A Best in Fiction Book for 2023 Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with
wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is
nothing short of poetry. She's a writer's writer-and a human's human.-New York Times
bestselling author Katherine Center A riotously funny and fiercely loyal love letter to female
friendship. The story of Edi and Ash proves that a best friend is a gift from the gods. Newman
turns her prodigious talents toward finding joy even in the friendship's final days. I laughed
while crying and was left revived. Newman is a comic masterhand and a dazzling philosopher of
the day-to-day.-Amity Gaige author of Sea Wife The funniest most joyful book about dying-and
living-that I have ever read.-KJ Dell'Antonia author of the New York Times bestselling The
Chicken Sisters For lovers of Meg Wolitzer Maria Semple and Jenny Offill comes this raucous
poignant celebration of life love and friendship at its imperfect and radiant best. Edith and
Ashley have been best friends for over forty-two years. They've shared the mundane and the
momentous together: trick or treating and binge drinking Gilligan's Island reruns and REM
concerts hickeys and heartbreak surprise Scottish wakes marriages infertility and
children. As Ash says Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine. But now the
unthinkable has happened. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and spending her last days at a
hospice near Ash who stumbles into heartbreak surrounded by her daughters ex(ish) husband
dear friends a poorly chosen lover (or two) and a rotating cast of beautifully fleetingly
human hospice characters. As The Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack blasts all day long from the
room next door Edi and Ash reminisce hold on and try to let go. Meanwhile Ash struggles
with being an imperfect friend wife and parent-with life in other words distilled to its
heartbreaking joyful and comedic essence. For anyone who's ever lost a friend or had one. Get
ready to laugh through your tears.
