A Book Report, "And We Stay"

I met Jenny Hubbard at Bookmarks Moveable Feast back in January. Hers was the first book I purchased at the Feast. Coincidentally, she was the first author at our table. Though the event didn't begin until 3p, she was there early so we were able to talk with her the longest.

She mentioned she wrote several manuscripts for what eventually became And We Stay. Stacked together they'd come up to her hip. Her first draft was from an entirely different point of view. Jenny said it was dark and brooding and not what she really intended to write at all. (Characters do sometimes take on a life of their own, different from what the author outlined.) One of her versions, she said, was from Paul's sister, Carey's point of view. It was her editor who suggested writing from Emily's point of view.

I wanted to love this book. It's one of the reasons I went to the Bookmarks Moveable Feast. But I have to agree with the majority of the other reviewers.

The poetry is amazing. And it's a very well written book. But I wasn't sucked in like I was hoping. We didn't take the journey with Emily. Indeed, we simply watched her, and that left me feeling very detached.