Death & Other Happy Endings
Without doubt, this brilliant debut novel should be at the top of your summer reading list.
I was instantly drawn into the story of Jennifer who, at 43, is given the terrible news she has three months to live. But it is not all sadness and tears – in fact, this story is full of life and hope.
You go on a roller coaster ride with Jennifer as she confronts her mortality, and you’ll find yourself cheering when she makes her choice of how to spend her final days – deciding to write to all the important people in her life who’ve let her down or hurt her, and finally telling them everything she wishes she’d said but never dared.
It makes you take a good, hard look at your own life – not just from the perspective of what you would do if you knew you were dying, but how you’ve dealt with the important relationships in your life. Jennifer’s development
over the course of her journey is both moving and hilarious, as she grows stronger in her ability to stand up for herself.
There were passages where I actually laughed out loud, particularly when immersed in the relationship with her sister Isabelle, which has the resonance of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s
Fleabag – both amusing and troubling. The author has a knack of getting to the nub of relationships, revealing why we do the crazy things we do when it comes to love.
You’ll want to have a highlighter pen to mark up all the brilliant things she says. A rollicking pageturner, this book is perfect for summer.