by Nina Riggs
First published 2017
Nina Riggs receives devastating news at 38: doctors give her 18 to 36 months to live after diagnosing terminal cancer. She stands in her kitchen, staring at vacation brochures while grappling with an impossible question. How does someone plan a future when death has a deadline? Riggs must navigate conversations with her children about an uncertain tomorrow. She struggles to remain present as a loving partner while her body betrays her. The weight of mortality presses against everyday moments like bedtime stories and grocery lists. Her mother once told her that dying is not the end of the world, words that seemed abstract until now. Riggs refuses to write a heroic battle narrative or clinical case study. Instead, she examines doubt and fear alongside unexpected beauty. She discovers light persisting even in the darkest hours, finding meaning in small moments while looking ahead with stubborn hope.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary, memoir, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief, terminal-illness
352 pages · Hardcover · btb Verlag
Content warnings: death, terminal-illness