Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady

I read this book for my library bookclub pick. Half of us liked it and the rest of us thought it was good but not great. I think it could have been really good but for a few things that bothered me.

The premise of the story I really liked. Karen comes home after her mom passes away to care for her disabled older sister Kelli. Karen, having had issues with how her mother gave up her life to care for her sister, hadn’t been home in a decade. She feels guilt at how her relationship went with her mother and overwhelmed with how to proceed with what’s best for Kelli. Had the story elaborated further with this storyline this reader would have enjoyed it much more. Instead we are introduced to Trevor.

Trevor was one of the caregivers to Kelli and she really seemed to like him from what Karen could see. However it isn’t long before Karen notices that Trevor is really insinuating himself into every aspect of their lives to the point of being controlling and his behaviour just escalated. This is where the story lost me. Karen had been married previously to a bully and she just lets this man she doesn’t know put her in the same situation as she had in her marriage. It didn’t make sense to me. Also the ending was a toss up for me. Part of it was good and the other part made no sense, at least to me and my bookclub readers.

It was an ok read for me. I did want to get through to the end to see what would ultimately happen to Karen and especially Kelli. I really wish the book had focused more on that relationship and the hardships and joys that come from caring for someone like Kelli. The author has a lot of great reviews on Goodreads and I would be willing to try another of her novels at some point.

Library copy

Escape into the pages of a good book …