Laura & Emma

Laura & Emma by Kate Greathead

     Upon finishing Laura & Emma, the biggest discussion among friends or book groups will be to answer the question “how did it end?”  I reread the ending and last few pages over and over trying to say definitively THAT’S how it ended.  There are few books I’ve read that sparked this kind of discussion and this one is sure to do it.  Does that mean you shouldn’t read it?  No!  It means you absolutely should!

     Laura grew up with all the privileges her family’s old money could give her, including job security.  The money, the house she grew up in, the summer residence, the schools, the domestic help, it was all there for her but somehow she finds most of it (unless she needs it) a waste. She really wants to live a simpler life and strives to tone things down.  It’s easier when you have that job security thing going on in the back of your head, and dad paying the rent.  A simple phone call, a mention of the name and all’s well.  That’s part of her struggle.  She needs this job, the security and the support of being able to go home to her parents’ house when the need arises but Laura does struggle with it. She does want to live simpler and out of the influence.

      After becoming pregnant she finds an apartment in Harlem. She discovers how inexpensive it is to live in a neighborhood like Harlem. She saves money, it all feels like she’s making her own life choices in the direction of toning down the way she grew up.  At her age, she’s rebelling even if quietly.

     Her Emma is born, Laura raises her daughter alone (with occasional help from the help) and they do pretty well until Emma gets older and like Laura tried to separate herself from her family’s wealth and way of living, Emma takes the separation even farther, as children do. 

     This book was a book about struggle.  The struggle to be one’s own self but as we all know, it’s hard to let go of that last inch of life line. Now, after you’ve read it, I’d be interested to know how you think it ended.