Our Short History

I wanted to like this much more than I did. The concept is heartbreaking and clever, the writing deft, the characterization vivid...but I hated having to spend over 300 pages with the narrator. Which is peculiar, because I've known and tremendously enjoyed befriending women like her. She's sharp and insightful, self-focused and childish, determined and hard-working, private, hypocritical, loving and fierce.

...She's also an island. No matter how much insight I was getting into her inner self through her narration, I couldn't find a way to connect that inner self to the people in her life. Important conversations—essential conversations—simply didn't happen. At least, not 'til the last 30 pages. So for the vast majority of the book, I show more felt trapped inside this woman's mind: alone with her pain and her fear and her grief.

Arguably, the most important conversation she's having is the one with her grown-up son via the book, but watching moment after moment of potential connection to family and friends and even strangers pass without remark, perhaps even without notice, left me fuming and frustrated with the narrator. Why whine when you can seek counsel, Karen? Why weep when you can find understanding? Why stew in your anger and hurt when you can demand explanations?

These are the sorts of flaws in a character that I can appreciate from the outside, but when I'm penned within her mind, reaping alongside her the agony of self-inflicted isolation? It's difficult to think about anything but escape, even if the story is heartbreaking and clever, deftly rendered, and vivid. show less

The sad reality of this novel is that Karen, the narrator, is going to die of cervical cancer. She has a son, Jacob, who wants to meet his father, Dave. Dave and Karen never married and he did not want children. When Karen discovered she was pregnant, the relationship ended. Jacob (Jake) is six when he finally meets his father and it is pretty much love at first sight. Lauren Grodstein writes beautifully about Karen's fears for Jacob's future and her pain at having to leave him. My only criticism of this book is the framework of the book. It is written as a letter to Jake. I didn't care for that device to get at the story. But that aside, this was an excellent book.

This is a heartbreaking tragedy of a novel that seems so real and natural that could be autobiographical (nope, I checked). Many novels and memoirs have been written by those dying and those living around the dying. However, this story of Karen, a campaign manager and single mother with Stage 4 ovarian cancer and a little son just starting first grade, is just singular in its depiction of the physical and psychic pain of knowing when you will be leaving the world without knowing what will happen to those you leave behind. The conflict (as if dying itself isn't enough!) is the entry of Jake's father, Dave, into their lives. The beauty is that there's no magic in it, just regret, anger, guilt, and a dollop of joy, for Jake. Karen also has show more a wonderful, wealthy sister and a beloved father with dementia, and a politician client along the lines of Anthony Weiner. Plenty going on here, and all is truly riveting and will remain imbedded in this reader's heart. show less

Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein is a heart-breaking, insightful, emotional, compelling novel about a dying mother and her love for her son.

Karen Neulander is a successful New York political consultant who was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She's doing everything she can to live as long as she possibly can, but she is dying. How can she leave her six-year-old son, Jake (Jacob), behind? While Karen makes plans for Jake to live with Allie, her sister, she is writing this book, the book we are reading, for Jake to read when he turns 18. She is trying to be as honest as she can about her feelings, what they are both experiencing, and how much, how fiercely she loves him.

When Jake asks to meet his father, Karen is unsure. Dave show more didn't want children and made that clear years ago when Karen told him she was pregnant. He even question if he was the father. Karen has had no contact with him since then and he has no idea he has a son. When she finally contacts him, she is shocked and annoyed to have him respond so positively. He is excited to meet Jake and wants them to meet as soon as possible. Karen is experiencing a plethora of emotions. Dave was the love of her life and he broke her heart. Now he wants to bond with her son, the son she has loved and raised without him. Dave's a smart lawyer too. Will he now try to take her son?

There is no question that this is a heart-breaking tear-jerker of a novel that will have you crying your eyes out more than once. Karen is brutally honest in the book she is writing for her son, although she is really writing it for herself. Grodstein perfectly captures a mother's fierce and protective love for her children and the sacrifices she is willing to make. She is trying to prepare for her death while knowing she will have to give Jake up. She's going to leave him behind - and how can that happen? She is fighting to live for Jake and then Dave waltzes in and effortlessly wants to be a part of Jake's life now. There are no good answers, only raw emotion, pain, and trying to make the best plans/choices.

The writing is excellent and captures Karen's struggles and pain with a startling amount of wit and humor. She is depicted as a real woman. We see her love and devotion for Jake along with her flaws and determination. Her death is not coming easy, and you can see Jake's struggles to understand and her sister's pain as she prepares to let her go. The only real drawback to the book is the framework that it is a letter to be read by her son in the future. Perhaps a diary format would have made more sense, but then perhaps we would have lost some of the emotional impact. In any event, I sobbed my way through this novel and enjoyed every moment of pain. 4.5

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1911483802
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ on 2/16/17 show less

This book was lovely. Although Karen is dying of ovarian cancer, she continues to be a mother, sister, daughter, a savvy political consultant- and most of all she carries on living in the world even though she knows she is not long for it. The "advice" book she is writing for her son Jacob felt like she was hiding nothing from him- not her pain (both physical and emotional) and her hopes and dreams for him. When he requests to meet his never involved father, Karen is incredibly resistant. I think it is her first glimpse into future where there will be huge parts of Jacob's life in which she will have no involvement.

As someone who's father died when I was 5, books like this and Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air give me a window show more into what it may have been like when my own father was confronting terminal cancer. What I wouldn't give to have an idea of what my father was going through as he faced his own death and the fact that he was leaving his young family behind.

I recommend this book highly. show less

If you want to get wrapped up in an emotional ride that shows true heart and character on the pages then Our Short History: A Novel is the book for you. Grodstein does a remarkable job at expressing all of the emotions you would expect a mother to go through when faced with the reality that she will not outlive her only child. This books allows you to empathize not only with Karen, the main character and voice of the book but also with Jake, her 6 year old son, Dave, her ex and Jake's father and with Allison, Karen's sister who will be taking over the care of Jake once Karen has passed. Not only does this book display humor and sadness but it also embraces the crazy thoughts we have regarding others as we over think, over analyze and show more fret about what someone else might be doing or thinking. Not having children of my own, this book allowed me to look into Karen's world and relate to the feelings she was having as she is writing this novel to her son and as she realizes that despite the fact she is dying, life continues to move forward. Life stops for no one. Her job continues to go on, her sister and her family's lives continue with their own problems and her son continues to grow up. It was a page turner from the beginning as the story moved along and your heart goes out to all involved. I great story for anyone facing an illness, early death or for the loved ones around them, or just a fantastic read for anyone wanting to relate to real emotions. show less

OUR SHORT HISTORY, by Lauren Grodstein, is a touching book about a terminally ill mother, Karen, who is writing the memoir of her time with her young son, Jake, for Jake to read and cherish after his mom has moved on. Karen covers her sickness and the physical and emotional toll her illness affects her. She tells Jake about his father and her family, and by truly opening up about how she feels and reacts to the world, she tries to teach Jake how to and how not to act.
This endearing story touched everything. I cheered, I gasped, I laughed, and even welled up a bit all because of the brutal honesty and true deep down feelings that Karen shares. As a parent, I could really sympathize with the irrational protective instincts that flow show more through Karen. We also see Karen thinking logically about her son and the future and at other moments lashing out (mostly inwardly, but sometimes outwardly) because she emotionally challenged by those around her, mostly Jake's father. The details I'll leave for the next reader to find, but I'll just say that Grodstein does an amazing job of displaying the balance of what Karen feels and how she expresses and/or represses those feelings and sometimes she makes the right choice and sometimes not.
Any parent, but really anyone, will enjoy the emotional roller coaster of OUR SHORT HISTORY and I certainly want to find other books by Grodstein.
I received a copy of this book as part of the Librarything Early Reviewers program. show less