Carry the One

A Novel

By: Carol Anshaw

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Carry the One begins in the hours following Carmen's wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidently hits and kills a girl on a dark country road. For the next 25 years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect, disconnect, and reconnect with one another and their victim. As one character says, "When you add us up, you always have to carry the one."

Through friendships and love affairs; marriage and divorce; parenthood, holidays, and the modest tragedies and joys of ordinary days, Carry the One shows how one life affects another and how those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to one another than we'd expect. Deceptively short and simple in its premise, this novel derives its power and appeal from the author's beautifully precise use of language; her sympathy for her very recognizable, flawed characters; and her persuasive belief in the transforming forces of time and love.

©2012 Carol Anshaw (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Splendid . . . seductive . . . vivid. . . . In sketches, landscapes, and erotic etchings, [Anshaw] carries not just one but all her characters through a quarter century of adulthood. And she makes the task look graceful.” ( Entertainment Weekly, A)

"Anshaw has a deft touch with the events of ordinary life, giving them heft and meaning. . . . Funny, touching, knowing . . . a quiet, lovely, genuine accomplishment." ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

“Masterful in her authenticity, quicksilver dialogue, wise humor, and receptivity to mystery, Anshaw has created a deft and transfixing novel of fallibility and quiet glory.” (Donna Seaman, Booklist, Starred Review)

Carry On...Without Me

"Taste is subjective"... mine rejected this one after about 3 hours.

I could NOT get into this. I disliked it immediately (something I rarely feel). I found the characters almost repulsive with nothing even remotely likeable or interesting about the lot of them as they meandered through their lives...which seemed pointless--at least up to the 3 hour mark. I bailed, and am disqualifying myself from anything other than putting my honest opinion of an abbreviated experience in writing.

To possible readers--I'd suggest reading other reviews, listening to the sample provided, in making your choice.Carry the One must get exponentially better--because it has garnered great reviews everywhere, and I don't want to discourage anyone from a read that may become their very favorite flavor.

hated that it ended

If you could sum up Carry the One in three words, what would they be?

beautifully written and engrossing

Who was your favorite character and why?

Carmen, the "change the world" integrity she held throughout her life

Any additional comments?

I started a few books but lost interest and it was difficult to finish. this was not the case here. The author writes with a vivid prose and chooses unique analagies. At a few times it felt a little pretentious and too much, but then it moved into admiration and appreciation for her unique way of sharing a persons thoughts and visions of life as life unfolds in front of us. I hated that it ended. I could of listened to this author talk about 5 more people. Not even any paticuliar story, just the way she shares the way people see and experience life. It has stayed with me.

Couldn't Get Through It

Everyone's raving about this book but I just couldn't get into it. The story lines of the various characters really confused me and halfway through the book I realized I didn't know any of their names, who was related to who nor did I care about a single one...so I stopped, which I rarely do.

Was npt what I was led to believe.

The subject matter could have been more clearly defined. The descriptions and story matter were repulsive.

Just couldn't get in to it.

I could not get into this book. I found the start of the book cluttered with too many characters that was hard to keep straight throughout the book. I had to keep asking, which one was this again? I think the writer could have had a good story but unfortunately the first 7 chapters barely mentioned the story line with the outcome of taking the life of the child. I read this book in my book club and of the five of us in the club, all of us felt the same way.