Coming Up for Air by Patti Callahan Henry

Coming Up for Air (edition 2011)

by Patti Callahan Henry (Author)

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217	16	124,289	(3.82)	6
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML: *Patti Callahan Henry's Coming Up For Air* is "a beautiful exploration of the deepest mysteries of the human heart." (Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author)** Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband, she doesn't quite seem to fit into her own life. But everything changes when her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at the funeral, and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death �?? and he wants answers to questions that Ellie's not sure she can face. As Ellie and Hutch start digging into Lillian's history, and speaking for the first time in years, Ellie's closed heart slowly begins to open. Using both a hidden diary that Ellie found in her mother's things, and a trip to the Summer House, a mysterious and seductive bayside home, they gamble that they can work together and not fall in love again. But in piecing together a decades-old unrequited-love story, they just might uncover the secrets in their own hearts...… (more)

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Member:	MHanover10
Title:	Coming Up for Air
Authors:	Patti Callahan Henry (Author)
Info:	St. Martin's Press (2011), Edition: First Edition, 272 pages
Collections:	Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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Tags:	to-read

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Coming Up for Air by Patti Callahan Henry

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Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)

Coming Up for Air is a tale of unrealistic southern expectations of roles for women. Women are required to be beautiful, organized, socialable, agreeable, and acquiescent to parents and husbands.

Ellie loves her parents and her daughter Lil. But when her mother dies unexpectedly, she questions everything about her life. She discovers her mother's journal and is stunned by what she learns about her life in the early 60's.

Spending time at Summer House helps her reconnect with her mother's past, and with Hutch, her old boyfriend. This respite from her fraught marriage to Rusty gives her the time to process her life and consider her future.

Hard to comprehend how Ellie's mom could discourage her relationship with Hutch after her own experience with lost love.

Good quick read.

Bookish59 | Apr 27, 2023 |

I enjoyed the Southern/Atlanta element of the book and even the Civil Rights aspect that was thrown in but the "twist" just seem so unrealistic and anti-climatic to me. I was expecting so much more- a real secret.
Also the "dying" marriage story line didn't ring true to me either. It seemed to be more of a abusive relationship than anything.

This book just dins't seem to come fully together. I did enjoy the writing and reading about my city but other than that, this one fell a little flat to me. (

)

sunshine608 | Feb 2, 2021 |

Great reviews by other readers so I can just know, in case I forget what the book is about---other readers have reviewed it well! (

)

nyiper | Sep 14, 2019 |

Coming Up For Air by Patti Callahan Henry
Story starts out with Elle and she's very busy even with her daughter now in college, her husband busy at work and golfing with her dad.
Her mother keeps her busy with committees, etc til the day she just dies. Story goes back in time where we learn of her mother's younger years.
Another story that comes to light is that of the artists in the family and names given to each of the only girl child of each generation.
She finds it hard once she discovers her mother's journals and she strives to find out the truth. She had left her true love to marry another and Elle is at a loss as to who it is.
She travels with her friend Sadie back to the summer house to find more clues and answers. Like where all the artistry talk is about, gardens and flowers also.
I received this book from a contest I won. (

)

jbarr5 | Oct 31, 2015 |

I loved this book – almost as much as I liked her “Between the Tides.” Once again, lots of lessons in the book – I need to read it again to write down the special thoughts. I was concerned about the end, until the very end – didn’t seem like Ellie and Hutch would get back together, Whew.” (

)

suzyblack | May 17, 2015 |

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There are both wonderful and awful moments in a woman's life.

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I waited. I've learned to do this - wait - because I want to see which Rusty will show up, the angry or the sweet. I hate this about myself, that I do this, that I base my reactions and answers on his moods, but I've learned. In a marriage we all learn, I think.

And this is what I saw in that moment standing in my tiled laundry room: a huge block of marble, one I had given Rusty on our wedding day - a pure white block of flawless marble. With every temper tantrum, with every cruel word and disregard, with every time he held up his hand and told me not to argue, he had chipped away a piece of that solid rock. In my hand now I held a single crushed pebble.

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:

Patti Callahan Henry's Coming Up For Air is "a beautiful exploration of the deepest mysteries of the human heart." (Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author)

Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband, she doesn't quite seem to fit into her own life. But everything changes when her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at the funeral, and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death �?? and he wants answers to questions that Ellie's not sure she can face.
As Ellie and Hutch start digging into Lillian's history, and speaking for the first time in years, Ellie's closed heart slowly begins to open. Using both a hidden diary that Ellie found in her mother's things, and a trip to the Summer House, a mysterious and seductive bayside home, they gamble that they can work together and not fall in love again. But in piecing together a decades-old unrequited-love story, they just might uncover the secrets in their own hearts...

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