Days of Awe
By Lauren Fox
Knopf Publishing Group, Hardcover, 9780307268129, August 2015, 272pp.
The Short of It:
Life goes on even when you feel like it shouldn’t.
The Rest of It:
I read this one far too long ago to remember all of the wonderful details but I STILL remember how I felt while reading it and I remember having all kinds of love for it.
The story is simple but the characters and the way they are woven into each other’s lives, are not. The story opens with the funeral of Isabel Moore’s best friend, Josie. Isabel and Josie, both middle school teachers and as close as friends can be, have done everything together so when Josie is killed in a car accident, Isabel’s world is turned upside down.
Isabel’s grief is all-consuming and yet, on the outside it’s not terribly apparent just how bad off she is. Her husband can’t deal with her anymore and can’t understand why she is unable to move on from this. But inside, she’s quietly falling apart. Especially when she learns that Josie’s life was not picture perfect either.
I really enjoyed this novel. I enjoyed it because it perfectly captured that moment of grief where you can’t figure out how to live. The presence of Josie is everywhere for Isabel and she’s stuck between mourning her and not liking her for the things she did prior to her death. The events leading up to her death force Isabel to question if she really knew her friend at all. How does one move on from this?
There is a slight meandering quality to the story but it felt right to me. When you lose a loved one, you find yourself floating through life and the narration has that same feel. Isabel is just floating along, trying to make sense of her loss and I must say, her pain is quite evident and raw and just so tangible. The author did a really good job of capturing all that angst. I highly recommend it.
Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
Sounds like a book I would enjoy, too. Thanks!
Wow, I love that you can remember the feelings from this book. It sounds wonderful.
Hmm, this is one my list and in some ways your review makes me think of, Did You Ever Have a Family?
I have this one and have totally forgotten about it. You have made me want to get to it ASAP!
There’s just something about books like this that really get to me. I think I might like this one, especially given the way you describe how it made you feel.
All righty then, I’m sold. I’ll check it out – now I’m curious about that captured moment. Like the perfect snapshot, right? Excellent review.
I’ve seen this list on tons of sites. Meandering sounds like a perfect pace for this type of book.
I eyeballed this one a while ago. After your glowing review, I am going to have to go back and change my eyeballing to picking up.
Wow more grief. I thought Bill Clegg had the market on that these days but this novel sounds good too. That’s so right : that life goes on even when you feel it shouldn’t.
This does sound good. I have it on audio and really need to make some time for it.
This sounds like a good one.
I grabbed this from NetGalley, but I haven’t read it yet because family stuff (both my inlaws are in the hospital) has me distracted and behind. I’m looking forward to reading it even MORE now that I’ve seen your review.
Also, thanks for your note on Bibliotica the other day…I love to see how other reviewers rate the same books I’m reading.