A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents

by Liza Palmer

Book Overview

Grace Hawkes has not spoken to her previously tight-knit family since her mother's sudden death five years ago. Well, most of the family was tight-knit--her father walked out on them when she was 13 and she and her two brothers and sister bonded together even closer with their mother as a result.

She's been doing her best to live her new life apart from them, but when their estranged father has a stroke and summons them, Grace suddenly realizes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446698385
• ISBN13: 9780446698382
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: 5 Spot
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A Delightful Blend of Romance, Family Drama, and Mystery

I just finished this book and had to come write a positive review. This novel is an engrossing and engaging blend of family drama and romance with a bit of a mystery/legal plot thrown in to round things out. It's smoothly written with a lot of humor and emotion that never feels cliched, even if you feel you've read this plot before. Grace, the main character, has been living in a detached fog since her mother's death five years before. She doesn't speak to any of her siblings or her former boyfriend. Instead, she's floating through life without feeling anything. When her father--who left the family when Grace was a teenager--has a stroke, Grace is forced to confront the pain that she's kept buried. I loved all the relationships in this book. John, Grace's former boyfriend, is what you want in a hero--smart, kind, but with an edge. It is perhaps somewhat unrealistic that he'd be available to Grace after five years (throughout, I kept thinking that two to three years would have made more sense), but there's good tension between them and I was invested in their outcome. I also loved Huston, Abigail, and Leo--is it too much to hope that they all get their own books in the future? Pick this up when you want a feel-good read that isn't dumbed down. Grade: A-

Thoroughly enjoyable!

I am one of 5 "surviving" children and my mother just had a stroke in November. The hospital dramas (nasty nurses, crowded rooms), family meetings and paperwork zoos were all too familiar but the plot is what really gripped me. My mind raced with all of the possible turns the story might take. I could not stand to be apart from these characters. I'll be grabbing another Liza Palmer novel today.

Great Book!

I read this book throughout the course of a day. The story line was compelling with each character fully described and understood. I would recommend this book to all of my friends as a MUST READ!

bittersweet but funny novel about a family torn apart who reunite at the death bed of their patriarc

I love Liza Palmer- she writes with charm, wit, and real emotion about the lives of families and the difficulties of finally becoming a grown up. She writes with a frankness that you don't often find in women's fiction but it's never bitter. i think that makes her characters very relatable and this is her best book yet... highly recomend for anyone who loves jennifer weiner, jodi piccoult, or laura zigman.

A field guide to burying your parents

This is a fast paced, great read. I couldn't stop reading since I had to know what happens next. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a quick fast read and look forward to read more by this author.