Twenty

January 1, 2020
Bestselling self-help writer Engle (Grace from the Garden, 2003) expands her repertoire to fiction with her novel about a woman who learns to love life in the time she has left. Meg is fifty-five and has suffered great loss in her life: the death of her child, the ending of her marriage, and most recently, the death of her beloved mother. Going through the motions of her day-to-day life is no longer fulfilling, and Meg comes to the realization that she is done living. Taking a bottle of pills meant for her mother's dementia, Meg now has twenty days left to live. Meg spends those days reconnecting with the world around her, and most importantly, with herself. Engle addresses sensitive topics, such as grief and assisted suicide, in a succinct fashion that is both impressive and surprising. In less than two hundred pages, the author delivers a thought-provoking story about what it means both to live and die. Although short, Twenty offers plenty for discussion, making it a great pick for book groups.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)