Maura Corrigan makes one tiny mistake that causes one enormous tragedy and many small changes in the world as she knows it. In Lee Woodruff’s debut novel, THOSE WE LOVE MOST, Woodruff creates a scenario to examine and explore the questions that arise from the mistakes we make – both those that result in the big traumas that devastate us and also those that create smaller reverberations that subtly knock our world off kilter. THOSE WE LOST THE MOST takes an in-depth look at:

• How do we live with guilt? And especially: guilt we cannot share.
• How do we forgive ourselves for a mistake that brought us pleasure while it brought someone else immense pain, and even death?
• What happens in a relationship when the pain of death – of a loved one, of the relationship itself – threatens to overwhelm it?
• How do we find the resilience to carry on, move forward, live and rebuild our lives and relationships after they sustain deep trauma?

In THOSE WE LOVE MOST Maura Corrigan is a stay-at-home mom, a mother of three setting out on an innocent walk to the elementary school where her oldest sons attend school. It is May. The world is beautiful. The baby coos in the stroller. The young boys ride ahead on their bikes. Maura makes one simple mistake and in the next moment her eldest boy is mortally injured.

What follows is the story of how two generations of a family deal with death, loss, betrayal and the pain of tragedy. What unfolds is a portrait of both how tragedy can pull us apart, and also, how we begin to pull and knit ourselves back together despite disappointment, blame, shame, guilt and the knowledge that what’s been done can never be undone. In a storyline that covers one year in the life of the Corrigan family Woodruff’s paced storytelling and constant forward movement of the plot easily move the reader through the experience of trauma, through grieving, and then softly into the world of resilience.

This is Woodruff’s third book. You might recognize her as the wife of Bob Woodruff, the embedded journalist who was struck by an IED. Their co-authored best-selling book, IN AN INSTANT, journals how the Woodruff family itself dealt with trauma, loss and resilience.

Listen to my interview with Lee Wodruff on YOUR LIFE AFTER TRAUMA as we discuss her book and her own personal experience about how to rebuild life after trauma, tomorrow, Wednesday, October 17, 2pm EST/11am PST.

To hear more, check out this video of Lee talking about her book: