Henry and Rachel

My perspective on Henry and Rachel is that of a reader who very much enjoyed the author's prior memoir, Unraveling Anne. For any who aren't familiar, it is about her childhood and her mother, a woman who experienced a range from public success to personal turmoil including substance abuse and mental health issues. It received mixed reviews as being what some would call dark and depressing or lacking plot, I found it simply beautiful in it's writing while being ugly at times in it's reality. With that said...

Henry and Rachel is a historical novel born from what information and letters had been passed on through the family about Laurel's great-grandparents on her mother's side. The facts provide a framework of Laurel's family tree and some basic information about Henry and Rachel but the story itself was created by the authors thoughts and hence is a work of fiction.

He was a dentist and would-be inventor and she was brought in to live with a well-off family though people in their circle could only speculate what her relation or particular pedigree might be. Henry was not just older than Rachel but actually when they first got together he was unaware she was only seventeen years old. That was something he felt bad over but at the same time his feelings for her were genuine and though she resisted he longed to marry her almost from the very start of their relationship. There were many things that he never knew about Rachel even after having had a life and family together. During their years together Henry and Rachel seemed to differ on many things, particularly the raising and education of their children. It still seemed out of nowhere to Henry when one day Rachael packs up herself and all but one of the children and leaves him.

The author takes stark facts of her genealogy and brings the people as if to life painting a picture of what their lives just may have been. Something I have pondered if or how I might be able to do having researched my personal genealogy. I relate to the idea of wondering about generations past and trying to picture possible details of these ancestors' lives. This novel's chapters alternate from one person's narrative to the next. It gives an interesting way to see the differences in how they each perceive the same situation and lets us get to know the characters with dimension a single point narrative could not deliver. It also has a progression of mysteries and truths brought to light which kept my interest page to page. I believe there are people who will find this, as her prior book, dark and may pick and call what flaws they find in it. Objectively I can see it will not be everyone's cup of tea. I however, felt connected to the characters and moved by the story. I felt a flow of the family beginning with Rachael and Henry traveling through the generations (or what we know of them) all the way to Laurel. I may not be sure just who to recommend this book to but I would like to trumpet praise from this reader. Well done Laurel! I would love to read more from her.