What do you think?
Rate this book
The In-Between Place
Alice Connelly was headed for the perfect life, with her steady-as-a-rock husband, Ryan, a successful architect, her beautiful, smart toddler daughter, Olivia, and a great career of her own, which she was sure was about to include a promotion and raise. But when Alice has her second child, Oliver, from the beginning, it seems like everything is wrong. At four months, Oliver is diagnosed with a rare condition, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA, and given only two years to live. But Oliver surprises everyone by[ living much longer than anyone predicted. Although he can't move any of his muscles, his is brilliant, funny, and takes his limitations in stride. His mother, Alice, has given up her career to care for him, and his sisters, Olivia and Poppy, are forced to pretend he will live forever, even when they know the real truth, while Ryan keeps pushing his raw feelings away, staying disconnected from everyone around him. Filled with surprising twists and turns, The In-Between Place will have you up reading until the wee hours. It makes us ask: How much can one family endure without being shattered and how do you pick up the pieces when life throws too much at you? You'll laugh and cry and wish for something better for the Connelleys and think about your own family and feel grateful for it.
358 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Judy Mollen Walters
9 books82 followersJudy Mollen Walters is the author of four novels, Start at the Beginning (2016), The place to Say Goodbye (2015), The Opposite of Normal (2014), and Child of Mine (2013). She can be reached at judymwalters@gmail.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2019
Compeling story but quite predictable and characters that I am sure would be actually more likeable in real life. It did envoke my deepest sympathies for a friend who has struggled with raisingna special needs child all her life.
March 26, 2019
Oliver was given two years to live. Beyond that his family lived on pins and needles knowing it could be any day now. Imagine living in a family that faced this realization for nearly 15 years.
The Connelly family was a happy one. Alice’s husband Ryan was a successful architect. Nineteen-month-old Olivia was a precocious toddler. But then Alice began having doubts about the development of newborn Oliver. When placed on his tummy he did not raise his head as babies his age typically did. He did not wave his arms or kick his legs. He just – flopped. At the age of four months he was diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Children with this diagnosis do not typically live more than two years.
The story explores how the family as a unit is effected and the impact Oliver’s illness has on each member of the family. Some families become stronger, others fall apart. Will the Connelly family survive?
I thought the portrayal of each member of the family to be very realistic. The mother becomes totally focused on the sick child to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. The father distances himself. Firstborn Olivia wants to shake the identity as the girl with the dying brother. And then when Oliver was 2 ½ years old Poppy was born. She came into a family where she was invisible, always waiting for her turn to have a story read to her, to have a hug, to be loved.
The chapters alternate from the points of view of Alice, Olivia, and Poppy and shift back and forth between before Oliver dies and after Oliver dies. During the 15 years of Oliver’s life we get a glimpse of the smart, funny child is in in spite of his illness.
The full spectrum of emotions are bared in this story. Can the family survive? If so, how will each member be changed as a result of not only Oliver’s death, but also his life? Your heart will break – you will laugh – you will grieve – you will rejoice.
The Connelly family was a happy one. Alice’s husband Ryan was a successful architect. Nineteen-month-old Olivia was a precocious toddler. But then Alice began having doubts about the development of newborn Oliver. When placed on his tummy he did not raise his head as babies his age typically did. He did not wave his arms or kick his legs. He just – flopped. At the age of four months he was diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Children with this diagnosis do not typically live more than two years.
The story explores how the family as a unit is effected and the impact Oliver’s illness has on each member of the family. Some families become stronger, others fall apart. Will the Connelly family survive?
I thought the portrayal of each member of the family to be very realistic. The mother becomes totally focused on the sick child to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. The father distances himself. Firstborn Olivia wants to shake the identity as the girl with the dying brother. And then when Oliver was 2 ½ years old Poppy was born. She came into a family where she was invisible, always waiting for her turn to have a story read to her, to have a hug, to be loved.
The chapters alternate from the points of view of Alice, Olivia, and Poppy and shift back and forth between before Oliver dies and after Oliver dies. During the 15 years of Oliver’s life we get a glimpse of the smart, funny child is in in spite of his illness.
The full spectrum of emotions are bared in this story. Can the family survive? If so, how will each member be changed as a result of not only Oliver’s death, but also his life? Your heart will break – you will laugh – you will grieve – you will rejoice.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews