The next thing you know

Jessica Strawser

Book - 2022

"A musician facing the untimely end of his career. An end-of-life doula with everything, and nothing, to lose. A Star Is Born meets Me Before You in this powerful novel by the author of A Million Reasons Why. As an end-of-life doula, Nova Huston's job-her calling, her purpose, her life-is to help terminally ill people make peace with their impending death. Unlike her business partner, who swears by her system of checklists, free-spirited Nova doesn't shy away from difficult clients: the ones who are heartbreakingly young, or prickly, or desperate for a caregiver or companion. When Mason Shaylor shows up at her door, Nova doesn't recognize him as the indie-favorite singer-songwriter who recently vanished from the public e...ye. She knows only what he's told her: That life as he knows it is over. His deteriorating condition makes playing his guitar physically impossible-as far as Mason is concerned, he might as well be dead already. Except he doesn't know how to say goodbye. Helping him is Nova's biggest challenge yet. She knows she should keep clients at arm's length. But she and Mason have more in common than anyone could guess... and meeting him might turn out to be the hardest, best thing that's ever happened to them both. The Next Thing You Know is an emotional, resonant story about the power of human connection, love when you least expect it, hope against the odds, and what it really takes to live life with no regrets"--

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FICTION/Strawser Jessica
0 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
1st Floor FICTION/Strawser Jessica Due Apr 11, 2024
Subjects
Genres
Romance fiction
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Jessica Strawser (author)
Edition
First Edition
Physical Description
339 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250241641
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Nova Huston is a death doula, charged with ushering others through their last days. Her latest client, Mason Shaylor, is a famous musician who is suffering from the loss of feeling in his hands after overuse while playing his guitar. His condition wasn't necessarily terminal, but he hired Nova anyway in preparation for a life without music. As Mason's mother begins a quest to prove that Nova provoked her son's death, Nova must come to terms with her pain while also defending her work--and admitting to herself that she was in love with him. Strawser's latest (after A Million Reasons Why, 2021) is heartbreaking from page one, suffused with the tension of Mason's impending death and Nova's reckoning with his loss. Through several perspectives, including those of Nova's boss and her boss' daughter, Strawser paints a picture of the couple's tender journey in both the past and the present. A natural read-alike for Jodi Picoult's The Book of Two Ways (2020) and Jennifer Smith's The Unsinkable Greta James (2022).

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Strawser (A Million Reasons Why) spins a magical tale of love and loss in her wildly unpredictable latest. After botched surgery renders accomplished singer-songwriter Mason Shaylor unable to play the guitar, he believes his life is over at 36. But is it? That is a question Strawser expertly explores through the fraught and impossibly beautiful story of Mason and his end-of-life doula, Nova Huston, who herself survived a terminal cancer diagnosis. When Mason arrives at Nova's office and implies he has a terminal condition, her business partner Kelly Monroe assigns Mason's case to Nova, who treats him at home. After his death (which appears to be a suicide), Nova and Kelly learn he was not terminally ill after all, and Mason's enraged mother files a lawsuit against them. As the story toggles back and forth between the past and present, Nova and Kelly attempt to understand what really happened to Mason, and Kelly learns Mason and Nova had fallen in love. The author skillfully keeps the plot twists coming, leading to a bittersweet yet ultimately comforting finale. Strawser sensitively handles the grief and pain that surrounds a death, and buoys this with a strong cast of supporting characters. This smart and tender story gives a nice payoff. (Mar.)

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