The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Joyce, Maynard. Count the Ways. William Morrow, July 13, 2021. Kindle.

In the fictional novel Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard, twenty-year-old Eleanor believed that if she bought a house, the family and happy home she envisioned would come. Three years after she bought the old Murchison homestead, she met Cam. After a whirlwind courtship, Eleanor suddenly had the family she desired. Then, things started to fall apart.

As a child, Eleanor’s parents were distant alcoholics who often fought violently. Eleanor swore to herself she would make a different kind of life for her children. Though she tried to do everything right, there were still situations Eleanor could not control. Her youngest child was injured as a result of Cam’s negligence. After Cam had an affair with the girl who once babysat their children, he decided he wanted to end the marriage.

Eleanor believed she was doing what was best for her family when she moved away from the farm she purchased so her children could keep their home with their father. The children did not know about the affair and believed Eleanor was at fault for the divorce because she was the one who moved away. Eleanor gave Cam several years to buy out her portion of the farm. Since he did not have a good job, she knew he would not be able to come up with the money needed. Instead of making her children leave their home, Eleanor signed her portion of the farm to Cam.

Eleanor’s children continued to drift further away from her. She saw them when she could, but she sensed they were guarded when in her presence. Surprisingly, she developed a close relationship with the son born to Cam and his second wife when the son asked to live with her in Brookline.

Alison, Eleanor’s oldest daughter, went overseas for a sex change. She explained to her mother she would not be seeing her for a while because she needed time away from family to determine who she really was. Ursula, the middle child, told Eleanor she wanted nothing more to do with her Eleanor tried to tell her that it was Cam’s affair that ended their marriage. Toby, who had been changed forever when he almost drowned, still loved his mother; but, he preferred to be on the farm in familiar surroundings.

The next time Eleanor saw all of her children together was at the wedding of Al, formerly Alison, and Teresa. The wedding took place on the same farm where Cam and Eleanor were married and lived. A lightning strike just after the wedding split the centuries-old ash tree that stood beside the house where they had lived together as a family. The falling tree demolished the house, symbolic of the divorce years earlier.

Instead of mourning the loss of the house, the family chose to celebrate the new addition. When Eleanor talked to Cam later, he admitted he had terminal cancer. His second wife had left him for another man years earlier. In the final scene of the novel, Eleanor suggested to Cam that she could move back into the house and take care of him during the final days of his life.