A review by bretts_book_stack
Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein

3.0

I had reserved this from the library and forgot the subject matter when it first arrived. To be honest I was almost reluctant to read what was sure to be an incredibly sad story of a bright, ambitious political consultant and single mother of a boy of six, who is facing her own mortality when diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. The story is written almost as a letter to her son, telling him who she was and who she hopes he'll grow up to be. Of course all this is complicated when the boys father comes back into her life who never knew his son existed. I wanted to be cynical and resist the emotional bent of the book, but Karen's voice manages to rise up against too much sentimentally and self pity. It's angry at times, but feels pretty honest and could be the Amy Adams starring holiday movie that reduces people to puddles. I had some minor quibbles with the book, but overall found it while sad, a good read.