This fourth book about the four septuagenarian members of the Thursday Murder Club has the usual crime mystery elements, notably missing heroin and multiple murders. What distinguishes this novel is the emotional content, not just reflections on aging but on dementia and death. Funny, moving and suspenseful, a delicious read.
Category: aging
Should We Stay Or Should We Go – Lionel Shriver
In 1991 at the age of 51, Cyril and Kay make a pact: to avoid the ravages of old age, they will jointly commit suicide at age 80. Now in March 2020, it is decision time. Ms. Shriver thoughtfully and comprehensively provides 12 possible outcomes. What if one opts out? What if cryogenics delivers then into a future strange new world? As usual, Shriver addresses serious themes with characteristic scenarios that may be touching but often hilarious, with contemporary issues like Brexit and the pandemic. Highly recommended.
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry – Fredrik Backman
Elsa is a precocious almost 8-year-old who is perceived as different and thus bullied at school. Thankfully, she has a very close relationship with her 77-year-old grandmother who tells her mythical stories about the Land-of-Almost-Awake. When Elsa’s grandmother dies, Elsa receives a series of apology letters that she is directed to deliver, and so Elsa learns about her grandmother’s incredible back story. This is a brilliant book about life and death, with inspired comic moments and deeply sentimental sad situations, so both laughs and tears abound.
Exit – Belinda Bauer
Felix, a 75-year-old widower in SW England, is an Exiter, someone who offers companionship to terminally ill people who have chosen to die by suicide. His role is entirely passive, to lend moral support and then remove the evidence to not distress family and loved ones. But this act of kindness and charity goes off the rails with a terrible mistake when the wrong person dies. But what if this fatal mistake was a set-up to enable a murder? A wondaful treatise on aging with some seriously funny moments.
What David Read 