Carl has quite the story!Ĭarl is a Vietnam Vet who has been found guilty of the murder and rape of a young girl. Joe decides to visit the local nursing home and ends up interviewing Carl Iverson.

He is supposed to interview someone he doesn't know and then write his story. THE LIFE WE BURY is about Joe Talbert, a college student who has an interesting writing assignment for his English class. This novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and it's an Edgar Award Nominee for Best First Novel. This one is called THE LIFE WE BURY by Allen Eskens, and I think I enjoyed it even more than LITTLE PRETTY THINGS. Seventh Street BooksĪfter reading and enjoying LITTLE PRETTY THINGS by Lori Rader-Day a few weeks ago - you can read my review here, I decided to try another book from the publisher Seventh Street Books. But by the time Joe discovers the truth, it is too late to escape the fallout. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl's conviction. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.Īs Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murderer.

There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. Summary: College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class.

The life we bury author