By Kavita Mistry
by Cathryn Conroy (Dublin, Ohio): This is a novel about a beloved friend dying in hospice. And…are you ready?…it’s hilarious. Yes, it’s incredibly sad, but author Catherine Newman is able to find the funny without being sacrilegious about death and dying.
Edith is married to Jude and they have one precious little boy named Dash. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer, and her physician says it’s time for hospice. Edi, Jude, and Dash live in New York City, while Edi’s BFF for life, Ashley—they first became besties in preschool—lives in Western Massachusetts. For a number of reasons, Jude and Ash decide the best place for Edi to be in hospice is near Ash so she can be with her almost 24/7 and 7-year-old Dash will not have to endure the trauma of watching his mama die. So that’s what they do. Edi moves into a hospice facility named Shapely where there are resident dogs, a resident singer, a palliative care physician they call Dr. Soprano because he resembles James Gandolfini, and many caring nurses. Except for the dying part, it’s perfect.
Meanwhile, Ash’s life is a mess. She and her husband, Honey (yes, that’s his name), have separated, but they’re still in love. Ash is having sex with two men (Edi’s brother Jonah and Dr. Soprano), as well as a woman. Her older daughter, Jules, is in college studying engineering, while the younger daughter, Belle, is in high school—except she is skipping school almost every day. Ash’s life may be a shambles, but it’s grounded in love.
It’s winter. It’s snowing. And Ash is grieving and laughing and remembering and, most of all, not wanting to let Edi go.
More than anything else, this is a love letter to those deeply abiding friendships between women, a loving embrace to losing a loved one, and a profound statement about the joy of living. There are also many wise words about death, dying, and grieving and what it feels like to be survivor.
Reading this book is as comforting as a hug, especially because it will make you laugh out loud—a lot.