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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
All That Remains by Jane Darby revolves around the fractured relationship of Anna and Richard following the death of their son, Ben. Anna stays at their rural home, nursing grief and isolation, while Richard battles a collapsing career and turmoil in the city. Richard’s downward spiral leads him to rely on Gina, a troubled younger woman, for support. Meanwhile, Anna hires a local boy, a survivor of violence, to help tend her garden, forming a tentative bond. The book tracks Anna's and Richard's separate journeys, where Anna attempts to find peace through the land and unresolved grief over Ben’s death, and Richard’s descent after losing his job and family. Their worlds begin to intersect again as Anna confronts the truth and Richard seeks redemption, all wrapped up in a fragile new connection with a boy who echoes Ben’s trauma.
All That Remains by Jane Darby is a raw and sympathetic ode to the horrors of grief, memory, and the search for meaning after loss. Darby's prose is quietly powerful, melding together detailed observation with moments of stark intimacy in a way that allows the characters’ disjointed inner worlds to emerge authentically. Darby's keen attention to the subtle shifts in relationships and the texture of everyday life grounds the heavier themes in lived reality, while the restrained pacing allows us to dwell in the uncomfortable spaces between healing and despair that they inhabit. The portrayal of Anna’s mental fog and detachment is particularly well rendered, and I was moved by the way she is used as a portrayal of human vulnerability. Overall, this is a simmering, thoughtful meditation on what it means to carry on when everything screams not to. Recommended.
