How We Were Before - by Jonathan Kravetz (Paperback)

About the Book

When a savage home invasion results in the death of a town's most glamorous couple, the surviving friends and relatives of the victims must navigate the emotional aftermath: Exasperated high school Vice-Principal Zachary Rivers makes a final effort to reach a troubled student. Town librarian, Shelby Blythe-the eldest daughter of the murder victims-

Book Synopsis

When a savage home invasion results in the death of a town's most glamorous couple, the surviving friends and relatives of the victims must navigate the emotional aftermath: Exasperated high school Vice-Principal Zachary Rivers makes a final effort to reach a troubled student. Town librarian, Shelby Blythe-- the eldest daughter of the murder victims-- begins a correspondence with Billy Lawson, her parents' murderer. Evelyn Kavanaugh, a retired marketing manager and beloved family friend of the Blythes, embarks on a luxurious cruise as a prelude to suicide. Noam Russell, Billy Lawson's best friend, returns to Benfield to claim a share of his deceased father's estate. Samantha Blythe's maternal attempt to help an employee evokes a renewed desire to connect with her own family. The spaces between stories are haunted by echoes of the deceased couple's life-- from the ignorant bliss of first impressions and great expectations to the tumultuous troubles of middle age, and, finally, an undying hope for reconciliation.

Review Quotes

"Death, any death, has a profound ripple effect, but none more than murder. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes much more than that to process violent, senseless murders. How We Were Before, Jonathan Kravetz's beautifully crafted collection of interconnected stories focusing on the citizens of a small town where just such murders occur, illustrates how far-reaching and profound such a violent act can be. It is the proverbial butterfly flapping its wings, changing the world continents away."

--Charles Salzberg is the twice nominated Shamus Award author of Devil in the Hole and Second Story Man.

"Every murder is a sudden, violent tear in the fabric of humanity with ripple effects that never end. With subtle virtuosity, Kravetz traces these effects in the immediate aftermath of a murder in a small town. How We Were Before is, therefore, only incidentally a murder story. It is a story, first and foremost, about the human condition."

--Mark Goldblatt, author of the bestselling children's books, Twerp and Finding the Worm as well as many books of non-fiction including Right Tool for the Job: A Memoir of Manly Concerns

"HOW WE WERE BEFORE is a beautiful collection of connected stories about well-drawn characters who are living in the aftermath of a horrific town event that affects all their lives. Jonathan Kravetz writes beautifully about themes and realities that transcend class and politics barriers, and therefore reminds us of what we all have in common, what we have to lose, and what can keep us going. This is a wise and poignant book."

--Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point and In the Gloaming

"In an innovative and daring reimagining of the literary crime novel, author Jonathan Kravetz has created a killer novel-in-stories that explores the impact of a brutal home invasion upon the lives of the victims' surviving relatives and friends. Told with distinctive wit and wisdom, and caulked with flickers of the dead couple's romance, How We Were Before is the rare work that glides with grace, both forward and backward, through time and emotion. The murdered Blythes might easily be our own neighbors. They might easily be ourselves. Kravetz has created a world that is panoramic and yet touches all too close to home. A brilliant debut."

--Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter's Last Day and many other books of fiction and non-fiction

"Rippling away from a murder dropped in the calm waters of a small town, concentric circles impact the lives of family and friends, but they also smash up against the past, present, and future perspectives of all the citizens left to answer the unanswerable. While bailing out the unfathomable depths of shock and anger, Jonathan Kravetz reveals the emotional damage left in the aftermath of violence to show how it changes - magnifies - every passion and thought. How We Were Before is documented evidence of how a town will never be again."

--Benjamin B. White, author of Conley Bottom: A Poemoir, The Recon Trilogy +1, and Always Ready: Poems from a Life in the U.S. Coast Guard.

About the Author

Jonathan Kravetz is an award-winning author whose work has appeared in journals such as Cardinal Sins, The Rappahannock Review, Narrative Northeast, The Opiate Magazine, All The Sins, The Furious Gazelle, and Wilderness House Literary Review. His plays have been produced in New York, Dallas, and in the UK, and he's twice been a Eugene O' Neill Playwrights Conference semi-finalist. His plays have been published in the Exposition Review, The Iris Literary Journal, and other journals. He is the founder and former editor-in-chief of the literary webzine, Ducts.org.