Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Space Between Before and After
    Unavailable
    The Space Between Before and After
    Unavailable
    The Space Between Before and After
    Ebook448 pages6 hours

    The Space Between Before and After

    By Jean Reynolds Page

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Forty-two and divorced, Holli Templeton has just begun to realize the pleasures of owning her life for the first time. But the experience is short-lived. Her son Conner has unexpectedly fled college in Rhode Island and moved to Texas with his troubled girlfriend, Kilian. This alone is difficult to handle, but as Holli begins to understand the depth of the girl's problems, concern turns to crisis.

    Conner's situation is worsening, and as if that's not enough, Holli notices signs of serious decline in the beloved Texas grandmother who raised her. She has no choice but to leave the comfort zone of life in New York and return to her hometown in Texas to care for the people she loves.

    In the tight space between these two generations, Holli initially feels lost. The journey back stirs so many unresolved hurts from her childhood. But something else happens in this uneasy homecoming. Comfort arrives in the ethereal presence of the mother long lost to her, and Holli is surprised to find that as she struggles to help her son and grandmother, the wounds of her own past begin to heal.

    The space between before and after—easily the most challenging place she has ever known—begins to reveal an unanticipated hope for what the future might hold.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061853227
    Unavailable
    The Space Between Before and After
    Author

    Jean Reynolds Page

    Jean Reynolds Page lives with her husband and three children in Wisconsin.

    Read more from Jean Reynolds Page

    Related to The Space Between Before and After

    Related ebooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Deadly Affair

      Aug 6, 2020

      A Deadly Affair
      4 min read

    • Article

      Missing Campers Breakthrough

      Nov 25, 2021

      Police have caught the suspected killer of two campers who disappeared almost two years ago. The special operations group officers took down a 55-year-old Caroline Springs man on November 22 after tracking his movements for several weeks. It’s allege

      1 min read

    • Article

      In His hands

      Oct 28, 2021

      In His hands
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Way Things TURN OUT

      Jun 3, 2020

      The Way Things TURN OUT
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Grocer

      Nov 25, 2022

      The Grocer
      3 min read

    • Article

      Royals Retreat

      Mar 22, 2020

      Royals Retreat
      3 min read

    • Article

      Happy Halloween

      Aug 23, 2022

      Happy Halloween
      4 min read

    • Article

      Just Passing

      Aug 17, 2020

      Zoe cracks the curtain in the bay window and watches as he bounces from one foot to another in the cold. Tap, tap, tap, he goes at the letterbox. But she shouldn’t even let him in. He’s trouble. He throws his arms out and shouts through the glass: “S

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Woman of Courage

      Sep 26, 2023

      A Woman of Courage
      6 min read

    • Article

      Too late FOR LOVE?

      Jun 8, 2022

      Too late FOR LOVE?
      8 min read

    • Article

      Balancing Act: In 'Mrs. Everything,' Jennifer Weiner Explores Her Mom's Sexuality, Evolving Gender Roles And Donald Trump's America. Is It A Beach Read? Maybe!

      Jun 17, 2019

      Jennifer Weiner, New York Times bestselling author of 16 juicy, layered, courageous books, always knew she wanted to write a novel that followed her characters from birth to death. She knew she wanted that book to be loosely based on her own life and

      4 min read

    • Article

      My first year WITHOUT MY MOM

      Mar 16, 2020

      My first year WITHOUT MY MOM
      3 min read

    • Article

      Q&A Percy Daggs III

      Mar 26, 2022

      Q&A Percy Daggs III
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Late Innings

      Jul 25, 2023

      The Late Innings
      4 min read

    • Article

      BESTIE’S BETRAYAL CONNED out of ﹩200,000

      Oct 19, 2022

      For years, Susan Hughes and Anna Bonner were inseparable. The pair first became friends in 1999, when they worked as carers at the same assisted living complex. Seeing Anna’s long blonde hair getting in her way as she served food to the residents, Su

      3 min read

    • Article

      MY SISTER WAS MURDERED... Then She Helped Mum To Heaven

      Aug 18, 2021

      Jennifer Newland, 48, Forster, NSW My mum, Rose, was my best friend. Whenever I got teased at school, she always made me feel better. ‘You’re mine and I love you,’ she said, drying my tears, after one tough day. Then, she broke out into the Monty P

      3 min read

    • Article

      Guests

      Jun 15, 2019

      The month after our mother died, our father began bringing women home. It felt like a behind-her-back kind of operation. “I’m going to have a guest over tonight,” is what he would say. David and I stayed out in the living room, turned up cartoons, bu

      11 min read

    • Article

      Finding Peace—and Briefly, Freedom—at My Grandfather’s Funeral

      Oct 11, 2019

      “Saying goodbye with the people who loved him—and me—I remember that I am not the tomb that imprisons me.”

      6 min read

    • Article

      Why My First Thanksgiving in Prison Was The Best One I’d Had In Forever

      Nov 25, 2020

      Between being sober, getting a visit and having a surprise feast with the mean girls in my unit, I still cherish that day.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Heavenߴs Visitor

      Mar 1, 2024

      Heavenߴs Visitor
      3 min read

    • Article

      Wedding Bells For Demi’s Girl!

      May 9, 2021

      Wedding Bells For Demi’s Girl!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Killer Addiction

      Aug 12, 2021

      Killer Addiction
      5 min read

    • Article

      Just The Way YOU ARE

      Feb 7, 2023

      Just The Way YOU ARE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Your Page

      Aug 17, 2022

      Little did I know that a Country Style front cover from September 2013 would lay the foundation for one of the last and most cherished memories I would have of my mother. After a nine-year stint in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, we moved back to country

      5 min read

    Reviews for The Space Between Before and After

    3.5/5

    28 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A well written story with many layer to it. It seems each chapter pulls back a layer and the reader finds out a bit more information about this family. The characters are really well written and their struggles seem realistic. I liked the fact that not all characters have a happy ending. Life isn't like that so books shouldn't be either. There is a great mix of characters as well; some are young, some are middle aged, and some are elderly. My criticism of this book is that it is a bit drawn out. Some of the middle chapters could have been eliminated and the story would have flowed anyway. This book would bring about a great discussion for book clubs as it covers many family issues
    • 1/5
      Contemporary realistic fiction family drama with a terrible title and mostly unlikable characters. Some were OK, but other than Holli/Hollyanne (adult/child versions of the main character), were too thinly drawn to really care about.
    • 3/5
      I’m not one to read the everyday drama kind of book, where a woman goes off and finds hope and faith and all that, but a certain storyline got me interested in reading THE SPACE BETWEEN BEFORE AND AFTER (even the name of the book makes me want to run in the other direction). Jean Reynolds Page’s novel is about a middle-age woman named Holli whose grandmother is showing early signs of dementia and whose son is having a crisis. Holli also has to come to terms with her past in order to move on with her future.
      I found it weird that after presenting us with the characters we are supposed to come to care about, one death is marginalized, receiving just one paragraph. Another death is earth-shattering to Holli, but why? That particular character wasn’t even well-liked. Having a character with Cystic Fibrosis was interesting, but we aren’t told much about the condition other than patients aren’t expected to live beyond their thirties.
      On the positive side, it was a fast read, so it didn’t take up much of my reading time.
    • 5/5
      In The Space Between Before and After, Jean Reynolds Page again tells a beautiful story about the intricacies of family and all the secrets and misunderstandings that go along with it. Holli Templeton, divorced and in her 40's, is living a simple life when she receives news that her 20-year-old son has dropped out of college with his girlfriend. The son, Connor, has chosen to move to Texas where he and his girlfriend, Killian, stay in a trailer behind his great-grandmother's home. Holli experiences mixed feelings as she wishes for Connor to return to school in Rhode Island, but feels comfort in knowing that he will help care for his great-grandmother, Raine. Then almost simultaneously, Holli starts to realize that Raine's health may have declined more than she realized, and a crisis involving Connor's girlfriend occurs. Holli is then drawn to Texas to care for both her son and her grandmother.Throughout this journey of caring for both the generations before and after her own, Holli reflects on her childhood and how it came to be. Holli was raised from the age of 10 and on by her grandmother, Raine, due to the falling apart of her family after the death of her mother. Jean Reynolds Page alternates chapters between Holli's adult point of view and that of her childhood self, Holly Anne, to help unravel the complicated situation that led to the anger and resentment Holli has grown up with. It isn't until Holli spends time with her grandmother, trying to accept Raine's new found friendship with Holli's stepmother, Georgia, that Holli learns not everything was as it seemed to be when she grew up. Holli then has to decide if she'll allow herself to let go of past resentments or if it really doesn't make a difference.At the same time as Holli is dealing with her past and caring for her grandmother, she ends up having to care for her son. Killian is a difficult "daughter-in-law" and Holli fears the effect Killian has on her son. Killian is a free spirit with an attitude. She has had to learn to look out for herself since both her parents died. Holli tries to overcome her dislike for Killian while still supporting Connor and his relationship. Strangely enough, Holli also feels the slight pull to be a mother to Killian as well, as they both share the commonality of losing their mothers when they were young.This book was so superbly written. The characters were very well developed. (The author's notes in the back confirm that she knew much more about the characters than was even revealed in the book, and this just adds to their depth). The writing flowed so easily I swept past pages and pages, but I found myself wanting to slow down and savor the often profound character thoughts. This book was one of those wonderful finds that is both plot and character driven and one that can be reflected on in many ways. Highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      Back in June, Julie P. of Booking Mama wrote a review on a book I knew I had to read. The Space Between Before and After by Jean Page Reynolds lived up to Julie's review.From the author's website: Forty-two and divorced, Holli Templeton has just begun to realize the pleasures of owning her life for the first time. But the experience is short-lived. Her son Conner has unexpectedly fled college in Rhode Island and moved to Texas with his troubled girlfriend, Kilian. This alone is difficult to handle, but as Holli begins to understand the depth of the girl’s problems, concern turns to crisis.Conner’s situation is worsening, and as if that's not enough, Holli notices signs of serious decline in the beloved Texas grandmother who raised her. She has no choice but to leave the comfort zone of life in New York and return to her hometown in Texas to care for the people she loves.In the tight space between these two generations, Holli initially feels lost. The journey back stirs so many unresolved hurts from her childhood. But something else happens in this uneasy homecoming. Comfort arrives in the ethereal presence of the mother long lost to her, and Holli is surprised to find that as she struggles to help her son and grandmother, the wounds of her own past begin to heal.The space between before and after – easily the most challenging place she has ever known – begins to reveal an unanticipated hope for what the future might hold.The story is told by alternating between the present (Holli and Connor) and the past (Hollyanne). Hollyanne becomes Holli as she grows up. We get to see how what happened to Hollyanne as a child defines the woman she is today. In dealing with so many family issues at once - as these things seem to happen in life - Holli is forced to recall and heal what happened in her past in order to deal with the present. We also get to hear from Connor, what he is dealing with currently and the mistakes he's made in his life already.I fell in love with Grandma Raine and easily connected with Holli and her ex-husband, Harrison. My mothering instincts came out as I read about Connor and Kilian and their struggles. The supporting characters were real and interesting and I can easily imagine myself running into any of them at the store.The book was very easy to read and kept me interested from the start. I will admit to a bit of crying through the middle and the end. But not too much and, anyway, crying is not a bad thing.
    • 4/5
      This book is filled with layers, and as you read, the layers slowly peel back to reveal a wonderfully crafted family story. Each of the chapters is told from a different character's point of view. I love this because you really get to see the whole story, not just one characters take on it. Holli, the main character, tells her story from an adult point of view and Hollyanne, her childhood self, tells her story as she is growing up. This was a wonderful way to bring the past into the present story, as it played such an important role. Also, Hollyanne's chapters were so vividly written I found my heart breaking for her. Jean Reynolds Page has also introduced an innovative new idea by providing a soundtrack for The Space Between Before and After. She has put together songs that either reflected, or helped shape, the characters in the book. You can read about Page's reasons for each of the songs here and can even purchase the entire soundtrack. I love the soundtrack and enjoyed the additional insights into the characters. Music plays such an important part in people's lives that it is only fitting that characters have "their" songs too!