How the Light Gets In

A Novel

By: Joyce Maynard

Narrated by: Joyce Maynard

From New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard comes the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her beloved novel Count the Ways—a complex story of three generations of a family and its remarkable, resilient, indomitable matriarch, Eleanor.

Following the death of her former husband, Cam, fifty-four-year-old Eleanor has moved back to the New Hampshire farm where they raised three children to care for their brain-injured son, Toby, now an adult. Toby’s older brother, Al, is married and living in Seattle with his wife; their sister, Ursula, lives in Vermont with her husband and two children. Although all appears stable, old resentments, anger, and bitterness simmer just beneath the surface.

How the Light Gets In follows Eleanor and her family through fifteen years (2010 to 2024) as their story plays out against a uniquely American backdrop and the events that transform their world (climate change, the January 6th insurrection, school violence) and shape their lives (later-life love, parental alienation, steadfast friendship). With her trademark sensitivity and insight, Joyce Maynard paints an indelible portrait of characters both familiar and new making their way over rough, messy, and treacherous terrain to find their way to what is, for each, a place to call “home.”

©2024 Joyce Maynard (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Breathtaking

I loved everything about this book: the writing, the story, the timeline including true events, the narration.

Many interesting characters

Though at times I felt the book became a bit repetitive the story always brought me back. There was always a turn or a twist to make me want to keep listening to see what would happen in the life of one or another of the people. The book is long but I do highly recommend it.

Fully developed, touchingly human characters.

In brief, I loved the metaphor of light filtering through the broken places in the lives of most of the characters. Loss, grief, perseverance, quiet contentment, moments of joy: all pieces that somehow cohere. The glue is love. This is truly an uplifting book.

Loved, Loved, Loved!

Joyce has this signature warm, wise, uniquely relatable way of writing that I completely identify with. It's as if she could look into my life and soul and transcribe them to words. This book was again special and is going into my favorites collection.

Absolutely Brilliant

From the first page through the epilogue, there wasn’t one part of this novel that I didn’t love. The characters came off the pages in vivid color both through their actions and dialogue. You know you love a novel when you don’t want it to end…and this one fit that bill perfectly!

Layered, deep and rich deeply emotive story of a mother’s love and struggle

The narration was wonderful and the characters were so well developed. One feels that they can sense and understand each character’s experience. The flow of the storyline against the backdrop of America in a specific era of American history was realistic, relatable and engaging.

Rewarding sequel

I loved Joyce Maynard’s novel Count the Ways. And this sequel continues to follow Eleanor as she moves into middle age… the challenges of mothering her grown children, finding her footing in her career and romantic relationships, all within the backdrop of social and political events of recent decades.

Such a beautiful story

What can I say…Joyce Maynard is by far my favorite author and this story is a testament to human nature in all forms. She also narrates the story and does an impeccable job. Highly recommend.

It takes a lifetime to learn to forgive

Joyce Maynard’s story “How the Light Gets In” and the one that started it all, “Count the Ways,” is a beautiful story of a family like so many. Nothing special and yet everything extraordinary. I loved it. I will deeply miss spending time with the main character, the flawed and perfectly broken Eleanor, and her oh-so-human children, everyone else too. The story of the estrangement between Eleanor and her daughter has been a healing balm for me. Just knowing there are so many others out there like me — gives me hope.

Wonderful!

I came to this book wanting to hear more about the characters (this is the continuation of Count The Ways), and feared the ending - I was surely going to be left wanting more. Instead, it beautifully sends these guys off into the future. And the voice of the author is beyond my capacity to describe - intimate, kind, sure of itself. Loved every second of it, and I am left happy. Thank you!!!