Through a strange quirk of fate, I have read two books about two possible suicides back to back. Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett is narrated by eleven-year-old Elvis Babbit, who shares a birthday with Elvis Presley, so her mother named her after him. Elvis is a science nerd trying to survive the grief of losing her mother. Elvis' mother drowned while sleepwalking. Her 15-year-old older sister, Lizzie, is also a sleepwalker. Grief causes some to fold in on themselves, while others explode out, and others freeze in place. Rabbit Cake portrays these sides of loss. The book is darkly humorous and genuine. A counselor tells Elvis that it takes about 18 months to move through the distress of the death of a parent. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I like the idea of there being a timeline. Despite its somber premise, I found Rabbit Cake a hopeful read because it helped me see that a loved one's death can bring about change, leading to new paths and a deeper understanding.
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There Are No Rules for This by J.J. Elliott was recommended to me at a St. Patrick's Day party by the person who had been Elliott's nanny after her mother died of suicide. At first, I thought the book was a memoir, but it is actually a work of fiction written in the first person. There is a tight group of four friends, and one of them commits suicide. The surviving three are left to comprehend how their amazing friend could choose to leave her family and friends behind. The plot unfolds from the moment Ali is told by the remaining friends, Max and Liddy, of their friend Finney's suicide. As they suffocate in sadness for their beloved, funny, amazing friend, they seek to understand why. Elliott does a stellar job of showing how complex and unfathomable the path to suicide. The death of Finney moves the friends to celebrate life in darkly humorous ways. The book has an authentic quality in that there aren't rules for how to respond to someone's suicide, but crying and wine help the process.
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Limelight by Amy Poeppel is like an enemies-to-lovers romance story, only between a teenager and a mom-like mentor. Allison Brinkley is getting her dream of living in New York City. Her husband's job necessitates a move to Manhattan. She has carefully planned to move her job and their three children and has a job, apartment, and schools lined up. Then it all falls apart. Her kids are unhappy, the apartment is so small, and her long-term sub high school English teacher falls through. She finds herself a personal assistant to a wildly famous 18-year-old pop music celebrity. They both learn a lot. The characters find themselves in foolhardy, laughable predicaments. I found myself invested in what was going to happen. Poeppel writes a tight, suspenseful, likeable story.
Here is a link to another Amy Poeppel book I reviewed:
https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2022/05/reading-about-atom-bomb-cello-music-and.html
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