Many years ago, I read Defending Jacob by William Landay which was a legal drama where a defense attorney had to defend his teenage son who was accused of murder. It won numerous awards and was made into a tv show. I read this right before my two sons entered their teenage years and couldn’t think of a scarier book.
Fast forward to this year, Landay is back with his sophomore legal thriller, All That Is Mine I Carry With Me and it was a huge hit for me. In this story, we meet the Larkin family a seemingly idyllic family with two sons and a daughter. In 1975, the daughter comes home to an empty house and the mother, Jane, is never seen again.
Though the police suspected her husband Dan, a celebrated criminal defense attorney, of murdering his wife, there was never enough evidence to criminally prosecute him, so he went on to raise the 3 Larkin children. The pain that the children feel missing their mother and not really trusting their father is visceral.
The book is broken down into 4 sections with different perspectives, A writer (Phillip) who is trying to find inspiration for his next book - meets with his childhood friend, who is one of the Larkin children (Jeff). In the second section we meet Jane Larkin - the missing Mother. In the third section, Jeff Larkin - the middle brother and, in the final explosive section. Dan Larkin himself later in life when he is struggling in the middle stages of dementia .
Landay is a court room attorney and his familiarity in this realm made for a realistic courtroom drama that added so much to the story. Jane Larkin’s sister Kate was desperate to find justice for her sister as she was convinced that her brother in law Dan killed her. She was advised to sue in civil court but that one of the Larkin children should be the name on the suit since a quote dead mother was more valuable than a dead sister end quote. Jeff Larkin is named on the suit and drama ensues as the children and sister grasp at anything to give justice to Jane Larkin.
The book gives many different ideas on what could have happened to Jane and one of Landay’s goals was to inject doubt at every turn. Every character has a different idea of what happened to Jane. I think this is the perfect book club book because every reader will also have a different idea on what actually happened. I recently participated in a spoiler discussion podcast on this book and the host and I were so surprised at how different our perception of the book was. I hope you pick up a copy and discuss it with the book people in your life.
Until the next episode of Likely Stories, I wish you a pile of good books and a cozy reading spot!
