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A review by themaddiest
When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
4.0
Danny’s mom died after a years-long battle with cancer right before he graduated from high school. It was the event that she was hanging on to see. Now he’s left alone, in a big house with his faithful dog and memories of the way his family used to be. He’s unsure what to do with the estate his mom has left, and then he gets a letter from the property manager in Tokyo, and Danny is stunned by the letter’s revelations about how happy his mother was in her final days while in Tokyo. Danny decides to go to Tokyo and try to find peace in his mother’s death, as well as answer the lingering questions he has about how she lived her life.
Daisy Whitney’s moving, authentic novel about the loss of a parent is a standout of a novel. Contemplative, and often quite quiet, the novel tackles all sorts of issues, including death, loss, grief, transracial adoption, drug abuse, and growing up. If this sounds like too much, rest assured that it’s handled gracefully, and the issues never overwhelm the narrative, which stays strongly focused on Danny’s attempts to heal. There’s some expert balance here, and it pays off...
Read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/book-review-when-you-were-here-by-daisy-whitney/
Daisy Whitney’s moving, authentic novel about the loss of a parent is a standout of a novel. Contemplative, and often quite quiet, the novel tackles all sorts of issues, including death, loss, grief, transracial adoption, drug abuse, and growing up. If this sounds like too much, rest assured that it’s handled gracefully, and the issues never overwhelm the narrative, which stays strongly focused on Danny’s attempts to heal. There’s some expert balance here, and it pays off...
Read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/book-review-when-you-were-here-by-daisy-whitney/