The Rest of Our Lives

A Novel

By: Ben Markovits

Narrated by: Eric Meyers

FINALIST FOR THE 2025 BOOKER PRIZE

“Feels less like reading a novel and more like sitting in a car beside a dear friend as he navigates the road up ahead. A profoundly moving experience.” —Ann Patchett

“Deeply human...a beautifully quiet and devastating book.” —Sarah Jessica Parker

A triumphantly life-affirming road trip novel about marriage, middle-age, and a man at a crossroads in his life.

When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair twelve years ago, he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest child left the nest. Now, while driving his college-bound daughter to Pittsburgh, he remembers his promise to himself. He is also on the run from his own health issues and a forced leave from work.

So, rather than returning to his wife in Westchester, Tom keeps driving west, with the vague plan of visiting people from his past—an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son—en route, maybe, to California. He’s moving towards a future he hasn’t even envisioned yet while he considers his past and the choices he’s made that have brought him to this particular present. Pitch-perfect, tender, and keenly observed, The Rest of Our Lives is a story about what to do when the rest of your life is only just the beginning of your story.

Midlife crisis

Yes, it’s kind of true that this is the male equivalent of All Fours. But it’s far less slimy, and the man is not as self-centered as the main character of that book.

Well drawn character!

Performance was good—a few odd intonations. Books that go deep in exploring a character and relationships are my thing, so this was right up my alley!

Boring!

Story - Boring
Performance - Boring
I kept waiting for the story to get better and it never did!!!

Boring and unfinished -

Some excellent writing and funny moments. However, it is a book without an actual ending- like a story about a plane crash but the crash itself never comes. I felt cheated after investing time when not much actually happened. Disappointing