Daphne’s mother was a teacher and left her daughter a high school yearbook from the class of 1968, one in which she had scribbled numerous notes about the students as she attended their reunions over the years. In a decluttering session to find what sparks joy, Daphne throws out the yearbook. But another resident of her New York apartment, Geneva, reclaims it from the recycling bin and announces that she plans to film a documentary about Daphne’s late mother and the yearbook.
This is a funny story of a woman trying to stop her mother’s life being pried into and stumbling across some secrets on her own. The author has a unique voice with a snarky tone and was working with a great concept, however the plot meandered a bit in the second half.
One woman's trash becomes another woman's treasure in Elinor Lipman's latest novel, Good Riddance.
The summary says: "Daphne Maritch doesn't quite know what to make of the heavily annotated high school yearbook she inherits from her mother, who held this relic dear. Too dear.
The late June Maritch was the teacher to whom the class of '68 had dedicated its yearbook, and in turn she went on to attend every reunion, scribbling notes and observations after each one - not always charitably. And was there some kind of short-hand code to be deciphered?
In a fit of decluttering, Daphne discards the yearbook when she moves to a small New York City apartment. But when it's found in the recycling bin by a busybody/ neighbour/ documentary filmmaker, the yearbook's mysteries - not to mention her own family's - take on a whole new urgency." Good Riddance is out in February 2019.