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A review by kydneybean
Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir by Delia Ephron
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
5.0
Everyone needs to listen to the audiobook. Even if you are not a person who listens to audiobooks or prefers to read a physical book or an ebook, I don't care; you need to listen to this specific book as an audiobook. I don't know how else to describe it other than listening to this book feels like listening to your grandmother tell stories of her life in the way only people who have lived so much life can.
Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life is a book that is sold as a second chance at love after the death of a spouse and a second chance at life after a battle with cancer, but it is so much more than that. It is about someone getting a second chance at love, at creativity, at friendship, at sisterhood, and above all, at life. But also what it takes, the mental and physical turmoil it takes to fight for the life, and the people who hold your hand along the way. It's strange to say that Peter is a spectacular character because he is a real person, so I will say he is a spectacular man. He is a large portion of this book and a pivotal figure in this part of Delia's story. Their meeting is blindingly beautiful and something almost out of the romantic movies that surrounded Delia's life. Delia mentions how much luck it took her to find Peter (or for Peter to find her) after the loss of her husband, but I believe she's lucky to have two great loves in one life.
Two other individuals who are not physically present, but are still incredibly important individuals to the story are Delia's late husband and sister, Jerry and Nora. They may have already passed by the time page one opens up, but they are everywhere. In every page, every sentence, every word. Towards the end of the book, Delia thinks back to her sister; how much she misses her, how things could have been different, how much her older sister has done for her even in death. After going through the best and the worst with Delia, you can believe that her sister and husband looked down on her and thought up the best way to repay Delia for all she did for them. For the way she stuck by their sides during their illnesses, for the way she loved them until their last breaths, for the way she memorialized them as people in her writing. The only thing they could do was find someone who would gift Delia with all that love and support that she gave them. They sent her Peter.
As much as I love a good love story, I was particularly blown away by the way this story centers the other people in her life. Her friends, her neighbors, her medical team, her "friend daughters." People love to glorify the phrase "love conquers all." And while love definitely made hope easier to hold on to, it was those friendships that carried the ship that had washed so far out to sea back to shore. Those friendships took care of Delia at her sickest, cheered for the successes in her medical journey, looked out for Peter when all he could think about was Delia, held on when Delia gave up, and made her second chance at life—and all she did to fight for it—worth it. It takes a village to make a life worth living.
Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life is a book that is sold as a second chance at love after the death of a spouse and a second chance at life after a battle with cancer, but it is so much more than that. It is about someone getting a second chance at love, at creativity, at friendship, at sisterhood, and above all, at life. But also what it takes, the mental and physical turmoil it takes to fight for the life, and the people who hold your hand along the way. It's strange to say that Peter is a spectacular character because he is a real person, so I will say he is a spectacular man. He is a large portion of this book and a pivotal figure in this part of Delia's story. Their meeting is blindingly beautiful and something almost out of the romantic movies that surrounded Delia's life. Delia mentions how much luck it took her to find Peter (or for Peter to find her) after the loss of her husband, but I believe she's lucky to have two great loves in one life.
Two other individuals who are not physically present, but are still incredibly important individuals to the story are Delia's late husband and sister, Jerry and Nora. They may have already passed by the time page one opens up, but they are everywhere. In every page, every sentence, every word. Towards the end of the book, Delia thinks back to her sister; how much she misses her, how things could have been different, how much her older sister has done for her even in death. After going through the best and the worst with Delia, you can believe that her sister and husband looked down on her and thought up the best way to repay Delia for all she did for them. For the way she stuck by their sides during their illnesses, for the way she loved them until their last breaths, for the way she memorialized them as people in her writing. The only thing they could do was find someone who would gift Delia with all that love and support that she gave them. They sent her Peter.
As much as I love a good love story, I was particularly blown away by the way this story centers the other people in her life. Her friends, her neighbors, her medical team, her "friend daughters." People love to glorify the phrase "love conquers all." And while love definitely made hope easier to hold on to, it was those friendships that carried the ship that had washed so far out to sea back to shore. Those friendships took care of Delia at her sickest, cheered for the successes in her medical journey, looked out for Peter when all he could think about was Delia, held on when Delia gave up, and made her second chance at life—and all she did to fight for it—worth it. It takes a village to make a life worth living.