A woman novelist, never named, learns that an old friend has terminal cancer. The friend, a former professor and also unnamed, decides to forgo further treatment and asks the narrator to come with her on a trip. The two spend their time in a rented house, talking about illness, books, pets, strangers and the world as it seems to be ending. Nunez builds the novel from conversation, observation and fragments, with a pandemic background that adds to its quiet unease.
It is for readers who like short, spare, thoughtful fiction about friendship and mortality. Expect no tidy plot, but a sharp, humane look at what it means to keep another person company near the end. It is a quick, reflective read.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2020
- Language
- EN
