The Life Before Her Eyes
Title
The Life Before Her Eyes
Creator
Kasischke
Date
2002-11-11
Description
"Diana stands before the mirror preening with her best friend, Maureen. Suddenly, a classmate enters holding a gun, and Diana sees her life dance before her eyes. In a moment the future she was just imagining--a doting wife and mother at the age of forty--is sealed by a horrific decision she is forced to make. In prose infused with the dramatically feminine sensuality of spring, we experience seventeen-year-old Diana's uncertain steps into womanhood--her awkward, heated forays into sex; her fresh, fragile construction of an identity. Together with the sights and sounds of renewal, we experience the tasks of Diana's adulthood: protecting her beloved daughter and holding onto her successful husband.
An acclaimed writer and poet, Laura Kasischke has crafted a consciousness that encompasses the truth of a teenager's world and the profound transformation of that world at midlife. Resonant and deeply stirring, The Life Before Her Eyes finds piercing beauty in the midst of a nightmare from long ago that echoes like a dirge beneath each new spring."
Summary from publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/The-Life-Before-Her-Eyes/9780156027120
Publisher
Harcourt
Coverage
Reader reviews of The Life Before Her Eyes from Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205005.The_Life_Before_Her_Eyes
Type
Psychological fiction
Subject
Book
Format
Book
Language
English
Identifier
The Life Before Her Eyes
Files
Collection
Citation
Kasischke, “The Life Before Her Eyes,” The School Shooting Fiction Archive, accessed October 17, 2026, https://www.ssfarchive.org/items/show/576.
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