Fabulous Fiction First #593 “Death never comes at the right time, despite what mortals believe. Death always comes like a thief.” ~ Christopher Pike

Sun, 04/17/2016 - 7:17pm by muffy

The A to Z of You and Me by debut author James Hannah will quickly bring to mind Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Ah, a tearjerker to be sure, but surprisingly beautiful and unflinchingly honest about the "raw unraveling of a life lived loud and hard."

Ivo, a 40 year-old diabetic with kidney failure, plans to spend his last days in hospice care quietly, and on his own terms. Having withdrawn from friends, and estranged from his sister Laura, lethargy takes over, if not for Sheila, his spunky and take-no-prisoners nurse.

At her urging, he plays the A to Z game - listing parts of his body from A to Z, and a memory associated with each: the terrible choices of his youth, friendships made and cracked, especially those of Mia, the love of his life.

For readers who enjoyed Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and its follow-up The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

Just-released is Charles Bock's Alice & Oliver * *, drawn from this award-winning author's (Beautiful Children, 2008) own experience. Listen to his interview with Terry Gross on NPR, where he talked about the devastating period in his life that eventually inspired this heart-breaking, page-turning, life-affirming novel about love, marriage, family, and fighting for your life.

* * = 2 starred reviews