Leah Stewart

Eloise Hempel could not wait to leave Cincinnati. She was successful in her pursuits and landed a job teaching at Harvard. Quite an accomplishment for a 28 year old. Her world falls apart with one phone call. The call, from her eleven year old niece, lets her know that her only sister and her husband have been killed in an accident. Eloise returns to Cincinnati to care for the children ages 2, 7 and 11 since her mother is unwilling/unable to do so.


Fast forward 17 years. All three children are now grown and Eloise, who has remained in Cincinnati out of obligation is ready to dump the historical family home and get on with her life. Of course life is not that easy. Her mother won’t sign the house over so she can sell it and the young adults do not want to move out. Eloise feels her life has been wasted in this city and feels the kids need to go elsewhere and have careers and lives. As the struggle plays out Eloise begins to reflect on if the sacrifice she made was worth it.


I felt the book was well written and explored the difficulty in family relationships and the expectations we have for each other.
… (mere)

This was much better than Husband and Wife, a book that I really enjoyed. I think maybe the subject matter in The Myth of You and Me was more to my liking, but I also think that the story was told with more emotion. I liked each of the main characters in this book very much, and even when the story went in a direction that I didn't like the ending wasn't cliche or insulting. This was an honestly told story about a friendship that goes awry, and it was told in such a way that most readers, I think, can see themselves in each of the characters. Bravo, Ms. Stewart!… (mere)