This "autobiographical novel" about love and death provides lots of interesting discussion topics. A sad but wonderfully written book.

I really wanted to like this book and was disappointed. I never connected with the characters and found it hard to care about what happened to them. I wanted to connect emotionally to the tragedy and grief of the story and I just didn't. The book was well written in it's descriptive language but not in character development.

2.5** for audio book narrated by Robert Fass.
Goldman found the love of his life in the brilliant, witty, exuberant Aura, and they were looking forward to starting a family when she was tragically killed during a beach holiday. This unexpected tragedy affected everyone in ways no one expected. Francisco was completely bereft and lost in his grief. Eventually he wrote this “novel” – a barely fictionalized story of Aura and of their love.

I had such high hopes for this book. Everything I had heard about it led me to believe this would be a wonderful testament to an enduring love. So what went wrong? At first I thought it was the fault of the narrator; in my opinion, Fass does not have the right voice for this book. Still, I really do not think I can blame the audio version for my lackluster reaction. I have the text as well, and looking through it, reading sections on my own … I just don’t find the “heart” I was expecting.

I will say that the section where Goldman relates that final day at the beach is absolutely riveting. My heart breaks for Aura and Francisco, all their friends and family, and even for those who witnessed the events. I wish the immediacy and emotion of these chapters had been present throughout the book.

Although I didn't really like the book, I still think it makes for a good group discussion, and that's why I recommend it.

I had such a difficult time getting into this book that I finally put it down about half way through. Never finished it. I hope the author has started to heal after getting all his feeling out in writing this book but it did nothing for me.