The best word I can think of to describe this book is “quirky.” I went into it thinking it would be depressing, describing a woman with dementia and her husband’s decision to end both her life in his. However, nothing goes as planned for Guy Pickering in his attempt to put an end to Dorothy’s discomfort. A series of off-the-wall events takes place, each thwarting his plans.
The book also jumps back and forth in history – from the day that Guy and Dorothy met to their late teens/early 20’s. However, the book fails to really tell their love story once they got together.
And then, probably the most strange piece of this novel … sometimes, inanimate objects have thoughts/feelings on what is happening in the book. Guy’s car, for instance, and the airplane. The cat has one brief paragraph. Other random characters are thrown in, and didn’t seem central to the story, so I largely ignored them.
Mostly, I read to the end to find out if Guy was successful in his quest. I won’t give anything away here, but I would say that the book wraps up nicely and on a hopeful note.
Author John Grayson Heide certainly has an interesting point of view, and was able to provide a light-hearted take on a very difficult topic, so kudos to him for that!