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"Lee Woodruff knows how to get to the heart of the matter on every occasion."
—Alice Hoffman
A bright June day. A split-second distraction. A family forever changed.
Life is good for Maura Corrigan. Married to her college sweetheart, Pete, raising three young kids with her parents nearby in her peaceful Chicago suburb, her world is secure. Then one day, in a single turn of fate, that entire world comes crashing down and everything that she thought she knew changes.
Maura must learn to move forward with the weight of grief and the crushing guilt of an unforgivable secret. Pete senses a gap growing between him and his wife but finds it easier to escape to the bar with his friends than face the flaws in his marriage.
Meanwhile, Maura's parents are dealing with the fault lines in their own marriage. Charismatic Roger, who at sixty-five, is still chasing the next business deal and Margaret, a pragmatic and proud homemaker, have been married for four decades, seemingly happily. But the truth is more complicated. Like Maura, Roger has secrets of his own and when his deceptions and weaknesses are exposed, Margaret's love and loyalty face the ultimate test.
Those We Love Most chronicles how these unforgettable characters confront their choices, examine their mistakes, fight for their most valuable relationships, and ultimately find their way back to each other. It takes us deep into the heart of what makes families and marriages tick and explores a fundamental question: when the ties that bind us to those we love are strained or broken, how do we pick up the pieces?
Deeply penetrating and brimming with emotional insight, this engrossing family drama heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
Praise for Those We Love Most:
"Lee Woodruff has written a beautiful, humorous, poignant page-turner about the complexities of love and marriage, tricky family dynamics, and the power of the human heart. Everything you want in a great read is here, including wonderful storytelling that builds to a satisfying ending. Loved it."
—Adriana Trigiani
"Those We Love Most is an engrossing story about family fragility, rupture, and redemption. Woodruff's beautiful and unflinching portrayal of the grief, betrayal, guilt, tenacity, and love that engulf this family in the aftermath of a devastating tragedy will keep you turning pages till the end."
—Sue Monk Kidd
"Flawless, breathtaking, and oh-so-real, Those We Love Most is a beautifully written book about family, love, betrayal, forgiveness, and how we pick up the pieces in the wake of unthinkable tragedy. When I turned the last page, I found myself missing the characters already. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. "
—Harlan Coben
"Those We Love Most is a poignant, heartwarming story that follows you beyond its pages. Woodruff skillfully makes the Corrigan family real—fallible and vulnerable, ultimately strengthened by the undeniable power of love. I grieved and cheered for them all, and finished the book with a big smile on my face."
—Catherine Coulter
"I opened Those We Love Most when my plane took off from Boston, and didn't look up again until I landed in Miami. In between, I cried and smiled and nodded, and turned pages faster and faster. It's one of those novels."
—Ann Hood
Lee Woodruff is the co-author, with her husband, Bob of the #1 New York Times bestseller, In an Instant, and the author of the essay collection, Perfectly Imperfect. She is a contributing editor for ABC's Good Morning America and has written numerous articles on her family and parenting that have been published in such magazines as Parade, Health, Redbook, Country Living, and Family Fun. Woodruff ran her own public relations and marketing consulting business for 16 years, and previously served as the senior vice president of public relations for the firm, Porter Novelli. With her husband, Bob, she has founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation to assist wounded service members and their family. Woodruff currently resides in Westchester County, New York with her husband and four children.
I love a book that has such powerful emotional honesty that you just can't help becoming invested in it. CBS This Morning journalist Lee Woodruff's first novel, Those We Love Most, is one of those books. This is a multigenerational story, about Maura, wife and mom to three young children, and her mother Margaret. A moment of inattention by Maura forever changes their lives, one that will cause her to feel incredible guilt and pain. The tragedy that follows is compounded by the secret of betrayal that Maura carries. Margaret is a rock for her daughter, doing all she can to get her and the family through the aftermath of a beloved child's death. She loves her husband Roger, and when he faces a health crisis, she is also forced to face a secret that he has been hiding from her, one that if she were honest with herself, she already knew. This is a novel about how hard it is to be married, and the resilience of the human spirit. Margaret describes her life with Roger after many years together: "The patterns and paths of their life together, especially in the past decade, had become more and more divergent. She had her set schedule: gardening, bridge, exercise, and the occasional lunch with friends. Being a devoted grandmother, a role of which she was immensely proud, also took up a large portion of her time....But Roger spent too much time in the office at his stage in life, in her opinion." Margaret is a character that many women will relate to: the one who keeps things together, who never falls apart, soldiers through everything. "Margaret believed it was wife's job to keep the exterior facade spackled and impenetrable, to prevent the cracks from showing on the outside. In her mind, a classy woman never broke rank." Maura and her husband Pete had their own problems before the tragedy. "Things had been operating on this half-speed for a while, Maura acknowledged, each of them heading down an easy slipstream in marriage where the valuable, intimate parts begin to erode in a tidal wave of banality." Woodruff succeeds in bringing these women to life; indeed, they are women you feel that you know in your own life. Her observations about marriage at its different stages will resonate with many women. The writing is insightful, and the scenes at the hospital will break your heart. It is clear that Woodruff drew on her own experiences with her husband ABC Bob Woodruff's traumatic brain injuries suffered during the Iraq War to write these emotional passages. I can't remembered being so viscerally affected by a novel; Woodruff's first work of fiction is emotional, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting. This is a book I will recommend to anyone looking for a story to lose yourself in.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 17, 2012
This book is so well written but i couldnt get through the sadness . I had to stop on page 70.
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Author: Lee Woodruff
Published by: Hyperion
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4
Review:
"Those We Love Most" by Lee Woodruff was really a powerful read. This was a read of tragedy not just for one family but a extended family. This was a very realistic read that could happen to any of us...a death of a child. Yes, this novel will be of 'loss, grief, love and two families who are really suffering from it all. We find the mother had been having a affair, while the father was a alcoholic....and the grandfather who was having a affair with the grandma seemed to just take it in as a martyr...What a group of people...Will there be any change? This author did a wonderful job with his detailed dialogue showing much compassion. Who knew that this child's death(James) would charge everything for this family.. breaking them apart but putting them back together again? I found the characters all interesting in that even at the end I am not sure there would be a change for Maura, Roger, Roger,Margaret ...or Julia. Kinda leaves you wondering long after the read.
Did I find "Those We Love Most" a page turner?...Yes...it was a dramatic experience to read. Would I recommend....YES!
Anonymous
Posted February 20, 2013
The characters are well-developed and one can see a bit of himself in each of them. The secrets in the story make the reader think about just how much goes on under the surface of everyday life. Younger readers might not as easily relate to the experiences but husbands, wives, and parents will find the characters' feelings to be spot on. Although there are potentially depressing occurrences in this book the author wraps it up with realistic hope for the future.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Readingisluxury
Posted December 9, 2012
Lee Woodruff writes with the keen sense of someone who has experienced tragedy in her family and has the knowledge that life continues and a person learns to thrive after the unthinkable has occurred. The characters were well fleshed out, believable and stay with you when the reading is through. The novel is written in a realistic manner. I found myself smiling with recognition of some of the seemingly innocuous actions of the characters as well as tearing up with the sadness of their situations. I highly recommend this book.
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Posted October 22, 2012
not that crazy about it.....to wordy....just finished reading gone girl which i really enjoyed once i got into it....this...i am half through and forcing myself to finish.
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Posted October 12, 2012
Great read. Usually it takes me a long time to read a book, as I read a little each night and fall asleep. Could not put this down. Stayed up way too late at night to finish it. Easy read...great book.
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Posted October 7, 2012
This was my first book by Lee Woodruff and I enjoyed it. It was a little depressing at times; however, shows how families get through challenges and obstacles without walking away.
The story goes back and forth from the mom and dad and at the same time the daughter and her family. "Those We Love Most" chronicles how these unforgettable characters confront their choices, examine their mistakes, fight for their most valuable relationships, and ultimately find their way back to each other. It takes us deep into the heart of what makes families and marriages tick and explores a fundamental question: when the ties that bind us to those we love are strained or broken, how do we pick up the pieces? I look forward to reading more from this author!
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Overview
"Lee Woodruff knows how to get to the heart of the matter on every occasion."
—Alice Hoffman
A bright June day. A split-second distraction. A family forever changed.
Life is good for Maura Corrigan. Married to her college sweetheart, Pete, raising three young kids with her parents nearby in her peaceful Chicago suburb, her world is secure. Then one day, in a single turn of fate, that entire world comes crashing down and everything that she ...