
I tried extremely hard to like this book.

The Way He Lived is told through six different perspectives who each have to deal with the lost of Joel and how they hope to move on. The good guy who was always trying to save the day.

Joel was the “nice guy” in the neighborhood. The whole community of haven is effected when sixteen year old Joel Espen dies unexpectedly of dehydration during a Boy Scout hiking trip. There is a feeling of true loss and sadness, but it is coupled with hope and the human desire to carry on. She presents their pain and their fear of moving on without this missing person who so touched their lives. The flow and tone of each chapter is unique to the individual. Can a true picture ever be created of anyone after they are gone? It seems only you might know the real you.Įmily Wing Smith is able to capture each personality. Much like our own lives, each person presents a unique picture to each different person with whom we connect. Each person has their version of this respected but slightly mysterious individual. Their stories link to Joel through direct personal relationships or by way of others connected to him. They include Adlen, Miles, Norah, and Lissa. The other voices of the novel belong to Joel's friends and acquaintances. Their father throws himself into his work, and their mother, who always had her "bad days," seems to only find solace by locking herself away in her room and letting the family muddle on without her.Įmotionally sensitive Tabbatha gradually finds a reason to slowly move on toward a possible college life, and Claire has to run away before she is ready to come back and face what is left behind. Both are confused that their parents chose this difficult time to move the remaining family from the house where they grew up to a luxurious seven bedroom home in the high-end part of town.

His sisters, Tabbatha and Claire, tell what life is like for them since his death. Written from six different points of view, it reveals Joel piece by piece. Those left behind are trying to make sense of it all and decide how to continue on without him. THE WAY HE LIVED is about Joel, only Joel isn't around anymore. Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for
