Review: The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry

The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry 

Published: June 24, 2014

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Eve and Cooper Morrison are Savannah’s power couple. They’re on every artistic board and deeply involved in the community. She owns and operates a letterpress studio specializing in the handmade; he runs a digital magazine featuring all things southern gentlemen. The perfect juxtaposition of the old and the new, Eve and Cooper are the beautiful people. The lucky ones. And they have the wealth and name that comes from being part of an old Georgia family. But things may not be as good as they seem. Eve’s sister, Willa, is staying with the family until she gets "back on her feet." Their daughter, Gwen, is all adolescent rebellion. And Cooper thinks Eve works too much. Still, the Morrison marriage is strong. After twenty-one years together, Eve and Cooper know each other. They count on each other. They know what to expect. But when Cooper and Willa are involved in a car accident, the questions surrounding the event bring the family close to breaking point. Sifting between the stories—what Cooper says, what Willa remembers, what the evidence indicates—Eve has to find out what really happened. And what she’s going to do about it. A riveting story about the power of truth, The Stories we Tell will open your eyes and rearrange your heart.

My Thoughts

The Stories We Tell is a beautifully written story that focuses on the Morrison family and one night that changed the dynamics of their family forever.

It opens on the night of a car accident that involved Eve’s sister Willa and her husband Cooper. Soon a mystery is revealed, why were Willa and Cooper in the car together? Why was Cooper in town anyway when he was supposed to be out of town? This one accident sets off a domino effect that looks past just that night but a whole set of problems that have been festering for a while now.

Cooper tries to example everything away since Willa has suffered an injury and cannot remember a thing. She is determined to undercover what happen since everyone just assumed that it was her drunken past that as crept up again. Eve is stuck between her husband and sister. She wants to believe both but knows one is lying. Either way she knows when the outcome is revealed she will lose someone in her life.

Eve has always wanted a secure and ideal life. Coming for a place where her family wasn’t ideal when she met Cooper she was hungry for love and family. She has prided herself in building that façade and doesn’t want that to change. However in wanting that she has lost that connection with her husband and is always fighting with her daughter. She does however have that connection with her long friend and coworker. He makes her feel everything she wishes her husband would.

Patti Callahan Henry weaves this tale like no other. The characters are so real and relatable that it could hit close to home. The universal theme here is communication and family. Can we really blame situations that happen if we don’t speak up and voice our opinions? This read will make you question how we deal with things in our lives and make us realize that it’s the things we don’t say that have the biggest impact in our lives.