#321 ~ Pictures of You

Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt

Published by: Algonquin Books

Published on: January 2011

Page Count: 336

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Unsolicited review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Available Formats: Paperback, eBook, audiobook

My Review

Imagine you are leaving your husband. You could either be leaving because he’s had an affair and gotten another woman pregnant after years of dealing with your own infertility or because the marriage and motherhood is killing your soul. Imagine you’re the first woman driving to New York to start a new life. Imagine you’re the second woman and you’re forced to stop on the road on your way to your destination because your young asthmatic son stowed away in the car unbeknownst to you, messing up your plans entirely. Now imagine an accident involving both women and you are the one to survive. You are that first, childless woman, who has left that sick little boy without a mother. How can you even imagine you’ll survive the guilt and remorse that isn’t made any lighter knowing that it all was one horrible accident?

When I first started driver’s training I worried about being involved in a fatal accident. Even if it wasn’t my fault, there’s the guilt. How do you forgot it. Those worries were brought back to the forefront with Pictures of You. That the women were both running away from similar ghosts made the accident all the more poignant. It also brings up something that adults often forget – children don’t always understand what’s happen and live with a damaging guilt all their own. My heart broke equally for Isabelle, Sam and his father Charlie. For April, not so much, though. I can’t pinpoint if it is because of her character or the fact that it’s much easier to leave than to be left behind.

Pictures of You isn’t told in a linear fashion. At the beginning you get a rough snapshot of Isabelle’s experiences before and after the accident. The husband she left did what he could to take care of her, but even in what was among her darkest moments, she knew that the two of them had no future together. The accident even brings the terse relationship with her mother to new lows. She hides herself away in the home she shared with her husband, spurning friends, and somehow trying to deal with the community’s reaction to what happened. She wasn’t portrayed in the greatest light and her refusal to speak to the media. Ultimately, it costs her job and pieces of her sanity.

Meanwhile, Charlie and Sam are living in another sort of hell. Charlie was completely blindsided by the accident. He couldn’t understand why April had excused Sam from school or where she was taking him at the time. Sam, living inside his own guilt-ridden head, isn’t answering questions. The more that Charlie learns about the accident, the more the reader does as well. One thing is certain, he didn’t want Isabelle to have anything to do with Sam, no matter how Sam seeks her out. It isn’t until he realizes the power of their connection that he relents. He doesn’t want Sam to get hurt. At the same time, he doesn’t want to be left behind anymore than he already has been.

Pictures of You arrived as an unexpected delight from Algonquin Books. As soon as I picked it up, I knew I had to read it. There was just something about the cover and the synopsis that drew me to it. Once I started reading, I didn’t want to put it down. Carolyn Leavitt is a gorgeous writer and her story illuminates the ongoing trauma caused by both fatal car accidents and broken marriages. First you have to decide that you want to survive, but ultimately that’s not enough. From there, everyday you have to learn how to make it happen. Leavitt doesn’t punish her characters, but she makes them work for their lives. I loved every minute of it.