It’s fall, my fabulous friends! It’s finally fall! As my most celebrated, beloved, favorite-est time descends upon us, I have begun to collect some wonderful stories to share with you that will (I hope) get you through this cozy preview of the impending winter months.
I am lucky to have a helping hand during this ridiculously busy time of work, potty training (yes, butt-wiping takes time and energy. How would YOU like to repeatedly yelp “Touch your toes! “No, touch your TOES, not your nose. Not your elbows. Not the dog’s dew claw – YOUR TOES!”), school and newly wedded-status. My fabulous boss, who will henceforth only be known as ‘Toots’, to protect her identity, has been helping me read. Yes, I am sorry to admit that I developed “alcohol induced dyslexia” and now require assistance with sounding out most of my consonants.
Joke. I’m so busy that Toots has been pre-reading books for me and suggesting the ones that are actually worth reading, which I then read myself and offer to you. It’s a win-win-win sitch.
Today’s selection, The Art of Saying Goodbye, comes with a precious recommendation which was hastily scribbled on the novel and placed on my desk: “Loved every minute. A must-read. Fantastic ending.” How could I not be interested after that? I was not disappointed. Ellyn Bache has drawn an assortment of rich characters that will appeal to the young and young-at-heart reader alike:
Paisley, the liveliest and most amicable of their clan, was the bonding agent that held the assorted neighbors together. With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Terrace, you might not think them to be particularly similar. There’s Julianne, Ginger, Iona, and Paisley, all from different walks of life, who still come together when unspeakable tragedy strikes. When their glowing leader falls terminally ill with cancer, it’s up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and stoically accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has demonstrated all her life, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they’ve ever known. Over the course of three short months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nary a soul unchanged.
I laughed, cried in my soup and jumped for joy in the bathtub in tandem while reading this book. There’s one adjective that stands apart from the rest when describing this novel: adorable. I loved it and so will your cat.
