Because I am a member of a book club,The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe caught my interest despite the daunting phrase “end of your life.” In it, I found discussions of some 30 books and at the end of the book a list of more than 100 titles and authors. But this book is more than fodder for book club members. In recounting the two years of the EOYL book club, Will introduces us to his talented and warm-hearted mother. Mary Ann Schwalbe has raised a family, and had a full professional life in education followed by her organization and extensive travel for women and children refugees around the world. She is highly organized and has many friends of all ages.
At 73, Mary Ann discovers that she has pancreatic cancer, ”not curable but treatable” according to her doctor. Will keeps her company for the long chemo sessions. To help pass the time, they start talking books, eventually agreeing to choose and read particular books in tandem. In the course of the book club sessions, we learn both Mary Ann and Will’s understandings and feelings about the books, sometimes in agreement and sometimes not. Also, we see the suffering and anxiety of both the patient and her family. Along with her many friends, we come to admire her strength, determination, and compassion.
In the end as Will writes, we have “a welter of books to read – books to savor and ponder, to enjoy and to help Mom on her journey toward death and me on mine to life without her. “
Lois Cutter, January 2014