Abby Fabiaschi ’02 Author First Novel
Abby Fabiaschi ’02 is looking forward to the January publication of her new novel, I Liked My Life (St. Martin’s Press; January 31, 2017; hardcover), a poignant and fresh look at the fraught sacrifices of motherhood and the nuances of mourning between a hormonal teen and a powerful alpha male father.
Written with the domestic insight of Jodi Picoult, reminiscent in style to Where’d You Go, Bernadette, and playing with dimensional narratives as The Lovely Bones did, I Liked My Life is an acutely perceptive, candid debut that leaves you pondering: If you live your life for other people, can you truly be happy? And what becomes of those you served once you’re gone?
I Liked My Life
Fabiaschi is a human rights advocate and the Director of the Board for Made by Survivors, an international nonprofit organization with a unique prosperity model that uplifts victims from sex trafficking and extreme abuse. In 2012 Abby resigned from her executive post in high tech to pursue a career in writing. I Liked My Life is her first novel. She and her family divide their time between West Hartford, Connecticut, and Park City, Utah. Learn more at www.abbyfabiaschi.com
Twenty percent of all Abby Fabiaschi’s after tax profit— including foreign and film rights— are donated to charities uplifting women and children around the world. No exceptions. No fine print.
I Liked My Life unfurls the story of the Starlings, a seemingly happy family whose matriarch, Madeline, dies tragically in what is deemed a suicide. Madeline was a model wife and mother who chose to stay at home after many successful years in the corporate world; she was the glue that held her family together.
Through alternating points of view, Fabiaschi reveals her characters: Madeline, postmortem, as she attempts to make things right for her family; Brady, as he struggles to balance his high-powered career with the demands of single fatherhood; and Eve, as grief thrusts her into adulthood and she grapples to find her identity without her mother by her side. The result is an intimate, charming, and achingly beautiful portrait of a father and daughter trying to redefine their understanding of family and a striking depiction of the transcendent power of unconditional love.
In explaining her inspiration for the story, Fabiaschi writes, “I was inspired by a sentiment from Adrienne Rich’s poetry: If we could learn to learn from pain even as it grasps us. I love the idea that slivers of beauty exist in life’s most agonizing moments, if only you know where to look. Madeline, Eve, and Brady learn exactly that, each on their own timeline and in their own way.”