Book ~ "Julia's Daughters" (2017) Colleen Faulkner

From Goodreads ~ Julia Maxton can’t imagine anything worse than losing one of her three daughters - until the day seventeen-year-old Haley runs a stop sign, killing her younger sister, Caitlin. Six weeks after the crash, the family is falling apart. Julia struggles not to show hostility toward Haley but her deep-rooted anger won’t go away. Her husband, Ben, has drifted away emotionally. Their youngest daughter, Izzy, is lost in the shuffle. And despite Haley’s insistence that she’s fine, her actions scream otherwise.

Fearing that she’s about to lose a second child, Julia decides to take Haley on a cross-country drive. Maybe somewhere between Nevada and Maine they can bridge the gulf between them. But first there will be painful questions to face - is Julia a good mother? Did she secretly love responsible, respectful Caitlin more than defiant Haley? Can Haley ever find peace with her mother - and herself - again?

Haley is 17 and was driving Caitlin, one of her younger sisters, home one night when she ran through a stop sign. Haley wasn't hurt but Caitlin flew through the windshield and was killed. Six weeks later, Julia, their mother, hasn't left her bed and is crying all the time; Ben, their father, is working all the time or spending time with his mother and brothers; Haley feels guilty and is acting up (why didn't they get her help right away to deal with the accident?!); and 10-year-old Izzy hasn't spoken to her sister since "she killed Caitlin".

Once Julia realizes how out of control Haley has become, she figures the only way to straighten her out is to go on road trip with her ... drive across the country and spend some time with Laney, her best friend, who lives in Maine. Ben doesn't agree but Julia feels this is best for her and Haley. And off they go. 

It's not a happy topic (I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child in an accident) but I thought this story was okay. It is written in first person perspective in Julia, Haley and Izzy's voices (the chapters are labeled). The ending was a bit of a surprise but I was okay with it ... it was the best way to end the story. As a head's up, there is swearing and self-harming.

There is a confusing timeline posted at the beginning of each chapter ... the story moves forward without jumping back and forth but the timeline posted didn't make sense to me. For example, the first chapter is "47 days" which I assumed was 47 days since the accident. But chapter two, in which the action happens right after the first chapter is "46 days, 13 hours". Chapter three is "still 47 days" and chapter four is "3 years,  months" but is happening right after the preceding chapters. Huh?!

I liked Julia and surprisingly Haley. I felt nothing for Ben ... he was barely there physically and emotionally and provided zero support to his wife and daughters. I really disliked Izzy ... she was annoying and I cringed when I read her chapters.