What We're Reading: Kathryn

Hello Goodbye by Emily Chenoweth
This beautiful story looks at death and its affect on family and friends with a clear and steady gaze, not one mucked up by contrived sentimentality. Helen Hansen has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, but her husband, Elliot, has not yet told her or their daughter, Abby, of the short time she has left. They embark on a week's vacation at a luxury hotel/resort in New Hampshire for one last family vacation and a celebration of the couple's 20th wedding anniversary. The real beauty of the book lies in witnessing from each of the characters' perspectives the emotions behind friendship, love, illness, grief and death; Chenoweth's writing resonates because her observations of these are unflinching and real.
Most touching for me was the mother/daughter relationship and Abby's memories of her mom, like the way she used to lay in bed next to her to comfort her when she was a child. Readers get to see the juxtaposition of Helen's life ending and Abby, a college freshman, blossoming into adulthood. This is Chenoweth's first book; I'll be watching for more!