Waiting to Surface
A Novel
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Based on the author’s own experiences a “heartrending” (People) and haunting story about a magazine editor and mother whose life is changed by a phone call revealing that her husband has vanished without a trace.
On a steamy August morning, Sarah Larkin drops her six-year-old daughter, Eliza, off at camp and heads to her office, where she works as an editor of a women’s magazine. She is sitting at her desk testing a $450 face cream when the phone rings.
Detective Ronald Brook tells Sarah that her husband has vanished. A keening sound escapes from Sarah’s throat as the detective lays out the few facts he knows.
A noted sculptor, Todd Larkin went swimming at midnight off the coast of Florida and hasn’t returned. He was staying with a woman. He was drinking. He left behind his keys, wallet, cell phone, and his return airline ticket. They also found two drawings and pieces of a sculpture. But there is no trace of him or his body. The coast guard has been scouring the shoreline, but no one has seen a thing.
Has Todd run off to start a new life or is he dead? Could it have been an accident, suicide, or homicide? As Sarah grapples with the mystery of his disappearance, she is forced to confront the hopes and disappointments of her marriage. And through it all, she must also help her young daughter deal with the crisis while meeting the demands of the high-powered magazine world.
“A gripping story” (Parade) about coming to terms with loss, learning to live in a world without answers, and discovering the ability to treasure love once again, Waiting to Surface is a story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A woman copes with tragedy and the banalities of New York life in Listfield's deeply personal sixth novel. Based on the real-life disappearance of Listfield's husband, the novel revolves around Sarah Larkin, an art lover who actually enjoys her job as an editor at a glossy women's mag. Her alcoholic sculptor husband, Todd, though, is less than happy, and flees the disintegrating marriage, ostensibly to visit an old school friend in Florida. Sarah and their six-year-old daughter, Eliza, await his return, but a phone call from a Florida policeman signals trouble: Todd has been staying with a woman and has been reported as missing. Sarah's life then spreads out into several directions. Most immediate is the investigation into Todd's disappearance (suicide is one theory), with a skeptical cop, a kindly private eye and Todd's ex as its cross-purposed cast. Sarah also navigates infighting among the ambitious and sometimes reptilian magazine staff (who mostly feel like something out of a less ambitious novel) and meets a caring and handsome new love interest. Not all of these subplots work well together, but the through line Sarah's and Eliza's attempt to find their new normal does more than its share to carry the book.
