The Grief of Others

July 18, 2011
Cohen's fourth novel is a meditation on loss, ssuffering, and secrets. The death of John and Ricky Ryrei's third child pushes the family to the brink of disintegration. The children, "Biscuit" and Paul, 10 and 13, deal in different ways: Biscuit creates private rituals and Paul, overweight and bullied, clings to his only friend, Baptiste, who also faces loss. Ricky's confession that she kept knowledge that might have saved their baby to herself pushes John away, but also results in a surprising shift in their "marital relations." The arrival of John's illegitimate daughter, Jess, brings hope to the family, but the secrets she carries will only further complicate matters. Cohen aptly illustrates the capacity to suffer privately beneath a normal exterior, succeeding best when exploring Ricky's many conflicts. Cohen seems to suggest that our inability to communicate leaves us struggling in our own private, tortured worlds. Yet, paradoxically, when feelings are finally articulated, the novel flounders. Still, this is an ambitious novel offering insight into the rift between the public and the private, and illuminating the many ways in which we deal with tragedy.

August 1, 2011

A mother faces the heartbreaking loss of an infant son, which inevitably changes the family dynamics.

Ricky Ryrie and her husband John react to the death of their child in different ways. First, Ricky knows that the child was prenatally diagnosed with a serious brain defect and probably would not live long, but she keeps this diagnosis from her husband, who fully expects the birth of a healthy son. (Ricky has not considered an abortion at least in part because of her hope of a misdiagnosis.) John is perhaps more stunned by Ricky's keeping this a secret than by the medical complication of his son. But John has also had a secret past, for before he met Ricky he fathered a child, Jess, in a youthful fling. Ten years before the birth of the doomed child, his daughter Jess has gone on a camping trip with her father, Ricky, and the two younger Ryrie children, Paul and Biscuit. Shortly after the birth and death of the Ryries' baby, Jess, now 23 and pregnant, shows up again on their doorstep. Jess is unconventional and free-spirited, and Paul, now an awkward adolescent, is both tongue-tied and half in love with her. Biscuit knows that there's sadness in the household and tries to act out her grief in various ways, including spreading ashes in a river. The death of the child also brings back unsavory events from Ricky's life—for example, a brief affair from three months before her marriage to John.

With gorgeous prose, Cohen skillfully takes us from past to present and back again as she explores the ramifications of family loss, grief and longing.   

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 1, 2011

The death of a newborn shatters family members, then teaches them to share one another's burdens. Cohen excels at family drama--as with her recent House Lights, called "gorgeous" (Los Angeles Times) and "a hit" (LJ)--so this should be good. And perhaps win Cohen a few more fans.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Cohen's novel limns a family's grief in the wake of a tragic loss. The death of Ricky and John Ryrie's third child shortly after his birth widens a rift already growing in the family. John is stunned to learn that Ricky knew their son wouldn't survive long. He regards her not revealing that knowledge as a betrayal even worse than the infidelity before they married that he still holds against her. Filled with anger and resentment, John puts distance between himself and Ricky and contemplates an infidelity of his own. Their son, Paul, is battling bullies at school, and their precocious daughter, Biscuit, has started cutting classes and studying cultural mourning rituals in hopes of putting the baby's death behind the family. And then Jess, John's daughter from a relationship prior to his marriage, waltzes into an already tumultuous familial drama to announce she's pregnant and has decided to keep the child. Cohen deftly explores the damage grief can cause when faced in isolation and how communing over loss makes healing possible.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)