The Rest of the Story (novel)

The Rest of the Story is a novel by Sarah Dessen. It was released on June 4, 2019.[1] The novel focuses on Emma Saylor Payne, and her summer with her mothers family, after her summer plans are canceled and her father scrambles to find a solution before he leaves the country. As her only option she spends the summer with her maternal grandmother, whom she last saw years earlier at her mother's funeral. Over the summer she reconnects with relatives and friends she hadn't seen in years and learns more about her past and connects the idea of her mother with the truth.

The Rest of the Story
First edition
AuthorSarah Dessen
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)

Audiobook

E-Book
ISBN978-0062933621

Plot summary

At 17-years-old Emma Saylor Payne is stuck with no place to go after her summer plans fell through and her father, stepmother and grandmother all leaving the country. It is decided that she spend the summer up at North Lake; her mothers childhood home, with her cousins, aunts and maternal grandmother.[1] Emma Saylor doesn't remember much about her mother, who died when she was twelve, but she does remember some of the stories that her mother would tell her about a big lake, and upon arriving at the lake she realizes that her mothers stories don't paint the full picture. There are two communities at the lake; her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her father spent the summers in wealthier Lake North resort.[2]

The more time that Emma Saylor spends at North Lake the more time it feels like she is divided into two people; Emma, who her father has raised and grown to know and Saylor, the name her mother called her and maternal family has adopted.[3] However, with the help of Roo Price, the boy who was her best friend at four during her first time at the lake she learns more about her past and reconciles her two images of herself.[2]

Characters

Major
  • Emma Saylor Payne: Emma Saylor is the main character of The Rest of the Story.
  • Christopher "Roo" Price: A local of North Lake, who was Emma Saylors childhood best friend. He works multiple jobs in order to save up for college, between his work he helps Emma Saylor connect to her mother's family and her past. The two end up falling in love.
  • Mimi Calvander: The maternal grandmother of Emma Saylor, who primarily calls her Saylor and runs a motel at North Lake
  • Dr. Matthew Payne: Emma Saylor's father who is a dentist and struggles to connect with her after the summer at the lake

Minor
  • Bridget: Friend of Emma Saylor, who she was supposed to be staying with during the summer
  • Ryan: Friend of Emma Saylor, who is at theater camp during the summer and falls in love with another female at camp
  • Nana Payne: The paternal grandmother of Emma Saylor, who she lived with for a time and comes from wealth
  • Dr. Tracy Feldman: Emma Saylor's new stepmother who is a dentist
  • Waverly Calvander: Emma Saylors deceased mother who had struggled with addiction before dying of a heroin overdose
  • Trinity

Themes

A major theme in the book is about the topography of people in the vacation towns, after a trip by Dessen to White Lake and the gentrification of the area inspired her. The town that Emma Saylor stays at for the summer is split between North Lake and Lake North, with the locals and less monetarily well off on one side and the new country clubs and more monetarily well off individuals on the other.[1]

Another major theme that is traced throughout the book is about mental health and addiction as Emma Saylor recounts her mothers personal struggles with drugs, alcohol and repeatedly going to rehab, before dying of a heroin overdose when Emma Saylor was 12-years-old.[4] Dessen also brings it up as a many of the friends and relatives Emma Saylor meets adhere to the "No Drinking and Boating" Rule and bring up the alcohol based accident that killed Roo's father. Dessen claimed that she was inspired by her concern of a larger showing of younger people in the obituary papers she read and wanted to highlight the "epidemic" of addiction within the United States.[5]

gollark: LyricLy is cowinner. This is greatly troubling.
gollark: The remaining people are... *lyricly*, razetime, and sinthorion then?
gollark: Hmm. He tweets frequently, we should have to wait until tomorrow at worst.
gollark: You, however, claimed I was left, wrongly.
gollark: I certainly am!

References
  1. Wilde, Susie (May 31, 2019). "YA best-selling novelist Sarah Dessen is back with a new book and a Netflix deal". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  2. "Sarah Dessen talks about her new novel The Rest of the Story! | Flyleaf Books". www.flyleafbooks.com. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  3. Arreola, Cristina (March 25, 2019). "Sarah Dessen Is Going On Tour For Her Latest Book — Get The Details". Bustle. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  4. Canfield, David (March 7, 2019). "Get a first look at Sarah Dessen's sweeping new novel 'The Rest of the Story'". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  5. Farley, Rebecca. "Sarah Dessen Gets Teenage Girls & She Always Has". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
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