A review by serendipitysbooks
Intervals by Marianne Brooker

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

 I absolutely loved Intervals, the story of a mother and daughter navigating the mother’s end of life aged just 49, an end of life hastened by her decision to voluntarily stop eating and drinking. Having been diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis a decade prior, her quality of life was deteriorating, her pain and discomfort increasing to such an extent that she no longer wished to continue living. I loved the tender description of the relationship between mother and daughter, especially as the author cared for her mother in her final days. I really appreciated her honest vulnerability as she shared her mixed emotions about her mother’s decision, plus the practicalities involved as the dying process slowly unfolded. I was struck by the inconsistencies in allowing people to voluntarily stop eating and drinking but to not permit assisted dying; the former seemed at times unnecessarily long and gruelling, bordering on cruel. The links the author drew between cuts to health and social services budgets, her mother’s increasingly precarious financial situation and declining quality of life, and her mother’s decision to end her life were sobering and confronting. Personally I’m in favour of people having the right to end their life on their terms, but I’m beyond incensed that anyone should feel pushed into that decision due to government austerity measures, which were arguably driven by ideology rather than genuine financial necessity. Although this wasn’t always an easy read I do feel privileged to have read it. 
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