A boy struggling to process an unexpected loss believes he has been given a series of clues to the biggest puzzle of all—the meaning of life—in this deeply felt debut novel.“An exquisitely beautiful and compelling novel about love, loss, and life.”—Rachel Joyce, New York Times bestselling author of Miss Benson’s BeetleMeet Ollie. He’s eleven years old. He hasn’t yet met a Killer Sudoku he can’t … eleven years old. He hasn’t yet met a Killer Sudoku he can’t solve, but he finds the world around him difficult. People don’t say what they mean, and he hates being wrong. And now, a sudden tragedy teaches him there is no easy answer to the problem of grief.
When Ollie’s happy-go-lucky father, Rich, dies of brain cancer, his mother, Ruth, has no idea how to keep living, and the entire family is thrown into disarray. The only thing that makes sense to Ollie is the puzzle he’s convinced his father left behind: one gift for each member of the family. If Ollie can find the connection between a pink vase and an old pair of binoculars, then somehow he’ll discover the secret he believes Rich wanted to share with them all: what it means to be alive.
Interweaving the voices of each character in turn, this deeply felt novel paints a portrait of a family learning to come together through the darkest times. This Shining Life is a poignant yet ultimately uplifting meditation on grief, healing, and love.
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This Shining Life
By Harriet Kline
This story is about grief and loss. But there is so much more – it is a story about Ruth, Rich, and Ollie.
Rich has passed away from brain cancer and Ruth is left to navigate the rest of their lives alone with her eleven year old eccentric neurodiverse son Ollie. Rich leaves the surviving family with special gifts and with the help of Ollie, each learns to understand their gift – what it means to live and live their life fully.
This touching story will resonate with many who has suffered loss and are dealing with grief of a loved one. This was such a special story with many life lessons to teach us.
Trigger warnings: cancer death, autism, mental health, and dysfunctional families.
Rich loves laughter and fun; the kind of guy who always sees the glass as half full, filled with good stuff, and more on the way! When he dies far too young of a brain tumor, he leaves behind his wife, Ruth; 11 year old son, Ollie; his parents Marjorie and Gerald; his sister-in-law, Nessie; and his mother-in-law, Angram.
The story is told from the POV of all of the above characters, told in three time frames – before Rich’s prognosis is received, after his prognosis is given to his loved ones (he didn’t want to know it), and following his death.
For me, Ollie, is the stand-out character. So at sea in the world because he’s on the autism spectrum and doesn’t understand much of the talk, feelings, and happenings going on around him, he nevertheless struggles mightily throughout the book to figure out the answer to the puzzle he is sure his dad meant for him to solve: what does it mean to be alive?
As Ollie is focused on that, we come to know Ruth, her sister, Nessa, and their mother, Angram. The girls have always been close to each other, and emotionally distant from their mother. The reasons for this are disclosed throughout the story.
Rich’s parents, Marjorie and Gerald, loved their son deeply and he returned that love, but they had limited contact with his family at Rich’s request. Now that their son is gone, they struggle with their grief and whether they can find a place again in his family.
Ms. Kline’s characters are all flawed, and all grieving, each in his/her own way. As they work through their grief, they have the chance to come to terms with past events, and possibly grow as they heal. Can they put the past behind them and move forward? Will Ollie ever solve his puzzle?
This was an ok read, but a bit uneven for me. I found myself looking forward to Ollie’s chapters much more than those of the other characters.
My thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for allowing me to read a review copy of this novel, which was published on 6/22/21. All opinions (and any errors) expressed in this review are my own.
This Shining Life by Harriet Kline is a highly recommended poignant family drama.
When Rich dies from brain cancer his family must learn to deal with grief and each other. The novel is written with short chapters that are from the different points-of-view of Rich’s wife Ruth, son Ollie (almost eleven), sister-in-law Nessa, mother-in-law Angran, mother Marjorie, and father Gerald. Ollie is on the autism spectrum, and he misses his dad who provided stability for him and could help him understand the world. After his dad dies, he is determined to solve the puzzle he thinks his dad left for him that will explain what it means to be alive.
Ruth is grieving and struggling with depression. Rich brought joy to her life and she depended on him. Nessa, who was friends with Rich before introducing him to Ruth, is also grieving but must try to help Ruth and handle her indomitable mother Angran, who is not only a force to be reckoned with but also deals with depression and repressed anger. Marjorie wants to mourn her son and have a relationship with her grandson, but Gerald is sinking into dementia and makes life even more challenging and difficult. Angran doesn’t help as she steadfastly steps in-between them. All of them are dealing with numerous emotions and reactions to Rich’s death.
Although all the characters are given room for their voices, Ollie is the heart of the novel since his are the only chapter’s written in the first person. He is greatly concerned with solving his father’s puzzle, the answer to what it means to be alive, but no one seems to be listening or understanding what he is saying. They also seem to be forgetting that he also is grieving. The puzzle focuses on the special gifts his dad picked out and chose for everyone before he died. Ollie was given a pair of binoculars so he could focus on things. Now he is sure he needs to determine what connects all the gifts to solve the puzzle
A novel about a grieving family is naturally going to be sad, but Kline also shows how members were trying to help in their own ways. The result is a beautifully written novel about loss, endurance, sorrow, love, and acceptance as a family tries to navigate their journey in grieving and life. The short chapters and even pacing help propel the novel along. Ollie’s obsession does become a bit tiresome and repetitive, but that is also indicative of being on the spectrum and how he deals with his emotions. All of the characters are portrayed as complex, unique individuals with unique voices. This character driven, poignant family drama is a fine debut novel.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/06/this-shining-life.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4079924008
I received a free electronic ARC of this novel from Netgalley, Harriet Kline, and Doubleday Random House – Dial Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read This Shining Life of my 0wn volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This novel looks at life from all angles. I found it both alarming and soothing on a deeply emotional level.
Rich is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He will spend his last days visiting with people who love him at the family home – his students from school, his 11-year-old autistic son Ollie, wife Ruth, Sister-in-law (Ruth’s sister) Nessa, his folks Marjorie and Gerald, and his wacky mother-in-law Angela but known to friends and family as Angran, thus named by grandson Ollie in his babyhood and taken up by all. They all see Rich and death from very different perspectives, and we go there with them in their own voices.
This is one of those novels where you keep inserting yourself into the story. How would I react to this? If this were so-and-so dying what would I do, what would I say? A thought-provoking tale told very well.
Unfortunately, This Shining Life wasn’t the right fit for me. Ollie’s chapters are different from the others because he is a child, but I couldn’t get on board with that writing style. It was repetitive and made the first half of the book almost impossible for me to get through. If I hadn’t received this as an ARC from Random House, I probably wouldn’t have finished reading this.
Once we passed the 60% mark, the story starts to come together with less repetition and feeling less disjointed. Had the entire book read the same way, I think I would have enjoyed it more. It’s important to come into this book knowing we start with loss, that there is a lot of grief, and you need to be in the right mindset while reading this. The author discusses many real-world issues, including death, grief, healing, depression, trauma, dementia, and autism. While this wasn’t the right fit for me, I encourage other interested readers to give it a chance.