The Why of Things

Reviews / Votes

With insight, respect and luminous clarity . . . This haunting, shimmering novel reminds us how all of us know our families: with unimaginable intimacy, and hardly at all. * Andrew Solomon * Often, after a tragedy, we wonder how people find the will to put one foot ahead of the other, to somehow move forward. In many ways, Winthrop has written a novel about continuance . . . her message, as complex as it is simple, is that the unendurable can and will be endured only if one chooses to go on. * New York Times Book Review * Totally engrossing from start to finish. Winthrop's scene building is captivating, her characterization intricately layered, and her ability to build tension both preternatural and Hitchcockian - the suspense accumulating so subtly that you don't notice you're getting wound up 'til you put the book down to take a break and suddenly your teeth are clenched. * Ploughshares * A fast-paced entertaining summer read. * People * Elegantly written, insightful and haunting. It is emotionally raw but never saccharine, tender but powerful, and well captures the feelings of sadness and uncertainty that follow deaths like those of Sophie and Farvazza - but also the resilience and hopefulness that come, surprisingly and tentatively, to those left in their wake. * Bookreporter.com * Compelling . . . Winthrop reflects the emotions of each character perfectly. She captures the heartache and unravels the small personal triumphs of each life to create the bigger picture. * Press Association * Once again, Elizabeth Winthrop conjures light from a dark place in her beautifully constructed, touching novel. * Christine Schutt, bestselling author of Prosperous Friends *