Errands

Guest, Judith

ISBN 10: 067945926X ISBN 13: 9780679459262

Publisher: Random House Audio, 1997

Synopsis

2 cassettes / 3 hours
Read by Cherry Jones

As bestselling author of the critically acclaimed masterpiece Ordinary People, Judith Guest knows the subtle rhythms of family life.  Now, in her luminous new novel, Errands, Guest once again gives us an unforgettable family that finds the fabric of their lives unraveling.

Keith, Annie's husband of 17 years, is dying of cancer. It is a fate he has accepted.  Annie however cannot, will not accept it.  And, after Keith's death, she finds her entire world turned upside down.

Consumed with grief, mounting bills, everyday tasks that seem insurmountable, and three kids that have become nagging source of frustration, Annie fails to see that the family is beginning to come apart.  It takes a second threatening event to transform both the children and Annie, teaching them that, even with the loss of Keith, they are still a family - a different family, but one that is no less loving, real, and enduring than they had been with a father and husband in the house.

Searing in its depiction of despair, warm in its evocation of family and the fragile ties that bind them, and tempered with gentle humor and dazzling wit, Errands is nothing less than a triumph.  Judith Guest strikes at the very core of loss and has written her most extraordinary novel to date.

About this title

Review

Judith Guest is an elegant writer capable of highlighting a moment and crystallizing a thought, effortlessly creating a powerful emotional story. Her modest yet moving style gained great exposure with the success of Ordinary People, her account of divorce amid family tragedy. Errands returns to themes of grief and the trials of family life. When Keith Browner succumbs to cancer, his wife Annie faces the challenges of supporting their teenage children while dealing with her own grief and loneliness. The qualities of Guest's style complement this story, which eschews sensationalism in order to describe authentic feelings and believable characters.

From the Publisher

Errands is a heart wrenching and lyrical novel about a death in the family. As in Ordinary People, Judith Guest manages to capture the quality of the grief that children feel for this particularly sad occurrence. It is a wonderful, and in the end, uplifting read.

--Ruth Ross

Art Director, The Ballantine Publishing Group

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Audio
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 067945926X
• ISBN 13: 9780679459262
• Binding: Audio Cassette