In attempting to keep their routines, the following summer they head to their home on the coast of Gloucester MA.
There is where the book begins, with the story mostly revolving around 14 year old Evie, when upon their arrival she discovers tire tracks that stop abruptly at the edge of their quarry. The death of James Favazza has its individual effect on each family member. It's a parallel of coping with Sophie's suicide and the feelings that his death bring to the surface in Anders, Eloise, Joan and Evie.
I so thoroughly understood the emotions and sense of isolation that each one feels that i felt like i coulda been right there in the book with them. ( )

Since the tragic lossof her seventeen-year-olddaughter less than a year ago, Joan Jacobs has been working hard to keep hertight-knit family from coming apart. But it seems as if she and Anders, herhusband, have lost their easy comfort with each other and are unable to snapback from their isolation into the familiarity and warmth they so desperatelyneed, both for themselves and for their surviving daughters, Eve and Eloise.The Jacobses flee to their summer home in search of peace and renewal, but momentsafter they arrive the family is confronted with an eerily similar tragedy: thatsame evening a pickup truck had driven into the quarry in their backyard.Within hours, the local police drag up the body of a young man, James Favazza.

As the Jacobs familylearns more about the inexplicable events that led up to that fateful Juneevening, each of them becomes increasingly tangled in the emotional threads ofJames life and death: fifteenyear- old Eve grows obsessed with proving thatJames death wasnt an accident, though the police refuse to consider this;Anders finds himself forced to face his own deepest fears; and seven-year-oldEloise unwittingly adopts James orphaned dog. Joan herself becomesincreasingly fixated on James mother, a stranger whose sudden loss so closelymirrors her own. With an urgent, beautiful intimacy that her fans have come toexpect from this bitingly intelligent writer (The New York Times),Elizabeth Hartley

Winthrop delivers apowerful, buoyant, and riveting new novel that explores the complexities offamily relationships and the small triumphs that can bring unexpected healing. TheWhy of Things is a wise, empathetic, and exquisitely heartfelt story aboutthe strength of family bonds. It is an unforgettable and searing tour de force ( )

From The Book Wheel:
Before I jump into this review of The Why of Things by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop, I want to point out that while it’s a great story, it’s not a good galley to request. I say this because the NetGalley copy is a PDF file that such tiny print that it was really hard to read and I almost put it down in the first few chapters because I was tired of squinting. I may have to start paying more attention to the file types that I am requesting in the future!
Despite my husband’s observations that I should put on my glasses and me pointing out that wasn’t the problem, I put on my patience pants and kept on reading. Now that my eyesight is going back to normal, I can happily report that this is a great book. Set in Cape Ann, MA, the story opens with a tragedy that takes place on their summer property, reopening wounds that haven’t yet healed from the oldest daughter’s fairly recent suicide. As is common in real life, each family member is dealing with the tragedies in their own way and together, they feel isolated. The bulk of the story focuses on Eve, who is a precocious and curious 17 year old trying to avoid “dead sister pity” while on a mission to find answers to the tragedy in Jacobs’ backyard. Although their reactions are different, the common thread between all of the characters is their journey to learn the why of things.
I liked this book because I am originally from Massachusetts, so I could identify with the over-abundance of CVS stores and I’ve spent summer days at Canobie Lake Park. Oh, and I know how to pronounce Gloucester!
For the full review, click here. ( )