Sometimes tragedies happen that change and reshape a life, or several lives. The big lesson in those types of catastrophic events is to learn how to grow from them and not let them destroy you. This story is about one such event: Isabelle, who has just learned her husband, the man she's been with for 20 years, is cheating on her, and she flees. But fate is not so easy to escape that day. On the foggy road, she is in a automobile collision that kills the other driver, April, a woman also apparently fleeing her own marriage. As Isabelle tries to piece back her life, she finds herself obsessed with the dead woman's husband and son, whose lives were also shattered by the accident.

To be honest, I wasn't sure at first how I'd like this book, but it ended up being one of those books that I kept thinking about when I wasn't listening to it. I listen to audio books in the car, usually "lighter" reading, because I don't want to have to go back and savor a phrase, and never thrillers because I got a warning one time for speeding during the exciting parts. This book flunked my audio book criteria, because there were several times I found myself scrambling in the car for something to write a phrase down. Not good driving habits. Unfortunately, the only one of those phrases I remember, I don't even remember exactly. It was an "a-ha" moment Isabelle had when friends were telling her to "get over it" because it had been months since the accident. The author likened that to Peter Pan being separated from his shadow, and coming back for it -- and how even when it had been resewn on, it was there, but different. Essential, but changed. (Or that's how I remember the passage, and that's how it resonated, truthfully, with me. You live with the aftermath of tragedy and loss every day of your life. That, too, becomes a part of you. But it is the healing that allows you to move forward, and incorporate that loss into a healthy life, rather than remain fixed on what was or what you no longer have. ) This idea, which I believe and I have experienced, was beautifully played out in the characters of Isabelle, Charlie and Sam. All three lives were forever changed by the accident; each dealt with it in a different way.

Two other things I liked in the book -- as someone with adult onset asthma, I appreciated the author's descriptions of life as and with an asthmatic child. I also adored Isabelle's pet tortoise, Nelson. He might not be cuddly, but he had panache. And I loved the setting of the novel on Cape Cod, though from a different point of view than the usual summer or seasonal crowd.

I received this through the Early Reviewer program at Library Thing. Many thanks to LibraryThng, the publishers and all who made it possible. (Posted on 12/8/12)