The Rest of Our Lives

You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 27 Mar 2025 | Archive Date 20 Mar 2025

Talking about this book? Use #TheRestofOurLives #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

What's left when your kids grow up and leave home?

When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact.

He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he's been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class – something he hasn't yet told his wife.

So, after dropping Miriam off, he keeps driving, with the vague plan of visiting various people from his past – an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son – on route, maybe, to his father's grave in California.

Pitch perfect, quietly exhilarating and moving, The Rest of Our Lives is a novel about family, marriage and those moments which may come to define us.

What's left when your kids grow up and leave home?

When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving...


Advance Praise

'A deft, agile, intricate portrait of family life and midlife crisis, razor-sharp insights delivered with a throwaway lightness of touch . . . A perfect contemporary take on the American road-trip novel.' Lucy Caldwell

Praise for Ben Markovits

'Elegant, absorbing . . . What a fine ear Markovits has for the way people talk.' Guardian

'Markovits' writing makes the ordinary unforgettable.' New York Times

'Markovits is excellent on gradations of failure. He also has the patience and precision to capture the elusive minutiae of our inner lives and interpersonal relationships.' Sunday Times

'A deft, agile, intricate portrait of family life and midlife crisis, razor-sharp insights delivered with a throwaway lightness of touch . . . A perfect contemporary take on the American road-trip...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780571388547
PRICE £18.99 (GBP)
PAGES 240

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)
Download (PDF)

Average rating from 15 members


Featured Reviews

Such a great book that explores what else is out there and who am I? It shows it’s never to late to start over and find yourself

Was this review helpful?

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

Tom drops his youngest daughter Miri off at university and just keeps driving, visiting various people along the way but with no real plan. But he can't run forever, he has to face up to his health issues and his wife, who had an affair 12 years ago and whom he intended to leave once Miri left home.

Loved this! I read it ahead of many others that are being published before it, mainly because my youngest has just left for university too. I absolutely loved it - the perfect mix of funny, poignant and thought-provoking. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Was this review helpful?

What struck me about this novel was the similarity, of narrative style, with Raymond Carver. I say that as a compliment, of course. And that style carries the reader through this quest type story, of Tom, whose wife, Amy has in the past had a affair, their son has left home, and their daughter is off to college. The question being asked, really, is what do you do when that happens - when you're left to live with the person who's betrayed you? There is another question running through this story, though, and that's Tom's illness, which other characters are concerned about, but he brushes off. As he travels alone, visiting old friends and his brother, and finally his son, there is a sense that he's reliving the past, perhaps even saying goodbye, and this adds to the mystery of his illness. In the end, we find out what's going on with him, and yes, the ending does ask the question, what will we do with the rest of our lives?

I'm tempted to say this is the best novel I've read this year, in fact, I'll say it. It really was the best novel I've read this year. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

"Nobody tells you what an intense experience loneliness is, how it has a lot of variations..."

Let me start by saying I didn't know what to expect from this book. A Jazzy cover, a title implying a romance, few reviews online for me to pre-empt a narrative. None of that mattered when I jumped in to this book.

Following the life of protagonist Tom as he drops his daughter at college and takes himself on a long trip across country meeting friends of old and strangers at basketball courts - this novel plunges straight into male mental health and what it's like getting by when there's nobody there who knows what's happening inside your head.

I freaking loved this book for how matter-of-fact and easy to read it was whilst simultaneously touching on deep topics and the tragedy of your life passing you by.

Highly recommended if you want to read something real and something that will resonate.

Was this review helpful?

What a powerful tale; a really unexpected treasure. This is the story of Tom and his quest to find himself. It’s such a simple premise; he’s reached mid life, there’s a health concern and he’s living with the memory of betrayal by his wife, Amy, some years earlier. He drops his daughter off at university and instead of going home, just keeps driving. It’s part road trip as he seeks out old friends and reflects on his future. It’s observant, poignant and I suspect it’ll strike a chord with many. What happens in the empty nest home? The kids have gone and over a decade or two, relationships change. Will Tom and Amy have a future together? What are the ties that bind and how easy is it to break bonds? This is reflective without being claustrophobic and too introspective. Very well written and totally absorbing. Really enjoyed this.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: