What Remains True

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In this mesmerizing drama, one life altering event catapults a family into turmoil, revealing secrets that may leave them fractured forever or bind them together tighter than ever before From the outside, the Davenports look like any other family living a completely ordinary life until that devastating day when five year old Jonah is killed, and the family is torn apart As the fury of guilt engulfs them, the Davenports slowly start to unravel, one by one.Losing her son forces Rachel to withdraw into a frayed, fuzzy reality Her husband, Sam, tries to remain stoic, but he s consumed by regret with the choices he s made Eden mourns her brother, while desperately fighting to regain a sense of normalcy And Aunt Ruth, Rachel s sister, works too hard to care for the family, even as her own personal issues haunt her.Told from multiple points of view including Jonah s the family struggles to cope with unthinkable loss But as they face their own dark secrets about that terrible day, they have a choice to be swallowed up in sadness forever, or begin the raw, arduous ascent back to living. Read What Remains True author Janis Thomas – kino-fada.fr Excellent novel.This book was free with Kindle First pick for November, glad picked this one to read I m not a person to read and cry, but I did How each family member is dealing with the loss of a loved one, even Shadow, the dog written as a first person These characters will be ...I only made it through a few chapters I enjoy a well written book with multiple narrators I can even handle a ghost narrator But when one of the narrators is the family dog No thanks.A book about a family devastated by the loss of their five year old and what led to his death You might think it s a heavy read, but Thomas brings a light touch to the subject Especially charming are the sections narrated by the child himself as he lingers in the family home.Where to begin This book should have been a short storya VERY short story The novel, of the aftermath of the death of a child, is told from various perspectives husband, wife, aunt, daughter, dead son, psychiatrist and family dog Yes, I said family dog The author tries to capture the voice of each narrator, but I found her efforts to be cringe worthy The 5th grade daughter thinks phrases such as, that s so beast The dead Kindergartener thinks with mispronunciations that I suppose are Where to begin This book should have been a short storya VERY short story The...3.5 STARSFive year old Jonah is dead and the Davenport family is falling apart Rachel pops pills and barely leaves her bed Her husband Sam is a zombie, drinking and sleeping on the couch Ten year old Eden needs her parents Even Shadow, the dog, feels the loss Aunt Ruth s attempts at being helpful fall flat.WHAT REMAINS TRUE is a bleak, bleak story dripping with sadness and guilt Janis Thomas s glimpse inside a once happy family is a realistic look at the overwhelming nature of grief explor 3.5 STARSFive year old Jonah is dead and the Davenport family is falling apart Rachel pops pills and barely leaves her bed Her husband Sam is a zombie, drinking and sleeping on the couch Ten year old Eden needs her parents Even Shadow, the dog, feels the loss Aunt Ruth s attempts at being helpful fall flat.WHAT REMAINS TRUE is a bleak, bleak story dripping with sadness and guilt Janis Thomas s glimpse inside a once happy family is a realistic look at the overwhelming nature of grief explores each family member s point of view, including Jonah s ghost and the dog...Sigh Another Kindle first choice that I would like back The characters were not complex enough and then the resolution was too easy.I was hesitant to read Janis Thomas s latest novel because of the subject matter It s hard to think of losing a child when I am a mother of three However, I have read other books that had similar situations and got through them okay, and I knew Janis would handle the topic sensitively, since she is a mother She definitely proved me right in that regard.From page one, I was completely absorbed in this story of a family tragedy and its aftermath Janis gave each character their own unique voice I was hesitant to read Janis Thomas s latest novel because of the subject matter It s hard to think of losing a child when I am a mother of three However, I have read other books that had similar situations and got through them okay, and I knew Janis would handle the topic sensitively, since she is a mother She definitely proved me right in that regard.From page one, I was completely absorbed in this story of a family tragedy and its aftermath Janis gave each character their own unique voice and they blended together well to narrate the details of what happened before, during, and after the tragic event It helped that she shared what happened somewhat early in the novel, so that we could focus on the family dynamics and their healing process instead of wondering what caused Jonah s untimely death There were still a lot of details leading up to it, so just knowing what caused it still didn t answer all the questions or spoil anything The story goes back and forth in time, starting with a ...I got this free through Kindle s monthly First Read While the idea of the book is solid a family dealing with grief and personal guilt the story itself lacked depth leaving the characters shallow and unlikeable The voice of t...I could shelve my personal problems, slough off any issue that was plaguing me, allow the stress to seep from my pores as my work enveloped me and carried me away But this is not a problem I can shelve, nor an issue I can slough off This is not stress This is grief Overwhelming and insidious grief that refuses to be ignored or denied or temporarily tucked awayWhat Remains True was a very heart wrenching, emotional read for me I already knew going into it that it was about a very heavy toI could shelve my personal problems, slough off any issue that was plaguing me, allow the stress to seep from my pores as my work enveloped me and carried me away But this is not a problem I can shelve, nor an issue I can slough off This is not stress This is grief Overwhelming and insidious grief that refuses to be ignored or denied or temporarily tucked awa...A bit of a disappointment for me whilst the subject matter is heart breaking, and I truly believe that dogs do understand our emotions I know my beautiful one does I found this book to be a littleSlow and the ending contrived Unfortunately I didn t find Jonah s voice...

What Remains True
  • English
  • 06 August 2017
  • Kindle Edition
  • 337 pages
  • Janis Thomas
  • What Remains True