Anna Quindlen

Mary Beth has built her life around her close knit and much loved family: husband Glen, daughter Ruby, 17, and 14-year-old twins Alex and Matt. However, the shocking and violent events of one New Year's Eve shatters the family and Mary Beth is left to face an uncertain future and to try to somehow rebuild her life.

a novel

Every last one

Anne Quindlen

Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence.

Ayesha ahmed

Jessica Ford

The Lathams seem to have it all: health, wealth and a vibrant family life. As Mary Beth Latham contemplates a life built around home, friends and community, she has every reason to feel fulfilled and content. Then, for one of her sons, a process of unravelling begins. Mary Beth starts to focus on him, only to find that the comfortable life she has spent years carefully constructing is shattered in a single moment. Forced to confront her own demons, Mary Beth realises how the inconsequential moments we all share - and one shameful act she has hidden from everybody - may have contributed to her fate. Every Last One is a mesmerising and devastating portrait of family life, and a testament to the power of a mother's love and determination. It is Anna Quindlen's finest work to date.

Every last one a novel

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