Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,110
to Erika Imranyi, my editor at MIRA, for her perception that is unfailingly accurate, and for the many hours she has invested that have shaped, honed and immeasurably enriched my work, and for her support and encouragement, which she offers in liberal quantities right when I need it most.
Huge, profound thanks to my dream agent, Barbara Poelle, who saw the potential and whose early faith, enthusiasm, friendship, and editorial guidance gave the manuscript the exact right polish. I wish I could convey in words what her support and encouragement mean to me. She’s a gift of herself and I will always be more grateful than I could ever say for that day when she decided that rather than email, she would give me a call. Thank you, B2, for helping my dream come true beyond anything I could have imagined.
And last, a big shout out to readers everywhere. Books wouldn’t happen without you.
Joy to everyone, many thanks, and love to you all.
Questions for Discussion
Abby goes to great lengths to find her family, including going to the Hill Country with Hank, a stranger. Do you think she was brave or foolish? What would you do in similar circumstances?
Is Nick’s vulnerability at the time he met Sondra a mitigating factor in his betrayal of Abby? Can there ever be mitigating factors in the betrayal of one person by another? Do you think Nick and Abby’s marriage would have survived if Nick had lived? Could you forgive an unfaithful spouse?
Many times throughout the story, Abby is surprised by the behavior of people she believed she knew—her husband, her son, her best friend; she learns she doesn’t know any one of them as well as she thought. Have you ever been surprised in the same way? Do you think it’s possible to know someone completely, even those with whom you live?
Abby and Kate are two very different people. Kate is outgoing and verbal, while Abby tends to be more solitary and introspective. Would you say their friendship proves the old adage that opposites attract? What traits do you admire in your closest friend? In what ways does the relationship enhance who you are? Do you feel, as Abby does, that you and your closest friend are two halves of the same heart?
Many of the characters keep information from Abby in order to protect her: Jake, about seeing his father with Sondra; Kate, about running into Nick at the courthouse. Should they have told Abby about the incidents immediately or at least once Nick was dead? Or is ignorance truly blissful? What would you have done?
It takes Abby a while to recover her will to move on, and when she does, it is partly through observing nature. Where do you find comfort and healing in times of great heartbreak?
What do you think is the significance of the scene where Dennis and Abby come across the injured doe and her fawn? What about the old Indian chief’s sacrifice in the legend of the bluebonnet?
Discuss the significance of the title.
Motherhood and sacrifice are strong themes in the book. Discuss the sacrifices Abby made for her children. Do you feel she did enough to protect them and to steer them in the right direction in life? How do you feel she handled Jake’s troubles with school? Is there anything she could have done to prevent what happened with Lindsey?
A Conversation With the Author
Evidence of Life is the story of an ordinary woman in an extraordinary situation. What was your inspiration for Abby’s story, and how, if at all, do you relate to her?
I certainly relate to her as a mother, in particular when it comes to her abiding concern for her children. And I can relate to how quickly the ordinariness of life can detour into calamity. I think most of us can. I hear a siren and it gives me pause. It’s a signal that somewhere something has changed. Someone’s day, someone’s life is irrevocably altered from what they planned when they woke up that morning. In Abby’s case, too, I was looking at the question of whether it is possible to ever really know someone. Human nature is so unpredictable. We wake up next to someone for years on end, but do we, can we, truly know every thought they’re having, every decision they’re making that could have consequences for us down the line? But for me it is the very mystery of all of this that makes life uniquely beautiful and compelling.