A review by vkemp
Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman

2.0

This is one of the saddest books I have ever read and that is the sole reason behind the two-star rating. I do not like sad books. I want the good guys to win all the time and I want the girl to get the guy and I want everyone to live happily ever after. That is why I read. Life, itself, is too sad; I want escape. That being said, this is a wonderful paean to grief. Francisco Goldman meets Aura Estrada when she is a gradute student in creative writing sat NYU; her mentor is Peter Carey, the Australian writer. He is 20 years older than she is and a self-professed "eternal adolescent." He and Aura travel together and love together and get married, much to Aura's mother's displeasure and then, Aura dies, in a stupid accident and Francisco has to live with his grief. He hopes to over come this grief by writing about it. This book will rip your heart out, but it is beautifully written. I never would have read it except for this committee.