Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: November 30, 2021
Source: Publisher
Summary:
In this thought-provoking and entertaining debut novel about of a multicultural family, a dying billionaire matriarch leaks news of her death early so she can examine her legacy–a decision that horrifies her children and inadvertently exposes secrets she has spent a lifetime keeping.
Dava Shastri, one of the world’s wealthiest women, has always lived with her sterling reputation in mind. A brain cancer diagnosis at the age of seventy, however, changes everything, as she decides to take her death—like all matters of her life—into her own hands.
Summoning her four adult children to her private island, she discloses shocking news: in addition to having a terminal illness, she has arranged for the news of her death to break early, so she can read her obituaries.
As someone who dedicated her life to the arts and the empowerment of women, Dava expects to read articles lauding her philanthropic work. Instead, her “death” reveals two devastating secrets, truths she thought she had buried forever.
And now the whole world knows, including her children.
In the time she has left, Dava must come to terms with the decisions that have led to this moment—and make peace with those closest to her before it’s too late.
Compassionately written and chock-full of humor and heart, this powerful novel examines public versus private legacy, the complexities of love, and the never-ending joys—and frustrations—of family.
My thoughts:
I have to say I was drawn to this book first because of this cover. I’m totally not ashamed to admit that. But then when I looked into it further I just knew I had to read it – I love multigenerational sagas and this one was quite a thought-provoking one in more ways than I could have expected.
I loved the idea of this one – if you could see how everyone reacts to your death, would you want to? Would you want to know what the world sees as your legacy? After receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, that’s exactly what Dava decides to do…though it doesn’t quite work out exactly as she had hoped as secrets come to light that she didn’t plan on.
This book is one that really makes you think. I loved that we not only get to meet Dava, but we also see how this impacts her children and while I didn’t love all the characters we meet, I still found the book to be quite thought-provoking and one that had me continually questioning what I would do if I were in any of the character’s positions. Having the story told in the present day and giving us flashbacks helped to flush out the story and I really found myself quite engaged throughout. It’s definitely more of a character-driven story but that was fine with me and it totally works for this type of story.
I really ended up enjoying this one and will certainly be eager to see what the author writes next!
