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Book Summary and Reviews of All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me

A Novel

by William Landay

  • Published:
  • Mar 2023, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A mother vanished. A father presumed guilty. There is no proof. There are no witnesses. For the children, there is only doubt. From the bestselling author of Defending Jacob... .

One afternoon in November 1975, ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find her house eerily quiet. Her mother is missing. Nothing else is out of place. There is no sign of struggle. Her mom's pocketbook remains in the front hall, in its usual spot.

So begins a mystery that will span a lifetime. What happened to Jane Larkin?

Investigators suspect Jane's husband. A criminal defense attorney, Dan Larkin would surely be an expert in outfoxing the police.

But no evidence is found linking him to a crime, and the case fades from the public's memory, a simmering, unresolved riddle. Jane's three children—Alex, Jeff, and Miranda—are left to be raised by the man who may have murdered their mother.

Two decades later, the remains of Jane Larkin are found. The investigation is awakened. The children, now grown, are forced to choose sides. With their father or against him? Guilty or innocent? And what happens if they are wrong?

A tale about family—family secrets and vengeance, but also family love—All That Is Mine I Carry With Me masterfully grapples with a primal question: When does loyalty reach its limit?

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. All That Is Mine I Carry With Me explores a number of thought-provoking themes, including family, loyalty, grief, secrets, and the fragility of relationships. Which theme resonated the most deeply with you and why?
  2. In addition to being a crime novel, All That Is Mine I Carry With Me is also a family drama and a character study, following the Larkin family and the impact of Jane's disappearance over decades. How did these events shape the lives of Alex, Jeff, and Miranda as adults? And why do you think this case stuck so deeply with Detective Glover and George Ballis, the lawyer?
  3. The author takes care to emphasize how defining a case this was in public memory, writing:

    "In the fall of '75, believe me, if you lived...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Absolutely unputdownable." —Library Journal (starred review)

"Gripping ... a masterly piece of writing." —The New York Times

"Riveting, intense, and breathtakingly compelling." —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest

"An enthralling mystery and a haunting family tragedy, heartbreaking in places, with deeply drawn characters and all the thrills of a classic whodunnit ... I couldn't put this down. You won't be able to either." —Alex Michaelides, author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens

This information about All That Is Mine I Carry With Me was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

William Landay

William Landay is the author of three previous novels: Defending Jacob, which won the Strand Critics Award for best novel; The Strangler, listed as a best crime novel of the year by the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Telegraph, and others; and Mission Flats, winner of the Dagger award for best first crime novel. A former assistant district attorney, he lives in Boston.

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