Waiting to Surface-Emily Listfield

Waiting to Surface
Emily Listfield
Atria, Oct 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9781416537830

Sculptor Todd Larkin travels to Florida to visit his girlfriend. Soon afterward the police call his estranged wife of a decade Manhattan magazine editor Sarah informing her he has disappeared after going for a midnight swim. Apparently his Sunshine State girlfriend let four days lapse before calling the cops.

Although she wonders if Todd is alive, Sarah is more worried for their six years old precious daughter, Eliza who she fears will be permanently traumatized by the apparent tragedy as their child was still struggling with her parents’ separation. Still as Sarah tries to be there for Eliza, she takes a chance professionally and personally. She knows she must never forget Todd but she rationalizes that this is for Eliza’s sake, but deep in her gut she knows his memory is important to her too.

Based on a true tragedy that happened to the author, WAITING TO SURFACE is a character driven haunting tale that asks what people do to cope and help their preadolescent children adjust when closure is unavailable. The story line grips you from the onset as Sarah struggles three months after Todd vanished with how to help Eliza while ignoring her own grief, which in turn eats at her gut. This powerful family drama shows how much love hurts yet means so much when an unexpected loss occurs.

Harriet Klausner