by Delia Ephron
First published 2022
Delia Ephron faces a string of devastating losses. Her sister Nora dies from cancer. Her husband Jerry follows soon after. Months later, a simple decision to cancel Jerry's phone line destroys her internet connection. The resulting customer service nightmare inspires her to write a newspaper column about her experience. A psychiatrist named Peter reads the piece and reaches out. He reminds Delia they dated decades earlier when Nora set them up. Delia has no memory of him. They begin exchanging emails and songs from the sixties. Peter flies from California to New York to see her. They fall deeply in love. Four months into their rekindled romance, doctors diagnose Delia with acute myeloid leukemia. She must endure aggressive treatment while navigating this unexpected second chance at happiness. Peter stays by her side as she fights the disease. The memoir chronicles her journey between the brutal realities of cancer treatment and the joy of finding love again late in life.
Genres: grief, autobiography, contemporary, memoir, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, love-story
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance-romance
Setting: California, New York
Period: Decades Earlier
304 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: death, terminal-illness