2020: very very charming, very very sweet memoir written in a unique style that completely accomplishes what it sets out to do. A very satisfying read.

I too am a person who has voicemails of her grandmothers that I haven't listened to in many years, but will continue to save. I also am a person who fought incessantly with my own mother, while establishing much tighter bonds with the generation above her.

I loved the insights that Kalb tries to give, then takes away, then gives back at the end. Written from the perspective of her dead grandmother, Kalb tries to guess what she might have wanted at the end of her life. But of course, we'll never really know.

Heads up that this book will make you cry and be sad at the thought that your own grandmothers won't get a chance to be at your wedding. Or to meet the person you marry (as I'm not yet partnered, unlikely I'll pick someone who they got a chance to meet). Be careful not to be around anyone in public if you don't want to have to explain some leaky tears in the last quarter of the book.

I listened to the audiobook version, which was slightly confusing to tell which parts were voicemails and which were notes or thoughts or emails. Although it was lovely to listen to Kalb narrate her own words and audibly embody her grandmother, I did hesitate a couple of times, trying to track the story and its narrator. Apparently there are some pictures in the book, so I will probably investigate getting a copy of my own anyway.