The World Without You: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

By Joshua Henkin

It's July 4, 2005, and the Frankel family is descending upon their beloved summer home in the Berkshires. They have gathered to memorialize Leo, the youngest of the four siblings and an intrepid journalist killed on that day in 2004, while on assignment in Iraq. But Leo's parents are adrift in a grief that's tearing apart their forty-year marriage, his sisters are struggling with their own difficulties, and his widow has arrived from California bearing a secret. Here award-winning writer Joshua Henkin unfolds this family story, as, over the course of three days, the Frankels contend with sibling rivalries and marital feuds, with volatile women and silent men -- and, ultimately, with the true meaning of family.

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Published Apr 9, 2013

336 pages

Average rating: 2

1 RATING

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Community Reviews

Mary Pat Holt
2/10 stars
Apparently, I've tried reading this book 3x before and never finished. It was on my DNF shelf. Well, I finally finished it. So slow, it is a character driven book but incredibly boring. Three adult children are coming back to their beloved family summer weekend, but this is no ordinary family reunion. The family has gathered to memorialize the youngest of the children, Leo, who was killed a year earlier while on assignment in Iraq. The three remaining siblings are self-absorbed and unlikeable.

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