May 15, 2016
Hospice care brings unlikely characters together in this emotional novel from Coleman (The Day We Met, 2015, etc.). Stella is a hospice nurse who works the night shift as a way of avoiding her husband, an injured Afghanistan veteran. Although Vincent survived, he came home with an injury and an emotional wall that Stella can't quite scale. With their marriage in trouble, Stella throws herself into her work, which includes helping dying patients write letters to their loved ones. One of Stella's patients, Hope, isn't dying...at least not right now. She's a cystic fibrosis patient who's recuperating from a particularly bad infection, and she's almost ready to go home and get back to her life. Or at least she would be, if Hope could get the courage to actually have a life. And then there's Hugh, a lonely bachelor who's drawn to the single mother next door. At first, the only thing that unites Hugh with the women in the hospice is the cat that spends its days at his apartment and its nights with the patients. That is, until an unexpected letter changes Hugh's life in a way he never imagined and connects him to Stella. Stella's struggle to save her marriage, Hope's journey toward taking chances and falling in love, and Hugh's battle with his past are all interspersed with touching letters from hospice patients. The setting may seem an unlikely place to find hope, but Coleman has written a poignant story that examines the value of life, love, and forgiveness. A tear-jerking but ultimately uplifting story.
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June 1, 2016
A young woman with cystic fibrosis, a hospice nurse, and a lonely museum curator seek to give their lives meaning and find second chances and work through their obstacles in modern-day Great Britain. Nurse Stella tries to save her marriage after her husband returns home wounded from Afghanistan, Hugh embraces new relationships, and 21-year-old Hope opens herself up to love for the first time. Told from the revolving points of view of these three characters whose lives intersect, this latest from Coleman (The Day We Met) has a light, romantic chick-lit feel. Even as the three face death and ruminate on their own mortality, they are mostly occupied with the pursuit of significant relationships and romance. Despite occasionally sounding like motivational speakers and stalling the narrative's action to deliver heartfelt monologs, they are pleasant people whom readers will root for. Between chapters are letters from patients to their loved ones, adding unnecessary clutter (and work for readers to figure out who is writing to whom). VERDICT Fans of Jojo Moyes's books and of other stubbornly optimistic romances will enjoy this skillfully composed, endearing tale.--Sonia Reppe, Stickney-Forest View P.L., IL
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Starred review from July 1, 2016
Three very different lives are examined in this moving story of heartache and joy during life's most difficult moments. Nurse Stella Carey loves her job working the night shift at a local hospice. She spends quiet time with patients and their families and gets some respite from her troubled home life, which includes her veteran husband, Vincent, and his difficulty recovering from wounds sustained in Afghanistan. Stella writes last letters for patients to send to their loved ones, which she normally mails after the patient's death. But her decision to send her latest letter as soon as possible will have life-altering consequences. Hope is a patient with cystic fibrosis recuperating from an infection, who learns to live with uncertainty with the help of her best friend, Ben. And Hugh, a historian with no interest in living in the present, learns to embrace life after meeting his new neighbor, Sarah. Coleman (The Day We Met, 2015) uses several voices and perspectives to turn a potentially dark story into one filled with light. Fans of Jojo Moyes will love this beautifully written, deeply engaging novel that understands death and celebrates life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)