When Tom’s wife cheats on him, he resolves to leave her once his youngest child leaves home. That time has now arrived as he drives his daughter Miri across America to university, then continues driving and decides to look up friends and family from his past. He is on the cusp of change in several ways, as he has been put on leave from his job as a law professor after students complained about him, and he has some persistent health issues which evryone tells him he should get checked out. This trip provides a turning point for what he really wants from the rest of his life. I enjoyed this book and found it quite thought provoking. The characters are flawed and not always easy to understand or even like, but this makes them realistic and believable. It highlights how life can throw curveballs at you and how things don’t always happen as you want or expect, but that there are compensations and surprises even late in life.

The Rest of Our Lives offers a unique insight into fifty-five year old Tom’s mid-life crisis after dropping his youngest daughter off at university. Tom is a flawed character whose views are insulting at times, however he feels more realistic because of this. The novel dives between the past and the present seamlessly and although not much time passes during this novel, you get to know the characters very well. However, the subplot about racism in basketball felt very random and weird. I think this book would be more impactful if I was older, as the experiences would be more relatable.

The Rest of Our Lives is a deceptively complex and layered account of a mid-life crisis, disguised as a road novel. Although it's a very American novel (and how you feel about that may influence your response to it), the road aspect does not seem that central. It's the insights, fears and confusions of Tom, the narrator, that grip you as a reader. As such, it's quite focused on the white middle-aged male experience, although the important female characters, such as Tom's wife, Amy, daughter, Miri, and former girlfriend, Jill, are also well drawn. Markovits is also good on the low key alienation Tom feels, as he struggles to come to terms with how the world is changing, signalled by the (slightly jarring) subplot about race in basketball. This is summed up in Tom's exasperated wish: "I just wanted to sit around and read books for the rest of my life". Many of us can empathise with tat. There are also plenty of pithy observations, like "Getting out of a hospital is like escaping the casino, they don't make it easy for you", which shows you how much Markovits packs into what is a fairly short novel. An impressive achievement - not sure about the cover though.

Billed appealingly as a road novel, The Rest of Our Lives follows fifty-five-year-old Tom Layward whose daughter is about to start college leaving an empty nest behind her and parents who are unsure of their own future after a long marriage over which an affair has cast a shadow. Tom’s health seems to be a concern to everyone, but his doctor and he’s been suspended from his professorship for his political stance, unbeknownst to his wife, Amy. After driving his daughter to Pittsburgh, he sets off on an odyssey not quite knowing where he’s going, talking to the version of Amy he once knew in his head as he drives while ignoring her messages.
We’re in classic mid-life crisis territory as Tom remembers his youth, wonders about resurrecting the idea he had for a novel, broods on Amy’s affair and what their future life together might be if there is to be one. He’s a man a little out of step with modern sensibilities, finding out-and-out racism repugnant but not quite understanding why lumping Japanese and Korean cuisines together into ‘Asian food’ might be considered insulting. The novel is brought to a close with the kind of event that might be expected in a middle-aged man. I enjoyed this one for its structure but I’m not sure I’ll be reading another book by Markovits.

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

Tom drops his youngest daughter Miri off at university and just keeps driving, visiting various people along the way but with no real plan. But he can't run forever, he has to face up to his health issues and his wife, who had an affair 12 years ago and whom he intended to leave once Miri left home.

Loved this! I read it ahead of many others that are being published before it, mainly because my youngest has just left for university too. I absolutely loved it - the perfect mix of funny, poignant and thought-provoking. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Tom made a pact and he abides by it by having a literal trip down the memory lane.
The novel deals with important themes about getting older, health, memories, marriage, children via a road trip as the framework.
It was utterly touching and insightful.
3.5 stars. Though, I would like to read it again after Christmas, and when in the right mood, I think it will hit me differently, and I will be able to grasp some of the things Tom goes through related to his health and age a bit more. In other words, it is the kind of book that you can read at least twice and gain new insights the second time.

Such a great book that explores what else is out there and who am I? It shows it’s never to late to start over and find yourself