the amendment

by Anne Leigh Parrish

When Lavinia Starkhurst's husband is killed in a freak accident, she takes to the open road and meets a number of strangers, all with struggles of their own. Through these unexpected and occasionally hilarious encounters, Lavinia reflects on her past deeds, both good and bad, explores her two marriages, her roles as caregiver and wife, hoping all the while for self-acceptance and something to give her new life meaning.



"The Amendment is nuanced, witty, and insightful, exploring the fetters of family and community that prove impossible to escape. Parrish is a smart, savvy writer with a gift for exploring landscapes of both geography and emotion. Once again, she has produced a work of considerable charm and poignancy."--Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter's Last Day.



"The Amendment is a beautifully written story about a new widow's struggle to wrap her mind around her husband's death by setting off on a cross-country journey in search of she knows not what. Parrish's prose is eloquent yet crisp, moving the story along quickly. A delightful must-read, sure to take its place among today's top literary fiction!"--Michelle Cox, author of The Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series.



Anne Leigh Parrish is the author of Women Within; By the Wayside; What Is Found, What Is Lost; Our Love Could Light The World; and All The Roads That Lead From Home.

Genres: Fiction

355 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2018

About the author

Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish's fourth collection of poetry, THE BANISHED AND THE DEAD, arrives March 10, 2026 from Unsolicited Press. Her ninth novel, A BROKEN WINDOW, published on June 20, 2025 as part of Unsolicited Press's Year of Womxn. Her third poetry collection, DIARY OF A FALSE ASSASSIN, arrived right before Christmas, also from Unsolicited Press. Other Recent titles are THE HEDGEROW, a novel; A SUMMER MORNING, a novel; IF THE SKY WON'T HAVE ME, poems; AN OPEN DOOR, a novel; A WINTER NIGHT, a novel; and THE MOON WON'T BE DARED, a poetry collection. She is the author of eight other books, most notably MAGGIE'S RUSE, and THE AMENDMENT, both novels. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and displays her work at www.laviniastudios.com. She lives among the evergreen trees in the South Sound region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Medium, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Goodreads.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

The Amendment by Anne Leigh Parrish is a book that has a ton of heart! The writing style is fairly simple, but that made for an extremely fast read and it didn't bother me at all.

The Amendment is told from the perspective of Lavinia who is 53 years old when her second husband Chip is killed in a freak accident. What the majority of the book is about is what happens next. She takes a road trip out west and makes a few stops along the way. Among other things, she ends up working in a flower shop for a hot minute, attends the funeral of a stranger, plus helps some young people out. To me, The Amendment is about Lavinia finding herself again and dealing with past issues plus present circumstances. She was such a great female character, super spunky and very sarcastic which I loved.

I don't really want to give anything away so I won't say anything else about the plot, but this was such a charming book, and I really enjoyed the whole story. The chapters were super short as well which is definitely something I love in a book. I also thought the characters were developed enough that I felt like I was well acquainted with them without being super in depth.

This is totally personal, but I also love the cover of this book! I grew up on a farm in the Midwest so it brought back memories of home for me. I love a book that can somehow invoke feelings like that in me.

Final Thought: I would categorize this novel as contemporary women's fiction so if you like a good women's fiction novel and don't mind a simple writing style, I highly recommend this one. It made me laugh out loud more than once, and Lavinia is the perfect strong female character. She has flaws like the rest of us, but she makes up for it with her actions (most of them) and her awesome sarcasm. PSA you may need a couple tissues - I did tear up a couple of times!

[Chrissi Sepe · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance, “The Amendment” appears to be a sad book because it’s about loss and grief. But after reading the very first pages, I realized this novel is everything but a downer!

Lavinia is a badass woman in her fifties who likes to booze it up and who once had a crush on her stepson. When her second husband, Chip, dies unexpectedly, Lavinia tells her grown children and friends that she is taking a cross-country road trip. While driving alone, she has a lot of time to think and to reassess her life. She ponders many things, such as wondering if she were ever a truly caring person. While on the road, she meets people who are really struggling financially. By marrying Chip, Lavinia came into wealth so on more than one occasion, she simply hands out the hundreds to these cash-strapped strangers so they can get out of their monetary binds. She has the money, so she figures, why not? I got teary-eyed during several of these exchanges!

Lavinia’s warmth also shines through in the scenes featuring her housekeeper, Alma, who had already been hired by Chip as his live-in housekeeper when Chip and Lavinia married. Some of my favorite parts of the book are of Lavinia and Alma hanging around the house, drinking wine together. Even though Lavinia is now technically Alma’s main boss, Lavinia still treats Alma like a human being first.

Even though “The Amendment” contains scenes of Lavinia being exceptionally caring and altruistic, the novel in no way paints a portrait of a perfect human being. Parrish has a particular talent for crafting very realistic, strong, female characters without trying to portray them as perfect angels. They are still flawed and have room to grow, but they are always survivors no matter what life throws at them. Lavinia deals with the pain of life through humor. We know there are tears behind the humor, and Parrish shows us this, but the humor in this book makes it such an enjoyable read that I couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend “The Amendment” for anyone looking for an entertaining read that also has an enormous amount of depth.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the short blurb I assumed that this would be sad and while it definitely had some reflective moments, it was ultimately a story of hope and resilience. I love being surprised by the contents of a book and this one definitely did that and more.

I love a quirky and unique heroine and Lavinia delivered a highly usual point of view, she’s not some delicate widow she’s a strong woman who is grieving in her own way and on her own terms, which I love! Even when her family and friends think she’s crazy for embarking on a road trip all alone with no solid plan she doesn’t care and just lives her best life. Her brand of humor was dry and a bit dark which I also love so being privy to her inner monologue was so entertaining to me. The entire style of this was drool and sardonic and written in a really matter of fact, straightforward and simple way. Easily a book you can fly through in one sitting and that was enjoyable from the first page to the last.

The Amendment in three words: Unusual, Amusing and Effortless.

[Irene Frances Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes great skill to write about serious matters while infusing prose with knock-out, catch-you-by-surprise humor; Anne Leigh Parrish does just that in The Amendment. I have read all of Ms. Parrish's books and each one has engaged me as a reader right from the start. During the first of her books, I started taking notes of each phrase that contained impressive word treatments but stopped doing so because I found myself writing more than reading - there were so many! Readers will resonate with The Amendment's Lavinia, a woman recently widowed who has a difficult time defining her grief but who knows her life's chapters have yet to be fully written. She is every woman and no one's woman all at the same time and readers will love her. What a privilege to have met Lavinia and all the women found within the pages of Ms. Parrish's works of art. I look forward to her next literary masterpiece.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book by Anne Leigh Parrish but after reading The Amendment, I plan to order some of her previous books. When I read the synopsis of this book, I was afraid that it was going to be a dark depressing book -- it was absolutely the opposite. The main character Lavania is a funny and sarcastic woman who can also be very introspective and extremely kind and caring.

When Lavania's second husband dies, she doesn't appear to be very sad over it. It didn't sound as if they had a great love but that he was someone comfortable for her to be with after the fiasco of her first marriage. To deal with his death, she decides to go on a road trip. Much to her children and her friends dismay, she sets off by herself heading west with no real plans in mind. Along the way she meets with people and ends up in situations that she has to take care of. Will this road trip teach her to be accepting of herself and the life she has created?

First off, I love books with older women as main characters. I get tired of reading about women in their 20s who haven't really faced life yet. Lavania is a great character - I laughed with her and even shed a few tears with her and she learned to navigate her new life as a widow.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

We first met Lavinia Dugan's family in Anne Leigh Parrish's fantastic book of linked stories Our Love Could Light the World.



We catch up with Lavinia in Anne Leigh Parrish's marvelous novel, The Amendment, where Lavinia now-Starkhurt has to deal with the sudden death of her older husband Chip, struck down by lightning on the golf course. Chip was Lavinia's second husband and generous stepfather to her five children.



Chip loved Lavinia, and Lavinia loved Chip, even if he didn't excite her as much as her ex-husband Potter. When she and Potter were married, he couldn't hold down a job and he drank too much. Chip owned his own company, where Lavinia worked before she married Chip, and provided a lifestyle for Lavinia that enabled her to lead a life of leisure.



After Chip's death, Lavinia decides to leave her Finger Lakes region home and take a road trip across the country. She needs to get away from Mel, Chip's golfing buddy who loves Lavinia, and Alma, Chip's housekeeper who adored Chip (but not Lavinia). After her daughter Angie's attempt to get Lavinia to participate in group grief therapy goes terribly awry (Lavinia says some very inappropriate things), Lavinia hops in her car and takes off.



Along her travels, Lavinia picks up random items as totems of a sort- a stuffed teddy bear, a thimble collection she finds at garage sale, and a vase for the fresh flowers she buys every day. She stays at small motels along the way that have a diner nearby.



She meets people on her journey, listens to their stories and tries to help them, which is unlike her. She gives rides to people who need her help: a woman who was abandoned by her boyfriend at the laundromat, a teenager on the run from his uncles.



Lavinia stays for awhile at the home of her ex-sister-in-law. Patty and her husband Murph take her in and Lavinia stays for a few weeks, working for a few hours at a flower shop, trying to get a volunteer job as a driver for social services (until a previous DUI is discovered), and even has an affair with a cowboy.



I found Lavinia to be a fascinating, multi-dimensional character. She reminded me a bit of Olive Kitteridge from Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize novel of the same name. She is prickly and speaks her mind whether people want to hear it or not. She wasn't the best mother, maybe not affectionate enough. She wasn't the best wife to Chip, realizing that she married two men who were afraid of her. Some people call her a "straight-shooter", and she describes herself as a bitch.



I powered through The Amendment, turning the pages furiously because I couldn't get enough of Lavinia. She is funny and fierce and truly one of the most interesting characters I have found in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed taking to the road with Lavinia and I highly recommend The Amendment.

[Kathy Mcmullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lavinia Starkhurst Dugan’s second husband Chip is dead. A lightning bolt struck him down on the golf course. Her oldest daughter Angie thinks she should join a grief group. Chip’s best friend Mel and golf buddy wants to put a ring on Lavinia’s finger. Her housekeeper Alma thinks she’s hitting the wine too much. Her ex-husband Potter is fretting about her, too. But Lavinia doesn’t have time for grief groups or navel-gazing. Her five kids are grown and no longer need her guiding hand. Chip left her financially secure.
She’ll do grief her own way. She’s not even fifty yet. It’s time to see what see what life’s like on her own: without kids, husband, husband’s best friend, ex-husband or her housekeeper Alma.
With a suitcase full of silk jumpsuits, a box of thimbles, a stack of an unknown family’s photographs, a vase in which she daily sets new bouquets, and a pink stuffed bear riding shotgun, Lavinia heads out on a cross-country road trip. Destination: Pacific. She wants to feel those cold waters between her toes. Lavinia is a feisty woman of action, diving into life head first.
Tuck The Amendment by Anne Leigh Parrish into your carry-on this summer or read it on your stay-cation. Whatever you do, read it! You’ll be glad you did.

[Karen_RunwrightReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here: https://wp.me/p4cJzL-3Qe

Anne Leigh Parrish took a difficult subject and a relatable but unlikable character and spun a engaging page-turner that was a quick read but also a thoughtful personality study. The witty inclusions broke up the narrative with what was always an unexpected but welcome surprise, the quick scene changes, rapid fire dialogue and an assortment of colorful characters, all of whom receive some substantial development so they all felt multi-dimensional, reading The Amendment like a bit like watching a good movie.

[Michelle Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written story about a new widow's struggle to wrap her mind around her husband's death by setting off on a cross-country journey in search of she knows not what. Parrish's prose is eloquent yet crisp, moving the story along quickly. A delightful must-read, sure to take it's place among today's top literary fiction.

[Sarah Obsesses over Books & Cookies · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Starts. So loving this author. When I read her short story collection, Our Love Could Light The World, I was pulled in to the Dugan Family and their realistic scenarios and the authors light touch of chaos and mood with levity. Honestly I only picked it up when I learned that it was loosely connected stories so it reads more like novel and I'm so glad I did. This book is a follow up in an actual novel format. It follows Lavinia, the mother who took off to marry her boss leaving her kids and addled husband Potter, and how she deals with the death of her second husband who strongly got struck by lightning. (this happens literally in the first paragraph). Even if the premise doesn't intrigue you just know that if you like character driven stories this is your girl to follow. The way Parrish writes is just a lull that pulls you in. Her characters are reasonable and cheeky and smart but also strange and absurd. They all have flaws (cuz duh) and they all have hearts which makes you root for them and wanting to see what they think or are up to next----which is awesome since there's another book coming out his October called Maggie's Ruse which follows one of Lavinia's children (one of the twins) and even though Maggie wasn't a main character in the short story collection or the Amendment I'm so very curious to see what it will be about this coming fall.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4🌟 for this story about a women’s cross country road trip following the unexpected death of her second husband. We travel along with her as she processes her surroundings, her grief, relationships with her ex, children, and friends, and her interactions with the people she meets along the way. She was a strong, interesting and engaging character. 3 📚/2019

[Laurie House · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were many unexpected twists and turns!

[Debi Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love being a BookSparks BookSharks because every now and again, they have Pop Up Blog Tours where they randomly offer a book for us to read and review. They often throw in with some other extras thrown in for our extra-curricular social media sharing.

The Amendment is about a pretty tough lady named Lavinia Starkhurst.  She's a 50 something woman who suddenly becomes widowed when her second husband, Chip, is struck by lightning on a golf course and dies.  Lavinia tries to find a new purpose for her life so she takes off on an open road trip where she meets a number of quirky strangers, all with struggles of their own. 

While driving alone, Lavinia has a lot of time to ponder many things and reassess her life. I try not to write spoilers, and to tell you much more of the plot of The Amendment would break my rule. I will divulge that protagonist, Lavinia, is a fun and witty character with a sharp tongue. The characters were very developed so that I felt well acquainted with them throughout the story.

You'll just need to pick up a copy of this book so you can enjoy this great story too. I love how this author writes short chapters - it increases the chances of me reading way too much of the book, staying up way too late, and powering through a book cover to cover - exactly what happened in this case!

I received a complimentary paperback copy of this book from the publishers as part of a Pop Up Blog Tour from BookSparks in exchange for this post.  A positive review was not required.

[Corinne B · Rating 3 out of 5]

As soon as I heard that Anne wrote a new book, I just had to get my hands on it! Thank you to the publisher for sending me The Amendment! I absolutely loved Women Within by Anne and so I was excited for this one. This book follows Lavina, who tragically finds out her husband died suddenly. To cope, she decides to drop everything and take herself on a road trip. Along they way, she reflects on the happy and less than happy times of her marriage and tries to determine how to move on. This is the classic “journey” novel, where the character is both embarking on a physical journey and an emotional one. If you are drawn to self discovery books, I think you would enjoy this one! I loved Lavina’s character development and following along on her journey. I felt a bit underwhelmed at times, which is why I am giving this book 3 stars.

[Jodi Paloni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Anne Leigh Parrish delivers with her new novel, The Amendment. With humor and concision, she explores topics of humanity that takes her readers beyond the ordinary experience of fiction, exploring the breadth and depth of her character(s) on the soul level. Also, as to be expected in a Parrish novel, readers are introduced to unexpected alliances found in unique and peculiar situations. It's once again, a rollicking ride, a heroine's journey, that shows us a cycle of grief and will surely trigger in us, in the best possible ways, the purpose of experiencing loss on the path to everyday love and enlightenment.

[Linda Spyhalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book! A woman's second husband passes away after being struck by lightening playing golf. To help her cope she takes a month long trip across the country. The book is sad with the loss of her husband and then takes a turn as she travels. The pain of her loss is in full view but some of her encounters are so funny! The old adage you can always find someone worse off than you are is so true!

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I expected to like this book. I did not. It was disorganized, characters were hard to follow, dialogue was insincere and unauthentic, and I found nothing hilarious about the book. Sorry, but it was a major disappointment to me.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a moment here and there, some clever lines and the odd funny, but ultimately a little disappointing.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A road trip taken after the sudden loss of Lavinia’s husband, turns out to be a search for the meaning in her life. She’s a quirky, outspoken character and it was fun to take this journey with her.

[Lori Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review to come with the blog tour!

[Jim Thomsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grief has many faces, and THE AMENDMENT offers a fresh one for our inspection — what do you feel, and what do you do, when the spouse you liked, and more or less loved in a completely complacent way, dies suddenly?

Lavinia Starkhurst, in her early fifties, find herself without a compass for how to display herself in public or pass the time in private in the days and weeks after her husband, Chip, is struck by lightning on a golf course. Lavinia takes the seemingly easy way out in the form of a sloppily planned road trip west across America, but author Anne Leigh Parrish, despite her fine touch for the puckish picaresque, knows there's nowhere to run from messy interiority that demands some form of orderly processing.

But the light touch is welcome here, as Lavinia deals with family and friends back home who mean well but can't quite dial into her private frequency, and deals with an endearing assortment of oddballs on the road, and ultimately, deals with the big question: What do I do next? The author is too smart to settle for pat answers, but too generous of heart to not poke relentlessly at their edges.

THE AMENDMENT is the rare novel that has it both ways, every which way, and ultimately concludes that the best way to deal with loss is to say, "Screw it all." For a while, anyway. And while we may not always relate to how she processes her husband's loss, we can always relate to the screw-it-all impulse, and that makes THE AMENDMENT a fun novel with lightly layered depths for everyone.

[Shanna Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story of coming in to your own at middle age.
Lavinia goes on a quest to find herself after her second husband dies. The story is wonderful and has a great flow.
Narration by Robin Shrock was excellent.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Radhika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. I suppose it's a sort of a 2nd/3rd act coming-of-age type story. It held my interest enough that it was a quick read and I never got bored but I didn't get much out of it.

[Robert Crooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another marvelous chapter in Anne Leigh Parrish's Dugan family saga, set in Dunston, NY, which is her fictionalized version of Ithaca. The Amendment was the first of her books that I had the opportunity to read, and it made me an instant admirer of her comically irreverent, heartbreakingly truthful fiction. There's a deep compassion and understanding of human nature in her books. Her work is highly rewarding and highly recommended.