Before And Again, by Barbara Delinsky
MacMillan Audio - 2018
General Ficton
Audiobook
Narrated by Mary Stuart Masterson
General Ficton
Audiobook
Narrated by Mary Stuart Masterson
14 Hours, 41 Minutes
My Rating (out of 5)
⭐⭐⭐1/2
The basic story line of this book held great promise, but suffered somewhat, burdened by the sheer length of it.
MacKenzie Cooper had it all. She has a successful career as an artist, a model husband and a beautiful little girl. But MacKenzie made a fatal mistake and lost everything.
While driving her daughter to a play date on an unfamiliar road, she takes her eyes off the road for just a moment to check her GPS for direction. In that moment, she goes through a stop sign and is involved with a collision that kills her daughter.
In the ensuing aftermath of that fatal mistake, she is held up to the world as an example of the dangers of distracted driving in a highly publicized trial. Along with the crushing loss of her daughter, her marriage fails, her father dies and she becomes estranged from her mother.
MacKenzie changes her name and becomes Maggie as she moves to the type of town where people can easily start over without prying or judgment. She recreates herself, working as a make-up artist in the local posh spa and inn - helping people hide the imperfections that life inflicts. She keeps to herself mostly, just trying to quietly ride out her probation - but she does make a few good friends in this new town too.
When her best friend's son is fingered in a hacking scandal, MacKenzie has to decide whether to walk away and protect herself from unwanted attention, or risk everything she worked for to stand at her friend's side.
The concept is very good. These days who hasn't found themselves lost and at the mercy of a GPS unit or app? We have all seen scapegoats take the heat for the latest (albeit good) cause, and where does one draw the line between self preservation and friendship?
This story did have some well developed themes surrounding forgiveness of self and others, family, friends, loyalty and the need to keep pushing forward even during our darkest times.
I just found it all seemed to drag on a little longer than it needed to. I don't mind a long book/audiobook if it keeps me eagerly engaged for what will happen next, but I often felt my mind wandering during this one.
Narration was performed by the very talented Mary Stuart Masterson who has an impressive list of acting and voicework credits to her name. She can always be counted on to breathe life into any audiobook she narrates - this one is no exception.
A little longer than necessary, this was a good book, but for me it lacked anything to make it a particularly memorable one.
MacKenzie Cooper had it all. She has a successful career as an artist, a model husband and a beautiful little girl. But MacKenzie made a fatal mistake and lost everything.
While driving her daughter to a play date on an unfamiliar road, she takes her eyes off the road for just a moment to check her GPS for direction. In that moment, she goes through a stop sign and is involved with a collision that kills her daughter.
In the ensuing aftermath of that fatal mistake, she is held up to the world as an example of the dangers of distracted driving in a highly publicized trial. Along with the crushing loss of her daughter, her marriage fails, her father dies and she becomes estranged from her mother.
MacKenzie changes her name and becomes Maggie as she moves to the type of town where people can easily start over without prying or judgment. She recreates herself, working as a make-up artist in the local posh spa and inn - helping people hide the imperfections that life inflicts. She keeps to herself mostly, just trying to quietly ride out her probation - but she does make a few good friends in this new town too.
When her best friend's son is fingered in a hacking scandal, MacKenzie has to decide whether to walk away and protect herself from unwanted attention, or risk everything she worked for to stand at her friend's side.
The concept is very good. These days who hasn't found themselves lost and at the mercy of a GPS unit or app? We have all seen scapegoats take the heat for the latest (albeit good) cause, and where does one draw the line between self preservation and friendship?
This story did have some well developed themes surrounding forgiveness of self and others, family, friends, loyalty and the need to keep pushing forward even during our darkest times.
I just found it all seemed to drag on a little longer than it needed to. I don't mind a long book/audiobook if it keeps me eagerly engaged for what will happen next, but I often felt my mind wandering during this one.
Narration was performed by the very talented Mary Stuart Masterson who has an impressive list of acting and voicework credits to her name. She can always be counted on to breathe life into any audiobook she narrates - this one is no exception.
A little longer than necessary, this was a good book, but for me it lacked anything to make it a particularly memorable one.
Happy Reading,
Christine
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