Before I Go
A Book Club Recommendation!
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4.0 • 9 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise and Jane and Dan at the End of the World
“An impressive feat…an immensely entertaining, moving, and believable read” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), this debut novel and People and US Weekly Pick revolves around a young woman with breast cancer who undertakes a mission to find a new wife for her husband before she passes away.
Twenty-seven-year-old Daisy already beat breast cancer four years ago. How can this be happening to her again?
On the eve of what was supposed to be a triumphant “Cancerversary” with her husband Jack to celebrate four years of being cancer-free, Daisy suffers a devastating blow: her doctor tells her that the cancer is back, but this time it’s an aggressive stage four diagnosis. She may have as few as four months left to live. Death is a frightening prospect—but not because she’s afraid for herself. She’s terrified of what will happen to her brilliant but otherwise charmingly helpless husband when she’s no longer there to take care of him. It’s this fear that keeps her up at night, until she stumbles on the solution: she has to find him another wife.
With a singular determination, Daisy scouts local parks and coffee shops and online dating sites looking for Jack’s perfect match. But the further she gets on her quest, the more she questions the sanity of her plan. As the thought of her husband with another woman becomes all too real, Daisy’s forced to decide what’s more important in the short amount of time she has left: her husband’s happiness—or her own?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Oakley's touching debut novel follows Daisy Richmond, who beats breast cancer at age 23, marries her college sweetheart, Jack, applies to grad school, and generally moves on with her life until shortly before her four year "cancerversary" when she learns that the cancer's back. This time it's untreatable her doctor estimates she has no more than six months to live. While Daisy once found it fun to imagine all the trips she'd take if she knew her time was up, she's now more worried about what will happen to Jack after she's gone who will put his dirty socks in the hamper, arrange repairs on their fixer-upper, and make sure he eats something other than cereal. With help from her best friend, Kayleigh, Daisy begins searching for a new wife for Jack. But after scoping out dog parks, coffee bars, and dating sites, Daisy is woefully unprepared for how she feels once she actually finds a seemingly perfect woman for him and the two appear to hit it off. The story moves forward in the expected direction even the twist at the end is not a shocker but Oakley expertly tugs at the heartstrings with well-rounded characters and a liberal dose of gallows humor.
