Suddenly

A phone call in the night, an unexpected diagnosis, a shocking revelation - suddenly life can change forever.

It s been here, in this bedroom, with Jack and without him, that she has found her only privacy. But now she s surrounded, day and night, by care.

Yesterday she told Colleen and Jude that her dying has changed people more than anything else she can think of, and she watched their fixed smiles as it dawned on them that this is what she wants. She wants them to keep up with her. What she is finally beginning to understand is that all those years of talk, the pleasure of idiocy, the bouts of worry, the complaints, the humouring of memory, even the offhand, underdone affection, these are the least of it. The best of it is being known. Known over time.'

“"With believable characters and a heartwarming message, this story about families, the ones we're born with and the ones we choose, is a deeply moving, thought-provoking read." Booklist”

'Extremely moving and perversely uplifting - THE TIMES

'The writing is never less than lyrical - SUNDAY TIMES

** 'It is the first time I have read something so intense and detailed about the slow, painful, physical decline of the body . . . this is a poignant novel and not easy to leave behind. - Susan Hill, THE LADY

BONNIE BURNARD is the winner of the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Marian Engel Award. Her first novel, A GOOD HOUSE, was published in 15 countries

A phone call in the night, an unexpected diagnosis, a shocking revelation - suddenly life can change forever.It s been here, in this bedroom, with Jack and without him, that she has found her only privacy. But now she s surrounded, day and night, by care.Yesterday she told Colleen and Jude that her dying has changed people more than anything else she can think of, and she watched their fixed smiles as it dawned on them that this is what she wants. She wants them to keep up with her. What she is finally beginning to understand is that all those years of talk, the pleasure of idiocy, the bouts of worry, the complaints, the humouring of memory, even the offhand, underdone affection, these are the least of it. The best of it is being known. Known over time.'

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