With You and Without You

Such a good read, characters you can really identify with, a great story line....so good you'll hare when it ends!

I do have to say.. I picked up this book simply by browsing bookshelves of my local bookstore. Let me say,I am glad that I did! THe look is about 350 pages and I managed to become so engrossed in it that I finished it in 3 and a half hours. I truly enjoyed it though I felt like I was living someone elses life. I won't go into a synposis of it, but its truly about living with the decisions you make and the things that happen reguardless of the decisions you make. Loved the book, I will def. read her next novel.

This books was suggested to me by a friend and I loved it. It was the perfect summer read. As a mother, I found myself searching my heart to see how I would re-act to the emotional turmoil in the lives of the characters. Hard to put down. I will definitely recommend 'With You and Without You' to friends.

Ally's husband Patrick was killed in a car accident, leaving her to raise their two daughters Lydia and Becca alone. Patrick's death is heartbreaking and his absence from their lives is deeply felt. Ally feels her daughters slowly, but surely pulling away from her. Eleven year-old Becca is sad and aloof and fourteen year old Lydia is shutting herself off from everyone except her boyfriend Eric. When another crisis befalls the family, this time from Lydia, Ally is frustrated and angry at both Lydia and herself. She is feeling guilty and helpless as well. Patrick's best friend Michael is still a fixture in their lives and Ally cherishes his friendship. Eventually, Ally and Michael's relationship starts to become something more. Ally wants Michael as her lover but losing him as a friend, if things should not work out is unfathomable for her. Michael is the one steady thing in her life right now and she simply could not handle losing him. Ally, Lydia, Becca and Michael have many challenges to face. The one certainty in their lives, is their love for each other. That love will be the strength that guides them through the rough road ahead of them. With you and Without You is a very poignant story. It is written in the first person from Ally's point of view. The impact of losing Patrick is devastating for everyone. Lydia has a life changing experience and Ally faces the daily battle of where she fits in her daughter's plight. Young Becca keeps the family grounded and Michael plays a huge part in the women's lives. It's his strength, love, and support that Ally draws her strength from. Although I may have handled a few things differently than Ally has, I have so much respect and admiration for her and her girls. With You and Without You is an inspiring story. It makes you want to appreciate everything and take nothing for granted. It's wonderful. Nannette Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

With You and Without You broke my heart, and restored my soul. A family of women who have lost their husband and father. This book is rich with detail and wisdom beyond the author's years. As my Dad used to say, Read, and heed.

Patrick and Allyson Houlihan live a contented upper middle class life raising two daughters, thirteen years old Lydia and ten years old Becca until he died in a car accident. The three females he left behind mourn deeply the loss of the family patriarch and adjust to a downscale lifestyle with the death of the prime breadwinner. Over a year later, the trio still struggles with the loss. Allyson worries about her daughters as Becca hides in soccer, but is now injured, and Lydia no longer wants to dance and turns sneaky. Both reject their mom's attempts to help them cope. As the two sisters lose interest in school and favorite activities, the family seems on the verge of collapse as the three females drift further apart. That is until a new crisis forces everyone to reassess their needs in consideration of the better good with Patrick's best friend Michael as a rock of strength for the still grieving Houlihan women. This incredibly poignant contemporary tale makes several valid points that grief is personal and takes time that will vary from person to person and that relationship dynamics adjust when the parameters change. In this case, the death of Patrick leaves his beloved family mourning in different ways even after a year has passed and their interrelationships have changed because the fourth part of the family puzzle no longer is there. Deborah J. Wolf will leave her audience pondering life with and without loved ones in this deep thought provoking family drama. Harriet Klausner