A Book Called “A Quiet Life”

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through links on my site, I may earn a commission at no cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

I began reading a new book last night called “A Quiet Life” by Ethan Joella. I’ve never heard of this author before.

It is raining. The first good and steady rain we’ve had in a while. The morning is about to wake up with light, so there’s beginning to be more than a dark, blank slate out the patio door.

A Book Called A Quiet Life:

At first glance, the book might seem depressing; three individuals are dealing with loss and grief. But then, that’s life, isn’t it? We all feel loss and grief at some point.

I guess I’m a little surprised that this male author captures the pathos of the situation so well. As though, just because he’s male, he couldn’t tenderly handle the characters’ emotions when he tells their stories.

But he does. He really does.

The Setting

The story is set in a Pennsylvania suburb in the dead of winter. It follows three individuals still in the early stages of grief.

Chuck

Chuck has lost his beloved wife, Cat, to cancer.

At this point, they would be arranging their annual trip to Hilton Head to avoid the cold winter months.

He had thought they would have so many more years left. So much more time together after a lifetime of working and raising two children. His daughter wants to come over, go through Cat’s things, and cart them off to be used elsewhere.

But Chuck is reluctant to part with anything. There is still the smell of Cat on her clothing. He takes each item out of the drawers and debates what to do with it. More often than not, it goes into the “Keep” boxes.

There are her sketchbooks. Her lingerie and t-shirts are in the dresser drawers. There’s her favorite yellow-and-white beach towel, which was such a part of their vacation time together.

How is he supposed to part with something that was so integral to who she was?

He knows he should be packing for the trip to Hilton Head; after all, it’s already paid for. But he can’t seem to wrap his head around going there without Cat.

Ella

Ella Burke misses her young daughter, Riley. Her marriage had fallen apart, and she and Kyle weren’t living together.

Kyle had stopped paying the mortgage, and he drained their bank accounts. She knows that he kidnapped Riley to punish her. She has no idea where they are, and neither do the detectives working the case.

Ella was forced to move out of her house, as she couldn’t keep up the payments on her own. So her mother came to town and helped her move into an apartment that she hates.

Her mother helped her to paint and try to recreate Riley’s room in the second bedroom of the apartment. They hung the framed Mickey Mouse poster over her bed.

When she left her house on Hickory Lane, she was weeping.

Her mother asked the new owner if she’d keep the ceramic frog on the front porch with a letter in a ziplock bag around its neck. It is addressed to Riley in case she breaks away from Kyle and somehow finds her way home.

She also asked the new owner that if Riley came to the house, she would keep her safe until they could get there. The old woman, tears filling her eyes, said, of course, she would. She’d protect her and call the police.

Grieving & Waiting:

Ella answers every phone call with her heart pounding, hoping it’s news of her daughter.

She works two jobs; one delivering newspapers. Her other job is in a bridal shop. The bridal shop is the worst. At least delivering newspapers in the wee hours of the morning means she doesn’t have to engage with people. To see the pity in their eyes.

Her mother said they’d sell the cafe and move to Pennsylvania to be with her if need be. But she doesn’t want to ask her mother and father to disrupt their lives any more than she already has.

Kirsten

Kirsten Bonato lost her father to a random stranger wielding a gun. He was at a gas station just outside of Philadelphia. She wonders what it must have been like to be accosted by this person and shot down for no reason.

It was sudden and unexpected, and she still can’t believe he’s no longer there. She misses him so much. His Italian accent, his sense of humor.

She sets aside her aspirations to attend veterinary school and takes a job at a local animal shelter. Kirsten keeps thinking she’s going to get herself together and go back to school.

But she can’t seem to break out of her routine. At least she’s working with animals, something she always knew she wanted to do.

It seems like her mother is always at the college working with her grad students. And the house is lonely without her father there. She feels stuck in a time warp.

Kirsten thinks maybe she’s waiting for a sign from her father, prodding her forward. What would he advise her to do?

The Story Line:

I imagine you’re wondering whether the three people in the book are related to one another.

So far (I’ve only read 50 pages), Ella throws the newspaper in front of Chuck’s house in the early and dark morning hours.

She usually sees him sitting by the window. His hair is wonky, and his glasses don’t sit right. But he hears the sound of her old jeep and always looks up, knowing she’s there.

Ella wonders what kind of tragedies have befallen others. What kind of pain they’re holding, and if they have someone to share it with.

Has the old man had to put a wife in a nursing home, perhaps? Is that why he looks so sad?

Ella lives in the apartment above the manager of the animal shelter where Kirsten works. Is that going to be a connection?

David always waves at Ella if they’re outside at the same time. She sometimes watches from her window when he’s standing outside, waiting for his ex to bring the kids by, and again when she picks them up.

He keeps his arms crossed at these times, as if he’s trying to protect himself. David always looks resigned as he walks back to his apartment when his ex-wife drives away in her Land Rover.