The Art of Saying Goodbye...Review

About the book:
She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.

With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There’s Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisley, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it’s up to these women to do what Paisley has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisley has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they’ve ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

Sometimes I hit a wave of books that I just don't connect with.  Perhaps it's me and the circumstances of my life at the time, perhaps it's the books.  The Art of Saying Goodbye was another disappointment to me.

I normally enjoy books that explore the friendships of women.  I thought the author did a good job capturing some of the intricacies and feelings of each of these women as Paisley's cancer diagnosis causes them to evaluate their lives and relationships.  The book's point of view/narration moves from woman to woman, alternating with Paisley's first-person narrative.  And, unfortunately, I was never able to connect with any of them and found the whole thing rather shallow. I never felt that there was a true bond of friendship between them.  With an exception or two, they all seemed more like acquaintances who happened to live in the same neighborhood and while they genuinely cared about each other they were not true bosom girlfriends.

This is one novel, however, that I can book clubs enjoying. Some readers will want to know that there is incidental profanity and sex.  Mine is not the only review and you can see other, more positive reviews at some of the blogs listed below.

Thanks to Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Ellyn Bache here.  You can purchase your own copy here.  You can see other reviews and tour stops here.

Tuesday, June 14th: Reviews from the Heart
Monday, June 20th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Wednesday, June 22nd: Bookstack
Monday, June 27th: StephTheBookworm
Tuesday, June 28th: I’m Booking It
Wednesday, June 29th: Crazy for Books
Thursday, June 30th: Jenn’s Bookshelves
Tuesday, July 5th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner
Wednesday, July 6th: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Date TBD: Colloquium

Read 7/11

* *
2/5 Stars

Comments

  1. Sorry this didn't work for you. I still plan to read it since the author is local for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry this turned out to be the latest in a string of not-so-good reads for you. Hopefully you can break that streak soon!

    Thanks for being on the tour.

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