So Much for That

The new novel from the author of the Orange Prize-winning We Need to Talk About Kevin. ?Shriver has produced another dazzling, provocative novel? Publishers Weekly Shep Knacker has long saved for ?the Afterlife?, an idyllic retreat in the Third World where his nest egg can last forever. Exasperated that his wife, Glynis, has concocted endless excuses why it?s never the right time to go, Shep finally announces he?s leaving for a Tanzanian island, with or without her. Yet Glynis has some news of her own: she?s deathly ill. Shep numbly puts his dream aside, while his nest egg is steadily devastated by staggering bills that their health insurance only partially covers. Astonishingly, illness not only strains their marriage but saves it. From acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Lionel Shriver comes a searing, ruthlessly honest novel. Brimming with unexpected tenderness and dry humour, it presses the question: How much is one life worth? ?A visceral and deeply affecting story? New York Times ?[A] shrewd, ambitious novel ... Shriver?s prose is frank and often beautiful ... nuanced and persuasive? New Yorker