Book Review: Hello Goodbye

I read about this book, Hello Goodbye, on a list of first time authors.  It sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a try.

The story is about a family dealing with cancer.  Helen was diagnosed with a brain tumor and now here husband, Elliott, and daughter Abby have to adjust to how it has affected Helen.  Abby is a freshman in college and is still a bit self-absorbed.  Elliott is trying to decide if he should tell Abby that the cancer is terminal.  He has already decided that he will not tell Helen. 

Elliott arranges a 20th anniversary party and invites his and Helen's best friends.  It is a way for them to say goodbye to Helen.

The story is very well done.  You really get a good feel for each characters complicated feelings about life.

Hello Goodbye By Chenoweth, Emily 2009-08 - Center Point Large Print 1602855390 Check Our Catalog The summer after Abby Hansen's first year of college -- and several months after doctors find a malignant tumor in her mother Helen's brain -- she and her parents drive to northern New Hampshire to say goodbye to a lifetime of friends. During a single week at a historic resort, the family welcomes a small procession of visitors, and shares with them the heartache of Helen's imminent passing. As the week progresses, the Hansen's and their guests deal with Helen's illness in varied, sometimes surprising ways, and Abby, drawn to the youthful, mischievous staff of the hotel is torn between her duties to her family and the pleasures of her new life as an adult. For all involved, the occasion unexpectedly becomes one of awakening rather than farewell, as they discover how life inevitably blossoms in the face of death. …More