A review by wsk56
The World Without You by Joshua Henkin

3.0

This novel got good reviews. I think I liked the idea of the book more than the actual book itself. The story and setting were good ones. A family is meeting in Massachusetts for the one year memorial of the death of Leo, a journalist in his early thirties that died in Iraq. At their summer house, Leo's mother and father, his widow and his three sisters arrive, along with the husbands of two of the sisters and several children. Each character's relationship with one another is teased out and Leo's character is developed through the eyes of these family members. We see how the family is coping with Leo's death and to the unraveling of relationships within the family. Some of the characters are not well developed, such as the mother, father and one of the sisters. The idea is that when a family is struck with a huge blow such as a death, the members of the family each deal with it in their own way. Adjustments occur, not always for the better. They must learn to carry on in the world without the person who has died. The crux of the story is that changes occur in these characters and the event of the memorial serves to unveil a new balance in the way they relate to one another. While I admire the approach to the story, I didn't really like these characters very much and so did not feel much affinity to them. Without affection for the characters, I found myself not caring much how it turned out. And while it did have a hopeful ending, I wished the author had made me feel more emotion about it.