I listened to The A to Z of Everything on NetGalley audio, and I was grateful for the chance to explore a genre I wouldn’t usually choose. The book is probably classified as contemporary women’s fiction and focuses on family emotions and reflections on life. It is not as nuanced as much of the literary fiction I usually read, but I found its messages and themes thoroughly worthwhile. The mother’s words of wisdom and the daughters’ reactions were relatable and memorable.
Rose and Poppy, two middle-aged sisters, haven’t spoken in more than sixteen years because of an incident that should have been attributed to Rose’s ex-husband, Gareth. I think that Andrea, their mother, realized from the beginning that Gareth was an undesirable husband for her daughter, and in addition to being heartbroken that her daughters were not on speaking terms, also knew that it would take her death to get them to understand that their anger was misguided.
Andrea, a former movie star and accomplished actor, did not inform her daughters that she was dying of cancer. Instead, with the help of a friend named Lewis, she prepared a lengthy guide for her daughters to follow after her death. The guide included written materials, videos, music, clues, family photos, and so much more. Andrea was a clever mother and knew that she could accomplish her main goal, getting her daughters to talk to one another again, if she piqued their curiosity about the identity of their father and their mother’s public life.
The author describes Andrea as going for gold in the Olympics of mothering. Andrea essentially uses emotional blackmail, theater metaphors, and heartfelt love to convince her daughters that their bond was worth repairing and they should live in guilt for the rest of their lives if they could not accept Mom’s coaching from the grave. Through Andrea, the author emphasizes what many mothers know: children are both a blessing and a curse. To heal the rift between Rose and Poppy, Andrea knows she must reopen old wounds and force her daughters to trust and forgive one another. She does it with rudimentary ABC skills but enhances the basics with humor, sardonic wit, heartwarming examples, and plenty of food for thought. I think readers have lots to contemplate about their own lives with the A to Z of everything. Following are most of the alphabetics without spoilers:
Ashes
Beef and Bastards
Champagne
Daddy Issues
Emotion
Forgiveness
Gorgeous
Hamming
Inebriation
Jealousy
Karaoke
Location
Magical
Nudity
Oh my mother
Paris
Questions.
Rhonda
Sex
Truth or Time
Upping the stakes.
Victory
Wonder wall
X movies
Yesterday
Zinaida.
