I absolutely loved this book.
I first heard about it on the Books on the Nightstand podcast. The novel starts with an interesting premise: Paul’s wife, Lexy, has died unexpectedly. The only witness to her death was their dog, Lorelei. In a desperate effort to understand what happened to Lexy, Paul (a linguist) decides that he’s going to try to teach Lorelei how to talk.
That’s a general overview of the plot, but the book is so much more than this. It’s exquisitely written–I found myself pausing to re-read a sentence or paragraph not for clarity, but in order to relish the beauty of the words. To illustrate (this is from one of the early chapters, so there are no spoilers here):
The day was warm, and we drove with the windows open. Breeze on my arms as I drove. Savor it now, the day, the breeze. Run the memory of it over your tongue. Speak it aloud; there’s no one listening. Say “sun” and “hot” and “day.” Close your eyes and remember the moment, the warm pink life of it. Lexy’s body in the seat next to mine. Her voice filling the car. Let it wash over you. It ends soon enough.
I’ll stop here, only to say that I highly recommend this book. I loved everything about it, to the point where it moved me to tears. Of course, the fact that one of the main characters is a dog probably had something to do with that since I have quite a weakness for dogs. But beyond this, it’s a haunting tale of love, loss, and memory; one that I think will stay with me for a long time.
don’t you love when you read a book and feel that way? even if it is sad… it just sticks with you.
Yes, I love that feeling! It’s so rare to find something that affects me this way.