Watching a parent’s gradual decline and death to pancreatic cancer is certainly a somber subject, but somehow Will Schwalbe’s story of his mother’s last two years in The End of Your Life Book Club becomes more of a celebration and a tribute than you would have thought possible. You end up almost envying the author for the special close relationship he shared with his mother, a well-known and much-loved champion of causes.
Schwalbe is a very talented writer, and his approach to telling the story of his mother’s final weeks, months and years is unique. He describes how they formed a book club of two and discussed their literary choices whenever they could, but mostly while his mother was being infused with toxic chemo treatments or waiting to see her doctors. Always close, the two became even closer as they used their mutual love of good books to learn more about the world, themselves and each other.
While I might have wished for more details about the author’s own life and the rest of his family, I had to admire how he kept to his own clearly defined focus – the importance books and reading had always held in his family. This made their story unique, even as the discussions of books and writing allowed you ever deeper into their system of beliefs and ideals. The author’s sexual orientation – he is openly gay – is not avoided but it is not emphasized either. Even that aspect of their story is elucidated through books, as Will tells of discovering the books of Christopher Isherwood during his college years.
At first I found the ‘books’ aspect of the story more interesting than that of Will and his mother. (Indeed, the literary allusions are scattered everywhere and many of the books are discussed at some length, and there is a bibliography at the end of the book.) But I quickly found myself wanting to learn more about the life of Mary Ann Schwalbe, a truly remarkable and one-of-a-kind woman. The end, which you of course knew was coming from the start, is nevertheless very difficult. There is a point in the final weeks of his mother’s life, where Will is ready to tell her how much he loves her, but instead he tells her how proud he is of her. At first he berates himself for this sudden change, but then he reconsiders, figuring she already knew he loved her, but how often does a child tell a parent how proud he or she is of that parent? A good point, I think.
As a confirmed and lifelong reader, I was already prepared to love this book. But as a son, I was not prepared for its emotional impact. This is good writing about a painful and difficult subject and completely deserving of its success. Highly recommended.
A lifelong book lover, Michigan resident Tim Bazett has published four memoirs and a biography. His reviews and essays have appeared in several Michigan newspapers and he has been a guest on Michigan public radio and TV. For more information, visit https://RatholeBooks.com.
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