Any Bitter Thing
By Monica Wood
Published 2005
Read Sept 2025
This reader tore through much of Wood’s canon because each book she read was so compelling, had interesting and fully fleshed characters, and often a twist or two. This book is no exception.
Thirty-year-old Lizzy has much to process.
Following a fight with her husband, Lizzy went for a run at night, dressed in dark clothes (not smart!) and was a victim of a hit-and-run accident that left her near death and right in the middle of the road. The next car stops; the driver pulls her to the side of the road and then leaves without calling for help for her. This is not the first time Lizzy has been left quite alone.
Her parents died in a car accident when she was two. Her Uncle Mike, a Catholic priest convinced the court and his superiors that he is the only option to take care of her, and they allowed it. Lizzy had a great childhood with him for about 8 years. He was a wonderful foster father for her despite having no role models for how to handle various situations as he has no nieces or nephew and their parents to guide him. His housekeeper had opinions but was not a mother herself and he didn’t appreciate most of her suggestions. He ddid make friends with a neighbor woman who has a child the same age as Lizzy and he sought guidance from her at times. When Lizzy was nine, the housekeeper reports two incidents she witnessed that suggest child abuse and she is taken from him. Uncle Mike’s sister took her in for a short while (yes there actually was an aunt but she didn’t want to take on raising a little girl while she had her hands full with several young sons of her own), only long enough to ship her to a boarding school. When Lizzy asked her aunt about Uncle Mike, the aunt informed her that he died of a heart attack—heart conditions ran in their family. So three times within nine years she was left quite alone in the world.
After college, she returned as a high school counselor to the town where she spent the happy part of her childhood. Her husband agreed to live in this town, but he really wanted to return to city life. They argued frequently about this conflict and Lizzy also suspected he might be having an affair. Since their last argument had driven Lizzy to take that fateful run, he felt somewhat obligated to stay with her. He worried that she is losing it when she describes a visitation from Uncle Mike while she was in the coma despite knowing that he died shortly after their separation.
The story moves back and forth in time and between the voice of Lizzy and the voice of Uncle Mike. It’s got some very interesting twists that I won’t reveal.
This reader thinks this has lots to offer a book discussion group. The characters all have secrets and all have made a number of fateful decisions over time. Did they make the right decisions?
Bravo, Monica Wood, for another great read.
MarshaReads.com 