Author: Mameve Medwed
Genre: General Fiction/Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Alcove Press
Publication Date: January 12, 2021
Book Description: Her life turned upside down by a grim diagnosis, a small-town Maine woman sets about writing a “How To” life manual for her handsome yet hapless husband in a novel Elinor Lipman (Good Riddance, On Turpentine Lane) calls “smart, funny-quirky, and so very satisfying.”
Annie and her devoted but comically incompetent childhood sweetheart Sam are the owners and operators of Annie’s, a gourmet sandwich shop, home to the legendary Paul Bunyan Special Sandwich–their “nutritionally challenged continual source of income and marital harmony and local fame.”
But into their mostly charmed marriage comes the scary medical diagnosis for Annie–and the overwhelming challenge of finding a way to help Sam go on without her. Annie decides to leave Sam step-by-step instructions for a future without her, and considers her own replacement in his heart and their bed.Her best-laid plans grind to a halt with the unexpected appearance of Ursula, Annie’s Manhattan diva of a mother, who brings her own brand of chaos and disruption into their lives.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Review: Medwed brings us a thoughtful and yet at times comical look, into a women who fears the worst when she gets test results back from her doctor.
Annie is very happily married, but when she believes she is dying, she starts to prepare for her husband to be on his own writing a manual for him. However, through this process she has yet to share the news with her family and friends. You can imagine she makes unwise choices.
This story breaks down many relationships, marital, parent/child, and her closest of friends. As you might think that with deception there is much mis-communication which is what can be funny, but yet frustrating at times for the reader.
I really enjoyed this book, much more than I expected. When I started reading, I thought wow, this is going to be sad, however, this was truly heartwarming and Medwed really focuses on what matters most in life and it is nothing tangible.
Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 