Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together, at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and out of their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged. But when Ruth's loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they've created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other. In this big-hearted and profound portrait of a marriage, Jonathan Evison explores 70 years of big moments in subtle ways, elegantly braiding the Winters' turbulent history with their present-day battles, showing us how the oddly paired college kids became parents, fell apart, and back together, and grew into the Abe and Ruth of today.
The Heart of Winter is an endearing and honest portrayal
of a long marriage, capturing the joys and struggles. I like how, rather than
romanticizing commitment, the story embraces its complexities—the sacrifices,
misunderstandings, and enduring devotion that shape a shared life. Bittersweet
and deeply moving, it highlights the resilience that keeps two people bound
together through the seasons of life. This book is a compelling read for anyone
who appreciates stories of deep emotional resonance.
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For fifty years Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now. Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew--their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives--and the parts they didn't always want to know--the determined young student of Abe's looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs. Told in various points of view, even in conversation with Central Park itself, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself.
What's the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you
can't give yourself a beautiful life? From the day she watched her kindergarten
teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has
felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After
the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling,
Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering
people peacefully through their end-of-life process. Clover spends so much time
with the dying that she has no life of her own until the final wishes of a
feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a
forgotten love story--and perhaps, her happy ending. As she finds herself
struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is
forced to examine what she wants, and whether she'll have the courage to go
after it. Probing, clever, and hopeful, The Collected Regrets of Clover turns
the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life.
BWW
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