Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Am I glad I read this? I don't know. There are vignettes and sentences and descriptions of the dynamics of a modern family told in the skillful way Anna Quindlen can. She is an established writer with many good books already written. This novel is in the genre of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or Cage of Stars by Mitchard. I wonder why these women write novels with such story lines? Not just for profit, right? Of course I found it compelling but also think that ultimately these novels with their nearly unbearable events add a layer to the dark distractions in our minds of disturbing images and possibilities that wait there for us in our vulnerable moments. It's just a novel, I know, but.......Of course, there is much more to this novel than the cataclysmic event, much more that is redemptive / instructive as we all try to figure out relationships with our families, with our parents, with our kids, with our friends. AQ always does well with this material. Maybe it is a matter of getting our attention in the first place. That must be getting more and more difficult in our media-saturated world.