Review by Booklist Review
Ashley's best friend, Edi, is dying. They've been close since their childhoods in New York City, practically sharing one mind. Edi's ovarian cancer has taken a turn for the worse, so she enters hospice in the Connecticut suburbs near Ash. As Ash watches her friend deteriorate, she struggles to reimagine her life without Edi. Ash moons over her ex, the father of her children, while also sleeping with several others in her inner circle. She works to keep Edi as comfortable as possible while coming to terms with her upcoming loss. The management of death is messy and unrelenting, and Ash finds herself at a crossroads, unable to choose a path. Newman, who has written essays and nonfiction for all ages, was profoundly transformed by her own experience of losing her best friend. She brings Ash to life through a voice that is both hilarious and filled with crushing sadness, but the ultimate message is that of hope. A crossover readalike for fans of death memoirs such as those by Paul Kalanithi and Nora McInerny.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Newman rsquo;s moving adult debut (after the kids & rsquo guide What Can I Say?) explores a lifelong friendship between two women, one of whom is dying. Set primarily in a hospice where Edi is dying of ovarian cancer, the story shifts between past and present to show the depth of Edi rsquos lifelong bond with Ash&mdash the childhood missteps, the joys, the Bowie concerts, and their &l dquo absolute dependability & rdquo for each other, as Ash puts it. When Edi receives her terminal prognosis, Ash becomes her primary bedside companion. But this isn & rsquot just a harrowing depiction of the heartbreak and indignity of Edi & rsquos decline, it &r squos also about Ash, who stumbles through her disintegrating marriage, contends with her daughter&rsquos refusal to go to school, and takes a series of lovers. Ash also details the moments--at turns hilarious and sad--that make up her friendship, calling Edi & rsquos memories a & ldquoback up hard drive & rdquo for her own. Here and throughout, Newman does a wonderful job channeling Ash's sense of impending loss. Ash also keeps up a steady stream of wickedly wry observations, such as her description of a group of children who visit Edi's bedside to play their recorders, & dquo;stand in a nervous semicircle, clutching their terrible instruments.& rdquo Newman breathes ample life into this exquisite story of death and dying. (Nov.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman takes care of her dying best friend while handling her own messy life. Edith and Ashley have been best friends for most of their lives. They've been there for each other during their greatest joys and struggles--marriages, infertility, and raising children. Now, though, Ash has to support Edi through their greatest, most heartbreaking challenge yet--Edi's death. When Edi's ovarian cancer progresses to the point that treatment is no longer an option, they decide she should stay at a hospice near Ash's home in Massachusetts, leaving Edi's husband and young son back in Brooklyn. Ash spends most of her time in Edi's hospice room, bringing Edi the food she requests, talking to the nurses, and handling an environment that is both horrifically bleak and hilariously odd--Fiddler on the Roof blares from one resident's room every afternoon, as if it's the soundtrack to everyone's death. But as Ash takes care of Edi, she also has her own chaotic life to worry about. She has two lovely, nearly grown daughters whom she adores. She has a complicated relationship with her ex-husband, whom she never technically divorced and who spends most of his time at her house. And she's sleeping with several people who are either on Edi's care team or in Edi's family, which leads to some awkward situations. Ash makes for a unique and easy-to-love narrator, one who jokes about her own self-centeredness even as she devotes her time to helping her best friend. Newman is frank about the physical reality of cancer and explicitly shows how grueling it can be to care for a friend while watching them die--there are falls and tears, leaking tubes that soak Edi in bile, and gradual changes to Edi's appearance and mental state as the end draws nearer. As Ash says, "It's monstrous. It is too much to take. Why do we even do this--love anybody? Our dumb animal hearts." But Newman is also open and honest about how joy can commingle with grief and how happiness and gratitude can coexist with sorrow: "Life is just seesawing between the gorgeous and the menacing--like when you go for a run and one minute the whole neighborhood is lilacs in purple bloom, and then the next it's stained boxer shorts and an inside-out latex glove." Newman perfectly captures the beauty and burden of caring for someone in their final moments while showing the gift of Edi and Ash's once-in-a-lifetime friendship. A warm and remarkably funny book about death and caregiving that will make readers laugh through their tears. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
