NEW RELEASE
Five Days Left - Julie Lawson Timmer (2014)
Mara and Scott are each facing a five-day countdown, but in very different circumstances. For Mara, successful lawyer, wife and mother, she has five days before she takes her own life in defiance of a disease that will eventually shut down her body and leave her as a burden on her husband Tom and adopted daughter Lakshmi. For Scott, he has five days before his foster son, Curtis, is taken out of his care and moves back in with his mother who's been in prison for a year. Five days in which he's desperate to make the most of their time together and try to stave off the heartbreak that's destroying him. For both, five days isn't enough, but at the same time it's a blessing. So first things first before I gush, a caveat, if you like your books escapist, funny and uplifting, this one is likely not for you, not that I would not try to persuade you to read it anyway, but it is unavoidably and unapologetically maudlin and upsetting. Now that I've done the disclaimer, let me get on to the plaudits, of which there are many. This is truly an amazing read and one of my books of the year. It's an exquisite debut, from Timmer's assured writing, emotional authenticity, brave subject matter, detailed characterisation to her exquisite plotting. It's unusual for a book to set up its dramatic climax and emotional imperative in the opening pages, but from the very title that's exactly what Timmer does and what a read because of it. Despite its difficult subject matter, Timmer doesn't shy away from showing it in all its grim, harrowing, uncompromising light and for doing so infuses her novel with an integrity and authenticity that brings out the dilemmas of her characters. And in establishing from the outset the tenor and direction of the novel, Timmer takes the reader on an emotional journey that is not about one final climax but the cumulative moments along the way, breaking your heart piece by piece. If I'm nitpicking, I'd have to say that I wasn't entirely convinced about the intersection of the two plots, I would have preferred Mara and Scott's stories to have been more equally proportioned, and that Laurie was quite hard to like, but whether that's down to her pregnancy hormones or Scott's unparalleled virtue in the final chapters it's somewhat undone. But really this all fades into insignificance in the larger scheme of things in what is a genuinely powerful and memorable novel. (JC)
