All We Had: A Novel

by Annie Weatherwax

For thirteen-year-old Ruthie Carmichael and her mother, Rita, life has never been stable. Though Rita works more than one job, the pair teeters on the edge of poverty.
In their battered Ford Escort, they head east in search of a better life. When money runs out and their car breaks down, they find themselves stranded in a small town called Fat River where Rita finally lands a steady job waitressing at Tiny's, the local diner. With enough money to pay their bills, they rent a house and make their own family: tender-hearted Mel, the owner of the diner; the aging owners of the local hardware store whose livelihoods are dwindling; and Peter Pam, the transgender waitress who becomes Ruthie's closest friend.
Into this unlikely utopia comes a smooth-talking mortgage broker who entices Rita with a subprime loan. Almost as soon as Rita buys a house their fortunes change. Faced once again with the prospect of homelessness, Rita reverts to survival mode, and the price she pays to keep them out of poverty changes their lives forever.
Annie Weatherwax has written a stunning, heartrending first novel. "A vivid journey into the dark side of the American Dream...that alternates between black comedy and heart-breaking realism...All We Had is an enjoyable read that takes an important look at economic insecurity" (Providence Journal).

• ISBN10: 1476755248
• ISBN13: 9781476755243
• Publish Date: 5 August 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

When I spotted All We Had on Netgalley, I was entranced by the cover! It’s just so pretty (and such a shame that my Kindle a) doesn’t show covers and b) is not a colour-Kindle) with the blue sky filled with stars, and the diner glowing, inviting people in. It’s what made me request the book if I’m honest, because generally, when I read a book with a synopsis like this one, it’s generally something I find I don’t like as much as I want to. It’s too literary for me. Too long-winded, too slow-moving. But the cover won me over, so I requested the novel and I was accepted a short while later, and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

All We Had is a very simple novel, Ruthie and her mom Rita, spend more time homeless than they do living in a home, and they do whatever it takes to get food in their bellies, and a roof over their heads. But after one dour relationship too many, Rita decides she and Ruthie will head for Boston, it’s where they’re going to end up anyway, because Ruthie is destined for Harvard, with her quick wit and massive smarts. But they end up in Fat River, in New York, instead. And for the first time in a long time, they start to put down roots and Fat River starts to feel like home. The folks at the Diner become like family, and Ruthie thinks that perhaps they’ll be able to stay here forever, but Ruthie and Rita don’t have that kind of luck, so what will happen when they find themselves drowning financially once again?

All We Had is one of those bittersweet novels, that you read with a lump in your throat. The love and bond that Ruthie and her mom Rita share, is extraordinary. Sure, many people are close to their mom, or their dad, but Ruthie and Rita’s relationship is something else. They need each other. Ruthie without Rita, or vice-versa, would be so wrong, like one of them is missing half their body. They’ve been through so much together – awful things, things that made me shudder and things that made me think Ruthie may have been better off elsewhere, but, actually, Rita did a pretty awesome job of making sure her daughter was never hurt, and even though their life isn’t perfect, it is what it is and because they have each other it’s infinitely better. I would love to have that type of bond with another person. I love my parents, but the closeness of being homeless, of living in a car, of sleeping together in the same bed, limbs entwined, is different. And it was super special.

I’m also a sucker for novels where strangers happily welcome in new members to their little fold, and Arlene, Mel, and Peter Pam were delightful additions to the novel, welcoming Ruthie and Rita into their strange little life at Tiny’s. I always find it so comforting to know the kindness of certain strangers. It was such a fascinating novel, and Ruthie’s narrative made it all the better. She’s such a grown up for such a young girl, and her voice was bright, clear and loud and her wit and humour were second-to-none. Annie Weatherwas has written such a tender, delightful novel, and I am so glad it had such a pretty cover that I couldn’t resist requesting it. It was, sadly, a novel that was probably never going to end well, but it was satisfactory, and proved the world over, that Rita would do anything to help Ruthie succeed and try and become President one day (I would totally vote Ruthie for president, just sayin’, if I were American and able to vote and all that jazz).