How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?Review posted September 21, 2024.
Ecco (HarperCollins), October 22, 2024. 244 pages.
Review written September 17, 2024, from an Advance Reader Copy signed to me at ALA Annual Conference.
Starred Review
No surprise - when I saw this title, I was delighted. And when I attended the Author Gala Tea at ALA Annual Conference and this author was signing Advance Reader Copies, the author was delighted when I showed her my name tag.
I had meant to read this book first thing when I got home from ALA, and I'm not sure what distracted me, but it got buried in a To Be Read pile. Then last week, my coworkers noticed the book because its publication date is approaching and pointed it out to me. I decided I needed to get it read before my Autumn Award Committee Reading (for CYBILS and Mathical Awards) got underway in earnest. Naturally, I was inclined to love the book, but I'm quite sure I would have anyway.
This author is a debut author and looked quite young to me, but despite that, she did a great job getting into the head of Magda Eklund, a psychiatrist who lives alone and is turning 70 soon. The birthday accentuates the absence of her lifelong best friend Sara, who unexpectedly passed away a year ago, and was planning to take Magda on a birthday trip.
When Sara's husband shows up with a much younger woman, he tells Magda that this woman doesn't want to see Sara's ashes in his home, so he asks Magda to watch over them. And something in Magda snaps, so she sets out on that road trip with Sara after all. Never mind that Sara's in the form of ashes in an urn.
So it ends up being a Road Trip Novel, with all the good things that entails - plenty of memories and introspection, but quirky characters and humorous situations along the way. Magda must confront that her love for Sara all along was more romantic than they ever admitted, but also what that means about living her life going forward.