"Tom Layward, the narrator and main character of Ben Markovits' new novel, The Rest of Our Lives, introduces himself in a curious way: On the very first page of the book, he talks, matter-of-factly, about the affair his wife, Amy, had 12 years ago, when their two kids were young. Amy, who's Jewish, got involved at a local synagogue in Westchester; Tom, who was raised Catholic and is clearly not a joiner, remained on the sidelines."
"But, Tom tells us "I also made a deal with myself. When Miriam goes to college you can leave, too." The deal, Tom says, "helped me get through the first few months ... [when] we had to pretend that everything was fine." Twelve years have since passed and the marriage has settled back into a state of OK-ness. Miriam, now 18, is starting college in Pittsburgh and because Amy is having a tough time with Miriam's departure, Tom alone drives her to campus."
Tom Layward recounts his wife Amy's affair twelve years earlier, which began at a Westchester synagogue with Zach Zirsky. Tom and Amy stayed together for their children, Michael and Miriam, and Tom privately vowed to leave when Miriam went to college. Over a dozen years the marriage settled into a fragile OK-ness. When Miriam leaves for Pittsburgh, Tom drives her and, after dropping her off, continues driving westward without explanation. Amy and an old girlfriend accuse Tom of emotional detachment, and Tom's passive cross-country journey exposes his opacity to his own feelings.
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