Lydia's Party

Lydia's Party
By Margaret Hawkins (304 pages)
Published by Viking
Bookish rating: 3.5

If nothing else, this book has a pretty cover design, right?

Honestly, after I checked this book out from the library, I almost returned it without reading it. The description sounded a tad sappy on second read, and how many books depicting "women's friendships" can you read before they start to seem . . .  the same?

I decided to read it, and I'm glad I did. I do think the novel has value. Plot: Lydia throws a "bleak midwinter" party each year after Christmas. This year, she has her big announcement that she has cancer and it's terminal.

Hawkins actually dodges sappiness here. Which was a relief.

The dynamics among the women vary in their amount of interest and originality. The point of view of the artist friend is the strongest and best defined, and here is where the novel is raised a level. Blending art and creation of art amidst death? Well, yes. A good move.

A strange "spirit" of Lydia in the final chapters doesn't come through as believable to me, and I think it could've been omitted. I mean, that's the tragedy of someone's death, right? Their sheer absence? Also? WAY too many characters with not enough to distinguish them. Several morphed together for me.

Overall, not amazing, but not crappy. To use my friend Lauren's phrase, quasi-recommended.