TUESDAY EXCERPTS: “LILY HARFORD’S LAST REQUEST”

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events: First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Socrates Book Reviews; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.

Today’s feature is one of my new books:  Lily Harford’s Last Request, by Joanna Buckley.

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Intro:

(Lily)

I should have been expecting it, but then there’d never been any particular time frame.  Probably best that way, as it would be too much to anticipate my own death all of the time.

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Teaser:

It’s still light outside, but only just.  Memories harvested and bundled tight, I return to the front door to check it’s locked. (p. 60).

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Synopsis: Knowing she is sliding into dementia, Lily Harford is ready to give up her life … but can she persuade someone to commit the illegal act of taking it from her?

Lily has lived a joyful, independent life in a seaside town in Queensland, running her own business and raising a daughter as a single mother at a time when few women did so. Now health and circumstance have pushed her into a nursing home, and her memory is failing, although events of the past remain fresh. Like pulling back the layers of a Russian doll, Lily recalls the former selves – mother, professional woman, lover, daughter – who still exist inside her.

Lily’s daughter, Pauline, has been pushed to her limits by her demanding job, as well as the needs of her mother, husband, daughter and grandchildren. And now her mother is begging to die. Nurse aide Donna, still recovering from a dysfunctional childhood and the demise of her marriage, finds comfort in Lily’s kindness and down to earth wisdom. As Lily fades, she asks Donna, too, to help her end her life.

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What do you think?  I know that I am already intrigued.

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