What do readers think of Ten Minutes from Home by Beth Greenfield? Write your own review.

TEN MINUTES FROM HOME, by Beth Greenfield, is a touching memoir about her teenage years after a horrifying accident that killed both her little brother and best friend. Life from then on was of immense grief compounded by her inability to share her feelings with her parents, particularly her mother. This is a poignant story of an adolescent who is able to reach beyond her grief to understand her parents and to become the successful woman she is today.

This well written memoir documents the author's grief, pain, guilt, anger and loss. The anguish involved drips off the pages as do the readers tears. A car accident kills a brother along with a best friend. Because of this a mother, father and the author are all changed forever too. I do not know if reading this book will help others. But the stark reality of this book and the insights it brings to all of us who know very little about the losing a loved one is very powerful. The last paragraph in the book is perhaps the saddest in the book but it projects hope for the future.

Most people are drawn to stories of human tragedy and survival. But it isn’t just morbidness that makes us want to know the details; we want to understand both the nature of the event, and how an average person can experience the unthinkable and make it out the other side. After Beth Greenfield lived through a terrible car accident, her peers weren’t shy about asking penetrating questions: “Did you see the other car coming?” What were Kristin’s last words?” “Was it very bloody?” Greenfield answers these questions and more in a brutally honest account of the accident and the painful year that followed. While the narrative is sometimes jumpy, and the ending is both rushed and artificially hopeful (at a point where it seems the family is still struggling), this heartbreaking memoir is captivating and worthwhile, and would make an interesting choice for discussion groups.

This memoir is only the beginning of the process for this writer and should rightfully be part one of a longer publication. Most of the book deals with the weeks and months after the author loses her brother and best friend and only the last part deals with her life several years later. How she got from a wild and angry teenager to the 40 year old she is today would have made more interesting reading. There is much more of the story to be told and I wanted to hear it.

Beth Greenfield's first book relives the summer of loss following the death of her younger brother and her best friend. Their whole family is unable to grieve and morn, each one shutting out the other members. In the introduction, we meet Kiki, the author's partner, and throug out the book you are left wondering if and when we will discover the author's sexual preference leaving the reader a bit confused.
This book might appeal to young adults who are also dealing with grief and loss .

An accident occurs just "ten minutes from home", but a young girl's personal journey through loss and sorrow and coming of age takes much longer. While this is a genre many people seem drawn to, and the author is a skillful writer, it would not be my choice.