Tom takes centre stage in this book, he is a Law Professor on forced leave after a dispute with one of his students, he also has some major unidentified health issues and marriage problems. Tom is counting down the days he feels he has left of family life, because his daughter and youngest child Miri will be leaving for university. He drops her off and finds himself at a completely loose end, on the run trying to figure out what he wants to do with his marriage, his job and his life in general.

We witness the mid-life crisis of a man overcome by a feeling of homelessness who is full of resentments and perceived dependencies.
I did enjoy some of his really astute observations and sentiments, for example when he refers to the ‘heavy tread of middle age’ getting him ever closer to the way he remembers his dad to have been. The way he experiences the role reversal between him and his son, or his reflection that the person you are facing or talk to is never quite the person you have in your mind, are beautifully expressed.

All in all, however I was not really invested in his life or that of his family- it just didn’t seem to be interesting enough to me. Then again, I guess that here lies the actual essence of the book – the unravelling of an ordinary live. So, I can see the point of it, but it did not urge me to turn the pages.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Faber&Faber for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Twelve years ago Toms wife had an affair. He made a pact with himself that he would leave as soon as their youngest child turned eighteen. Now, driving his daughter cross country to University, Tom is on a journey of his own. He is running from a health issue that he is trying to ignore, and a work suspension that he is yet to tell his wife about. So after dropping of his daughter, Tom decides to keep driving with a vague plan of visiting an old friend, an ex girlfriend, his brother, and his son, that ends up being a voyage of discovery...Read it

Loneliness can take anyone, and when Tom has dropped his youngest child off at university, the accumulation of an unhappy marriage and an unfulfilled career combine and cause him to keep driving rather than returning home. As he steers a path west, he meets up with old friends and family and reflects on how he got to where he is now.

It's an intense and very thoughtful book that explores real feelings and is a time of life that isn't often seen in fiction. You're taken along with Tom as he explores his life and neglects his health until it's almost too late. His family and friends offer support to get him through an unexpected turn of events and he moves closer to understanding himself and what he wants by the end. Very readable and very moving, loved it.

I'm definitely showing my age when I say that I'm really enjoying midlife slice of life novels at the moment. This new novel from British-American writer Benjamin Markovits explores empty nest syndrome and a midlife road trip and asks the question - what is left when your kids leave home for college?

Tom is a law professor and father of two, married to Amy. Amy had an affair a decade ago and Tom promised himself that once their youngest child Miriam left for college, he'd leave his wife. That time has arrived and as Tom sets off to settle Miriam into college, he embarks on a road trip, not fully knowing where it is going to take him.

This is one of those books where the characters are sharply drawn and where, though not a huge amount happens, it gets under your skin. Tom isn't always a particularly nice person, nor is his brittle wife, but their redeeming characteristics bubble beneath the surface and we slowly find out what has brought them to this point and where they go from here. Examining midlife, mortality and marriage, The Rest of Our Loves asks the hard questions, to which there are no easy answers. There's a fair bit of basketball chat in here, in case that is off-putting to anyone, don't say you weren't warned! If you enjoy this, I think you'll also enjoy This Is Who We Are Now by [author:James Bailey and Coming Home by Tom Lamont, both of which are refreshing reads that also portray masculinity with nuance and empathy. 4/5 stars

Many thanks to Faber Books for the advance copy via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

'...we obviously had, even when things smoothed over, was a C-minus marriage, which makes it pretty to score much higher than a B overall on the rest of your life'.

Years ago, when Amy had her affair, Tom assumed they'd divorce but Amy wanted them to stay together until their youngest, Miri, went off to college. Little did Tom know, when he agreed to stay, that he also agreed to live his life (and his marriage) in some type of vacuum - devoid of any real feelings. He operated on auto-pilot; days subsumed by a routine that allowed him to unthinking roll on to the next day, month and year. When the day finally came to drop Miri, his daughter off at college, he can't even comprehend what should come next. Bereft of a clear next step, he keeps driving. Driving towards his past but also, perhaps, towards his future. Only his undiagnosed health complications remind him it's a new morning. When he reaches the west coast, he finds some answers, and the real truth of what was, what wasn't and what should be.

This is an interesting, character-driven story. Reading it feels like you're in Tom's brain. Almost like reading his diary but more chaotic and impromptu. You feel a sadness for him, having reached middle age and seemingly having nothing. However, by the end, there is a hope that he may have found himself before it's too late. Definitely more of a contemplative read.

'I felt very low. Homeless. Miri was gone, Michael was in L.A. I had no job to go back to'.

There were many times while reading this when I had to set my Kindle down & process my emotions. I’m not sure I can say I enjoyed it because even after finishing I was left with such a deep sense of sorrow & loneliness for Tom but it was undeniably a thought-provoking read.
Despite it being a short book, it packs an emotional punch. It’s one of those stories where it feels like nothing really happens, yet everything does. It hit me in my feelings & I know Tom will stay with me for a long, long time.

★★★★½ ROUNDED UP ⬆️⭐️

I enjoyed this book about a man in his 50s doing a sad and spontaneous road trip across the US – love a road trip novel, love reading about the American sprawl. I liked the writing too; there were some really good lines. There were a few weird moments, especially because the protagonist commented on people's weight and size a bit too much – not sure if was the character or the author though?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I went into this book not having read this author’s previous work and not knowing what to expect and I can say I just absolutely loved it. What a power tale narrated so cleverly by our main character, Tom.

Tom has just reached the middle of his life when he dropped his last child off to university while simultaneously dealing with memories of betrayal from his wife. Does he return home or does he go on a quest to find himself? He decides the latter and drives on an adventure of part road trip across the country and part seeking out old friends, meeting new people and reflecting on his future.

This book dives into men’s mental health and how hard it is to not have anyone understand what is going on in your head. It was an easy yet touching read that dealt with deep topics and I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend as everyone will find something that will resonate to them in this book.

Once Tom drops his daughter off at college, he decides to keep driving and not return home. He and his wife have been drifting towards this end anyway, so it seems like a perfect opportunity. In the first half of the book he visits old friends and sees how they are now living their lives. By the second half however, his health issues have caught up with him and he needs to make some decisions, including whether to stop drifting and accept the life direction he is moving towards. While I was intrigued by the first half, for me the second half left quite a lot to be desired.

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovits.

UK release date 25th March 2025.

Book Review - 4*

The book starts with Tom, the main character revealing that when his son was 12 years old his wife had an affair and that he had decided then that when his daughter leaves home for college he would leave his wife.

The book then fast forwards to just before his daughter leaves home to go to college 12 years later.

Tom drives his daughter to college and then just keeps on driving so the novel could be described as a modern-day take on the original road trip novel a la Jack Kerouac.

I enjoyed the way that we learned more about Tom and his family and friends through Tom thinking back to reveal all their connected backstories whilst reconnecting with old friends and his brother along the way.

His ill health that is dismissed by Tom throughout the book comes to a head whilst visiting his son at his last stop on the journey, culminating in Tom and his family having to take stock of their situation.

I found the book a bit slow to start with and I didn’t know if I was going to enjoy it but as the book progressed along with Tom's road trip I found myself really enjoying the book and the characters in the book.

I would recommend this book with a score of 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for my ARC e-book copy of the book.

I'm still unclear about my feelings toward this book. It started off with a definite premise - a man whose youngest child has gone to college has to decide whether or not to leave the wife who cheated on him 10 years before. He had always told her that he would stay until the children left. So after he drives the girl to college he just keeps on driving with the pretext, to himself, that he is merely going to see old college buddies and his son.

As the journey continues, however, his health begins to suffer and his plans become even less coherent.

I think it was the second half of the book that had me confused because it seemed to be all about the things he didn't want rather than making any real decisions. His inability to even care for himself became quite monotonous.

There is also quite a bit of narrative about sports (especially basketball) none if which I understood or had an interest in.

So though it started off interesting, I'm afraid I got rather bored towards the end. None of the characters were particularly sympathetic either - the husband was apathetic, the wife was whiny, the son was judgemental and the daughter appeared divorced from relationships with any of them. There's also some casual racism that goes unchallenged and I found that part hard to read.

I simply picked the wrong book. It wasn't for me.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.

3.5 ⭐ I am not sure what I really think about this book, I would probably have given it a 3.5 but I rounded it up.
This story is told in first person by Tom. Tom and his wife Amy are quite an odd pair, they don't seem to communicate since Amy admitted to an affair 10 years ago, I'm not really sure if they communicated before that. Tom pledged to stay at the family home until the children left, Michael had already left and it was now Miriam's turn, Amy has serious "empty nest syndrome" issues,
as Tom drove of to deliver Miri to her university residence, Amy was left wondering if Tom would return.
Throughout this book you get Tom's thoughts as he converses with different people in his head as he drives along. When Tom leaves Miri he sets off on a journey with no clear destination but with thoughts to visit people from his past and he ends up at the home of his son Michael. Throughout his journey it becomes clear that Tom has serious health issues, we are repeatedly given his worrying symptoms but are left worrying until the end what is really wrong with him and why no one had insisted that he push for a diagnosis.
I can't say that I was really invested in any of the characters, I am sure that a lot of people will really enjoy this book, the author does go into a lot of detail and there are probably lots of things in the book that we can relate to but sadly it wasn't for me.
Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is voluntary.

I think I have a thing for this type of novel: the main character reminiscing about his/her life and reflecting on life events that my or may not have altered their life trajectory. I also find fascinating this type of insight into American life; for some reason I find it oddly satisfying leaning about their weird(for me as an European) way of thinking/acting. And from this point of view, The Rest of Our Lives did not disappoint. But the twist at the end really elevated this novel for me, as it forces one to put its own life into prospective. The scare Tom is facing at the end of the novel is in fact my worst nightmare, something I've been thinking a lot about lately. It's also the fact that I've read this novel while dealing with losing my dad. Therefore for me, Tom's story touched me in a rather personal way, as I identified with him, but also what what his family was feeling. I felt that despite all that separates us, his story was in many way my story. And at the end of the day, nothing else matter but to still be here!

Tom has been angry at his wife for many years. His wife had an affair 12 years ago, so Tom thinks he is in the right about everything. He's not.
He's on the wrong side of the culture wars, and it's lost him his job. This book should be called Tom's Long Sulk. Instead of talking things through with his wife, Tom drops his daughter off at college and keeps on driving. This is really unwise, because Tom is unwell. It may be Long Covid or something much more serious.
Tom spends the whole book running away from his wife by visiting his brother, his son, old girlfriends, a racist basketball player and an old colleague.
I wanted to scream and shout at Tom: get out of your own way!

Not my usual type of book so this is perhaps why I didn't enjoy it. It explores the lives of a family at a major turn in their life through Tom's eyes.
Tom is in his mid fifties when his daughter leaves for college. His son left a few years ago and he is left with the prospect of spending time again alone with his wife Amy.
She had an affair years ago and though they still live together, their lives have drifted apart.
His teaching has been called into question and he is on a leave of absence whilst pending review.
He leaves on a road trip to write about America through the experiences of people he meets whilst playing basket ball in local parks.
There are few if any chapters which meant I found it difficult to find a natural break.
The end is left hanging.

Literary fiction often lacks a strong representation of male authors, making this book a refreshing and welcome addition to the genre. Initially, I struggled to connect with the protagonist, but as the story unfolded, I found myself deeply captivated.

The narrative follows Tom as he embarks on a heartfelt journey, starting with dropping off his daughter at college and continuing through America to visit his son. Along the way, he reconnects with old friends and lovers, weaving a story that is both reflective and emotionally resonant.

What I loved most was getting to know Tom on a deeper level—his insecurities, doubts, misgivings, and regrets brought a profound and poignant dimension to the book. This beautifully crafted novel leaves a lasting impression with its exploration of human vulnerability and connection.

I really struggled with this book. I do not think it transfers well to the UK market. It was very American, tedious to read and I did not find it engaging at all. Sorry but this is one of the very rare books that I could not finish. I appreciate being given the opportunity to read it, but it was not for me.

An everyday story about a family whose youngest child Miriam is now going to college. Tom the father is going to take Miriam on his own to settle her into college life as his wife feels it will be to emotional for her. This gives Tom the perfect opportunity to leave his wife for having an affair 12 years earlier and extend his journey into a road trip visiting an old friend from college, his brother, his son and an old girlfriend. Toms has decided to rekindle an ambition to write a book about playing one on one basketball as he journeys from east to west coast America. However despite Toms protests that he is ok, he certainly isn't and ends up in hospital where he undergoes an emergency medical procedure. Beautifully written, recommended.

This sounded an interesting premise of a book, maybe a Harold Fry type journey with a man looking to understand his life and relationships by travelling physically away from them whilst going on an inner journey.
Having read the author's biography at the beginning of the book, I was surprised to find the story so American and, not being interested in basketball, I found parts of it hard to follow.
I also struggled with the lack of chapters and almost stream of consciousness writing,so much so that I'm sorry to say I didn't finish the book
Thank you to netgalley and Faber and Faber for an advance copy of this book.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. Perhaps because I’m about to reach the point of the empty nest myself and have been quietly asking myself the same questions as the narrator. What’s next? What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

But there, any similarities between me and Tom Layward end. The feeling that there is a cutting of ties when his daughter Miri leaves for college is as much him cutting ties with his past as her cutting the apron strings and entering adult life. And arguably, it could be said that Tom is also looking to enter adult life in some ways.

Tom, for all that he is married and has two adult children, had led a sheltered life in academia. He is also very self-contained and apparently unemotional, frustratingly so to his wife, it seems. But there is a persistent air of disappointment and ennui that pervades the book. Even as he sets off on his road trip away from his past with Amy towards a future filled with… who knows what else, he seems only partly engaged in the process. Passive, even as he chooses his waypoints.

The animation and humour that drew me in at the beginning of the book flatten across its length. For all that it comes to feel like a farewell tour, it’s not Tom saying his adieus to his old life or the people he meets along the way. At the end of the book, the conclusion can only be that Tom, in trying to set a course to the future, is forced to accept that he cannot escape himself.

It’s perhaps not as satisfying an ending as I would have expected or hoped, and Tom’s passivity rankles. As last hurrahs go, this is more whimper than bang. Perhaps that’s why this works: while not quite an antihero, you wouldn’t think of Tom as being the main character, either.

And perhaps that realism, and celebration of a resolutely ordinary man, is revolutionary in its own way in a world where American exceptionalism and the raging egos of Trump and Musk fill our newsfeeds, and all the more welcome for it.