shirleytupperfreeman 's review for:

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

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A friend recommended this memoir and I loved it. Will Schwalbe was a harried publisher when his seventy-something mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Mary Anne Schwalbe was an original super-woman. During her life, she was a college counselor, head of a high school, director of admissions at Harvard, founding director of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, world traveler especially on behalf of refugees, wife, mother of three and avid reader. At the time of her diagnosis, she was heavily involved in a project to build libraries in Afghanistan. Will and his father and siblings took turns attending doctor's appointments and chemotherapy sessions with Mary Anne. During those sessions, Will and his Mom began discussing the books they were reading. From there grew a two-person book club lasting until the end of Mary Anne's life. The memoir is told through the lens of the books they read and discussed together. Mary Anne and two of her children have a strong religious faith. Will and his Dad do not. Their love for each other, in spite of that difference, was also inspiring. This is a story of grace, courage, dignity and the love of books. As a bonus, there is an appendix listing all of the books mentioned in the memoir.