This is the kind of novel that makes one forget to breathe, it's so compelling. From the first sentence to the last, every word of Dewberry's novel feels vital and necessary; at times I felt I was reading an extended poem. Told in the haunting first-person voice of a young wife, Many Things Have Happened Since He Died recounts her struggles with an abusive husband and an emotionally tangled family. Often beautiful, often disturbing, often sad, this book kept me riveted. By far the best novel I've read this year.

I read this book 5 years ago. It always comes to mind when I think about great books I've read. The author's use of language and voice is unparralleled .

i've read and enjoyed ms. dewberry's other books but found this one disappointing. the character development wasn't much but the ending didn't work at all. i wish she'd taken time to develop this more because it's a wonderful idea and could've been a great book.

The story was good, the writing was good, BUT - - - I was more than a little shocked at the usage of "four letter" words. Could definitely have done without that!

Dewberry's heroine, Grayson, is the daughter of an imaginary governor of Louisiana. We meet her as she begins to wonder if her father killed her mentally-disturbed mother -- or if her speculations are merely the product of her own disturbed mind.
It is a gripping idea. Imagine that you're related to a powerful governor: to whom do you relate your suspicions? The troopers are sworn to guard the governor, not question his behavior. And as another politician notes, this governor is good for the state. His rival would actually do harm.
Following a divorce, Grayson now lives with a man who works for her father. She herself does some unspecified work for the family. She's truly surrounded.
As other reviewers note, the ending is disappointing: it depends on coincidence and not on the heroine's own cleverness. Yet even earlier, I began to wonder: How realistic is this situation? And I began to get impatient with Grayson. Why doesn't this smart, well-educated, reasonably well-off woman get herself some good professional psychotherapy? She doesn't have to go to her mother's psychiatrist: Tulane boasts a first-rate medical school. Her most pressing problem, of course, is "Did father kill mother?" But long ago she should have faced a longer-term issue: life without father. She needs to grow up and find her own place in life, make friends with people who don't know her father, and find something to do with herself.
The New Orleans background was well-done. It helps if you've read Julie Smith's Skip Landon series. Skip broke away from the unique social pressures of the city. Grayson needs to do the same.