The Bibliophiliac’s Corner – “I Liked My Life”
Article and photo by Amanda Merriman
Connection writer Amanda Merriman admits she is hopelessly addicted to books. It has been this way nearly all her life. Every month she shares what she has been reading with the hope that others will share in the obsession too.
“You don’t always get to know what happened, or why things happened a certain way, but it always, always, goes deeper than any one thing.”
– Abby Fabiaschi
Abby Fabiaschi’s debut novel, “I Liked My Life” haunted me. In it, the central character named Maddy is now in the afterlife. She watches over her family and has not yet moved onto heaven because she needs to gently guide her teenage daughter and husband toward recovery after her suicide.
Before Maddy’s death, her daughter Eve lived in a typical teenage bubble. Maddy’s husband Brady was overly obsessed with work and seemed completely removed from things on the homefront. Meanwhile, Maddy was the unacknowledged glue holding everything together. After her death, Brady and Eve struggle to cope and understand why Maddy took her own life. Maddy’s journal beckons them, offering a glimpse of the woman they feel they must not have known very well.
At times, I Liked My Life was emotionally hard to read because of how eloquently and accurately Fabiaschi captured the experience of losing a close family member. Brady and Eve’s experiences felt very real to me. Thankfully, there is enough love and hope sprinkled throughout the story to keep it from being too heavy to finish. The positive messages in Fabiaschi’s novel and themes about marriage, parenting and personal happiness will resonate with readers. Fabiaschi has a second book in the works called “Anything Helps,” which will be published late next year or in early 2019.
Fellow bibliophiles and book club members, feel free to join in the dialogue. Blog your thoughts and feedback at www.castlepinesconnection.com and enter the keyword “bibliophiliac” in the search bar. Have you read a great book recently? Email your find to me at amerriman@castlepinesconnection.com.
