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Published Aug 2009
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
In While I'm Falling, Laura Moriarty presents a compelling depiction of how one young woman's life changes when her family breaks up for good.
Ever since her parents announced that they're getting divorced, Veronica has been falling. Hard. A junior in college, she has fallen in love. She has fallen behind in her difficult coursework. She hates her job as counselor at the dorm, and she longs for the home that no longer exists. When an attempt to escape the pressure, combined with bad luck, lands her in a terrifying situation, a shaken Veronica calls her mother for help--only to find her former foundation too preoccupied to offer any assistance at all.
But Veronica only gets to feel hurt for so long. Her mother shows up at the dorm with a surprising request--and with the elderly family dog in tow. Boyfriend complications ensue, along with her father's sudden interest in dating. Veronica soon finds herself with a new set of problems, and new questions about love and independence.
Darkly humorous, beautifully written, and filled with crystalline observations about how families fall apart, While I'm Falling takes a deep look at the relationship between a daughter and a mother when one is trying to grow up and the other is trying to stay afloat.
"Moriarty...delves into this realistic but narrow world with an inviting honesty and creates a cast of vivid and flawed characters that will hold readers rapt with a queasy sense of unease." - Publishers Weekly
"Veronica's story is told with a clarity and humor that make both her descent and her recovery believable." - Library Journal
"Turn off the phone, lock the door and order takeout before opening this sweet, straight-through read that leaves no loose ends dangling." - Kirkus Reviews
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Laura Moriarty was born in Honolulu in 1979. She earned a degree is social work before returning for her M.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Kansas. She was the recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. She currently lives with her daughter in Lawrence, Kansas, and is at work on her next novel.
Bibliography
The Center of Everything, 2003
The Rest of Her Life, 2007
While I'm Falling (2009)
The Chaperone (2012)
American Heart (2018)
While I'm Falling, 2009
The Chaperone, 2012
The Bluestockings by Susannah Gibson
An illuminating group portrait of the eighteenth-century women who dared to imagine an active life for themselves in both mind and spirit.
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