The Rest of Her Life

By Laura Moriarty

In The Rest of Her Life, Laura Moriarty delivers a luminous, compassionate, and provocative look at how mothers and daughters with the best intentions can be blind to the harm they do to one another.

Leigh is the mother of high-achieving, popular high school senior Kara. Their relationship is already strained for reasons Leigh does not fully understand when, in a moment of carelessness, Kara makes a mistake that ends in tragedy -- the effects of which not only divide Leigh's family, but polarize the entire community. We see the story from Leigh's perspective, as she grapples with the hard reality of what her daughter has done and the devastating consequences her actions have on the family of another teenage girl in town, all while struggling to protect Kara in the face of rising public outcry.

Like the best works of Jane Hamilton, Jodi Picoult, and Alice Sebold, Laura Moriarty's The Rest of Her Life is a novel of complex moral dilemma, filled with nuanced characters and a page-turning plot that makes readers ask themselves, "What would I do"

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Published Aug 7, 2007

332 pages

Average rating: 5.83

6 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Mary Pat Holt
Feb 05, 2026
6/10 stars
I finished this book a few days ago on vacation so I'm already a little foggy on the details. It is a good family drama about what happens when one person makes a mistake that ends in tragedy. Leigh is a well liked junior high English teacher and her daughter, Kara, is a popular high school senior. They already have a strained mother/daughter relationship when Kara has a car accident that divides the family and the community. Despite the book cover and the blurb, this is really a story about the mother and her past/upbringing. The accident is just the catalyst to help Leigh recognize some things about herself. It is a story about relationships, responsibility and parenting.
BookWorm333
Sep 06, 2023
1/10 star
The story had potential, but it flopped. As a mother who's experienced loss, the way the grieving mother is treated by Leigh is absolutely disgusting and ludicrous. The fact that the author also used the word "retarded" to describe working with individuals with disabilities turned me off. This book royally pissed me off. Do not recommend.

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