Days of Awe by Lauren Fox is one of the best books I have read so far in 2016.
Isabel Moore is a fortysomething teacher in Wisconsin facing loss on a number of levels. Her best friend Josie died a year ago in a car accident. Her marriage has fallen apart and her husband Chris has moved out. Her daughter Hannah has hit adolescence and is pulling away. And she’s still grieving a series of miscarriages that denied her the second child she always wanted. Sounds like a real downer, huh? Parts of it are very, very sad. Izzy’s grief is so real, and its debilitating effect on her life is pervasive and relentless.
But I loved Days of Awe. First, Fox is a beautiful writer. The plot meanders from present to past frequently and fluidly, layering in Izzy’s memories of her funny, complicated best friend and her happy marriage with the much bleaker reality she is currently living. This is not a book to skim or race through, but rather one to savor so as not to miss a single of Fox’s words. She has a very keen eye for little details that make her scenes so perfect that you feel like you are living them.
Second, Izzy is so sarcastic and funny that even though she has flaws and makes mistakes, I just loved her. I want to hang out with her. (I figure Lauren Fox must be equally as funny and sarcastic as her heroine – how can a writer not be as funny as her funny characters? She came up with their jokes.)
Ultimately Days of Awe about the unexpected ways in which our lives can change – suddenly, gradually, with or without our involvement – and how to come to terms with those changes. It’s sad but so poignant. I just loved this book!
Go read it.
PS. I should have known I would like this book when I saw that it was blurbed by Christina Baker Kline, Jennifer Close and J. Courtney Sullivan!!