, this book can be a great
reference for parenting teenagers. Monica Madsen, Blogger,
A Mother'sTouch Bookshelf
In Leah's Wake is beautifully written, haunting, fascinating, and a
book that has a lot to say, a lot to teach you, without getting
preachy. Haley Stokes, Blogger, Triumphal
Writing