The Art of Saying Goodbye

April 25, 2011
Bache (Riggs Park) tackles the sensitive subject of cancer in a memorable story about a free-spirited woman with no regrets and the impact her impending death has on her close friends. The story opens with an introduction to the neighborhood, Brightwood Trace, in which Paisley Lamm and her four longtime friendsâAndrea, Ginger, Julianne and Ionaâall live, and then segues 10 years into the past, to cancer-ridden Paisley's hot tub party to bring all the neighborhood mothers together. Paisley's beauty is often coveted by the women, but they also can't help loving her for her kind heart and good intentions. Now Paisley's terminal cancer has the four friends suddenly appreciating their own families and lifestyles. For the remainder of the novel, we catch a glimpse of each woman's present-day life with short anecdotes in between from Paisley on her most memorable life experiences, like learning to fly a plane or meeting her future husband at the swimming pool when she was only 12. There's a revelation involving adultery that doesn't resonate except to take Paisley out of the sainthood category. Basically, this is a moving, gratifying, and inspiring reminder to live life to its fullest and demonstrate love in every possible way to friends and family.

May 15, 2011

Neighbors reluctantly rally around when one of them is diagnosed with a virulent form of cancer. It was Paisley who helped Andrea years earlier through her toddler daughter Courtney's own cancer. Ginger and Eddie basically swapped careers at Paisley's suggestion. Nurse-practitioner Julianne "felt" Paisley's illness, a sensitivity that terrifies her and becomes her deepest secret. At 60 and a widow for many years, Iona is older than the other gals, and her sharp-tongued comments score a direct hit on the funny bone, despite her own tragic loss. Suddenly, the whole neighborhood--kids included--is behind a tree-ribbon campaign to support Paisley. Is a grudging acceptance of death the way to anchor oneself in life? VERDICT The women created by Bache (Riggs Park) have found a place to call their own outside of husbands and children. The dire situation of their friend brings them up short and makes them pull together. What appears to be standard women's fare deepens into something more engaging. For fans of women's fiction and novels of friendship, such as Patricia Gaffney's Saving Graces. [Online reading group guide; library marketing.]--Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Sweet, profound, sweeping in its themes yet detailed in its nuances, Baches latest explores the layers of friendship involved in facing serious illness and buried secrets. Life on Brightwood Trace is smooth and privileged for five women neighbors. When one, the effervescent Paisley Lamm, receives a shattering diagnosis, its effect ripples out to the others, with consequences that irrevocably alter the life of each. From the nurse who has an eerie and unwelcome prescience about deadly medical symptoms to the older widow who brandishes her bereft state like porcupine quills to the successful businesswoman who discovers truths she would rather have left unknown to the best friend who must relinquish the mantle of debilitating terror she has felt since her daughters own serious childhood illness, the women grapple with their inner demons and the outer trappings of unencumbered lives as they witness Paisleys deterioration. Fans of Elizabeth Berg should enjoy this quiet, tender read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)