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abbie_ 's review for:
Say Say Say
by Lila Savage
4.5 stars
#partner | @aaknopf - Say Say Say by Lila Savage is a short little book wrought in lyricism and heartbreak. It follows Ella, who works as a caregiver, as she becomes ever more implicated in the lives of her new patient Jill and her husband Bryn, drawn together over Jill’s needs as she deals with a brain injury because of a car accident. It felt a lot longer than its 160 pages but in a good way - so much was packed into this character-driven novel, but I wouldn’t recommend if you need action as it’s mostly introspective thought, which I loved!
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Before I even hit page 10 it actually had me feeling a bit choked up, as it really makes you stop to consider the care and patience it takes to do the job Ella does - entrusted to look after people whose selves are slipping away from them day by day, to help them get through their days with a little dignity, some degree of comfort and as little suffering as possible. But with diseases like dementia, this can be the hardest thing in the world as everything and everyone around the patient seems like a threat. Savage perfectly captures the roles between patient and carer, you can sense her own experiences coming through.
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Others might find Savage’s prose a little purple at times, but I am a sucker for a flowery passage and found the juxtaposition between the rich writing and the ache of someone once independent becoming wholly reliant on someone else, a near stranger, for their most basic needs absolutely beautiful. It was devastating to watch Jill’s decline, and its impact on those around her as a once vibrant woman’s mind and body deteriorates and degrades in a fruitless war against time.
.
This book also offers up a meticulous and often uncomfortable examination of love, and what it means to love and be loved. Ella’s daily interactions with Jill and Bryn make her ponder on her relationship with her girlfriend, and although the ending took a direction I wasn’t expecting and I might not agree with all of Ella’s decisions, I still loved this book in all its quiet melancholy and reflection, set in motion by one woman’s unstoppable regression back into childhood.
#partner | @aaknopf - Say Say Say by Lila Savage is a short little book wrought in lyricism and heartbreak. It follows Ella, who works as a caregiver, as she becomes ever more implicated in the lives of her new patient Jill and her husband Bryn, drawn together over Jill’s needs as she deals with a brain injury because of a car accident. It felt a lot longer than its 160 pages but in a good way - so much was packed into this character-driven novel, but I wouldn’t recommend if you need action as it’s mostly introspective thought, which I loved!
.
Before I even hit page 10 it actually had me feeling a bit choked up, as it really makes you stop to consider the care and patience it takes to do the job Ella does - entrusted to look after people whose selves are slipping away from them day by day, to help them get through their days with a little dignity, some degree of comfort and as little suffering as possible. But with diseases like dementia, this can be the hardest thing in the world as everything and everyone around the patient seems like a threat. Savage perfectly captures the roles between patient and carer, you can sense her own experiences coming through.
.
Others might find Savage’s prose a little purple at times, but I am a sucker for a flowery passage and found the juxtaposition between the rich writing and the ache of someone once independent becoming wholly reliant on someone else, a near stranger, for their most basic needs absolutely beautiful. It was devastating to watch Jill’s decline, and its impact on those around her as a once vibrant woman’s mind and body deteriorates and degrades in a fruitless war against time.
.
This book also offers up a meticulous and often uncomfortable examination of love, and what it means to love and be loved. Ella’s daily interactions with Jill and Bryn make her ponder on her relationship with her girlfriend, and although the ending took a direction I wasn’t expecting and I might not agree with all of Ella’s decisions, I still loved this book in all its quiet melancholy and reflection, set in motion by one woman’s unstoppable regression back into childhood.