Title: Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor-Johnson
Publisher: Arcade PUblishing
Genre:Contemporary, Fiction
Length:256 pages
Book Rating: C
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
For readers of Everything I Never Told You and When I’m Gone, a profoundly moving, heartwarming debut about family, relationships, and what we leave behind.
Jean Harley—wife, mother, lover, dancer—is a shining light in the lives of those who know and love her, full of boundless energy, compassion, and joy. When she’s hit by a truck while riding her bicycle and the unthinkable happens, what becomes of the people she leaves behind? Her devoted husband, Stan, is now a single father to their four-year-old son, Orion, who doesn’t understand why his mom won’t come home. Jean’s two best friends, Neddy and Viv, find their relationship unraveling without their third companion. Charley, the ex-con who caused the accident, struggles to reconcile his feelings of elation when the charges against him are dropped with his boundless guilt over knowing he has changed a family forever; while Jean’s mother, Pearl, will regret the little girl who left. Gradually, life without Jean goes on, yet her indelible spirit remains.
Told from the alternating perspectives of these and other characters who grieve the same death in vastly different ways, Jean Harley Was Here is a moving, poetic novel about loss, memory, and the lives we touch.
Review:
Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor-Johnson is a unique novel about grief and moving forward after losing a loved one.
Jean Harley is happily married to Stan and they have a four year old son, Orion. Jean is coming home from work one day on her bike when she is tragically struck by a car. Although she is in a coma, doctors are hopeful she will recover. Unfortunately, as the days pass, Jean never regains consciousness and Stan allows her to slip peacefully away. Stan and Orion attempt to find new footing as a family of two while Jean’s friends Neddy and Viv drift apart. The driver of the vehicle who struck Jean, Charley Cromwell, struggles to overcome his guilt after her death.
The chapters alternate between the various characters’ points of view. Orion and Stan’s chapters are heartwrenching as they grieve their loss while attempting to find a new “normal”. Neddy is not heard from much as she continues parenting her two young children. Viv is unmarried and dedicated to her job but when she unexpectedly falls in love, her life changes in many delightful ways. Charley tugs on the heartstrings as he struggles to find the words to express his sorrow over Jean’s death.
Jean Harley Was Here has an interesting premise but the pacing is very slow. The characters have unique voices with each chapter clearly stating who is narrating. The cast of characters is large and it is difficult to connect with them due to the many narration shifts. Heather Taylor-Johnson does a wonderful job bringing Jean Harley to life although readers only meet her after the accident. A quick read with a lot of heart and a clever storyline.
