Evenings at Five

by Gail Godwin

Every evening at five o’clock, Christina and Rudy stopped work and began the ritual commonly known as Happy Hour. Rudy mixed Christina’s drink with loving precision, the cavalier slosh of Bombay Sapphire over ice shards, before settling across from her in his Stickley chair with his glass of Scotch. They shared a love of language and music (she is an author, he a composer, after all), a delight in intense conversation, a fascination with popes, and nearly thirty years of life together.

What did I think, that we had forever? muses Christina, seven months after Rudy’s unexpected death. While coming to terms with her loss, with the space that Rudy once inhabited, Christina reflects on their vibrant bond—with all its quirks, habits, and unguarded moments—as well as her passionate sorrow and her attempts to reposition herself and her new place in the very real world they shared.

In this literary jewel, a bittersweet novella of absence and presence and the mysterious gap between them, Gail Godwin has performed a small miracle. In essence, Evenings at Five is a grief sonata for solo instrument transposed into words. Interwoven with meditations and movements, full of aching truths and a wicked sense of humor, it exquisitely captures the cyclical nature of commitment—and the eternal quality of a romance completed.

Length: 1.7 Hours

Genres: Fiction, Grief, Short Stories, Novella, Novels, Marriage, Adult

2 pages, Audiobook

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Gail Kathleen Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has published one non-fiction work, two collections of short stories, and eleven novels, three of which have been nominated for the National Book Award and five of which have made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Godwin's body of work has garnered many honors, including three National Book Award nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Five of her novels have been on the New York Times best seller list.
Godwin lives and writes in Woodstock, New York.

Reviews

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This little book is best understood by those who have lived it. Although all grief processes are different, each remains fundamental. Written with great patience and wonderful prose, a great love lost and the ways in which grief help us adapt, yet change our patterns of life.

This is the story of the loss of a lifetime partner. Each an artist in their own right, the aftermath of losing a spouse, and how it effects the one remaining.

[Alyssa DeLeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book.

I finished this book the day I started reading it, and I’ve been thinking about how to review it ever since. I still have no idea what to say. So we’ll use some adjectives: devastating, beautiful, real, simple, heartbreaking, sweet, dolorous.

This short, easy to read book rips your soul out and opens your heart to experience the devastation of loss. The ending particularly struck me. The priest is with Christina and she sobs “I just wish I knew where he was.” I cannot imagine the terror and feeling of separation when a loved one dies, and you don’t know where they are for eternity. Is there a heaven? Are they simply non-existent? Are they reborn? The confusion and heartbreak of not knowing that answer must be a weight almost unbearable to lift.

The other part that really got to me - as in I put the book down and cried - was also near the end. (This ending packs a punch.) The hospital calls to tell Christina that Rudy was gone, and for a few seconds she “…was still clinging to the thinnest semantic thread…something just short of hopeless, but on this side of death.” As someone who does not learn, or perhaps someone with insane hope, I’ve experienced that with four of my five children when I lost them. The first we knew was gone, but the next four had me believing in absolute magic. I was in the hospital with my second baby, numbers plummeting by the second, still fully believing the doctor would tell me my little girl was perfectly fine. But I have something Christina did not: true hope. Because my hope was not in the joy I would receive from holding my children, or seeing my husband in his chair again. My hope is in Christ. And I do not wonder where my children are and I do not for a second regret believing until the final second that God could save my babies. This book was convicting and it never once mentions God’s peace and comfort. It is convicting because it doesn’t, and so many lack Christ’s loving arms. And I need to share His love with them.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really, really touched by this book. I found this book to be a glimpse of what my Grandma possibly went through when her husband left her widowed in her early fifties. The main character in this book, Christina, is introduced after her husband, Rudy, of 28 years has passed away. The married, childless couple had an evening routine of drinks at 5pm to end the day with. The book takes you through Christina's grief and final acceptance of Rudy's death. The day-to-day struggles and heartache of missing not only the person that you love but the person that is your life are presented beautifully in this book. I hope to have this be a re-read for years to come to remind me that each day with my love is a day to toast to.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this may be a little book which is easily read in less than two hours, it manages to convey the importance of living large to the very end. I loved the older couple depicted - artistic, eccentric and vibrant. In life they both adored and exasperated each other, she a writer, he a composer. Every day at 5pm they sat down for a cocktail to discuss their respective days, with him usually carrying on about something or another. Grieving his loss after he's died, she continues their tradition in spite of his empty chair, desk, piano and cocktail glass. It sounds depressing, but it's not. Poignant and sad, of course, but surprisingly funny, too. This is a wonderful little read.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was very evocative and deeply felt, yet at the end I remained unsatisfied and feeling that I was reading a different book than all those who gushed over this. It is a small, quiet story and that's probably one reason I finished it...I might have dnf'ed this if it had been longer. Quiet stories are fine but I need them to go somewhere and this one did not. It is Christina's journey as she comes to grips with the loss of her husband of nearly 30 years, Rudy. The illustrations are lovely but did not add to the enjoyment or understanding of the story and so seemed almost pointless. This was not my cup of tea, your mileage may differ.

Quote I liked:

I believe my mother's molecules are still part of the earth, and I know she lives on in me; she's with me every time I think of her.

[Tiffany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've come to the conclusion that Gail Godwin is not an author I enjoy reading. This was the second of her works I've read and I disliked it.

[Dbvdb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very touching... and poetic writing.
This book did not include additional stories. It was read by the author which made it even more poignant.

[Kara Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this novella. A very quick read, under 120 pages. This story centers around Christina and Rudy and the long standing tradition they had of "happy hour" and 5 o'clock every evening. They would reflect on their day and their accomplishments. Sometimes they would simply sit in silence, with the odd sigh.
Now, Christina is trying to come to terms with Rudy's rather sudden passing. She continues the tradition of her nightly drink, but is becoming acutely aware of the impact of Rudy on her life.
Between chapters there are illustrations- showing different parts of her and Rudy's life- the furniture, the kitchen, his office, and his distinguished Stickley chair.
A sad story on grief and the attempt to get one's life back on track.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: My copy of this book contained only the novella "Evenings at Five"--and not the additional five stories.

This is the story of what happens after "death do us part."

Christina and Rudy were married forever. Like all married couples, they had their own secret language and rituals. For example, at 5 p.m. every day, Rudy would announce in his booming baritone, "The Pope has called!" That was their signal to stop work—she a novelist, he a composer—and enjoy their evening cocktails together. It was a beautiful, enviable life they created. But the happily-ever-after ended when Rudy died, and this novella by Gail Godwin focuses on how Christina manages in his absence. What will she do at 5 p.m. every day? How will she endure without the love of her life?

Perfect for women of a certain age, this somewhat autobiographical novella is written with a kind of wisdom and sympathy that will resonate not only for widows, but also for anyone who wonders what it's like for the surviving spouse when a loving marriage ends.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, and a story that was touching, and yet it didn't really go anywhere beyond the grief of losing her husband. Things weren't fleshed out enough, including Christina's grieving process and the development of an unhealthy relationship with alcohol after her husband's death. My one interesting take-away was what Gail Godwin explained as "listening" and hearing more clearly than ever her husband's voice, things he had told her in evening conversations, more than she had heard when he was living. I took that as a lesson in trying to be more fully present with those we love while we are here, although it also seemed from the story that the "listening" is inevitable after you lose someone so close to you.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version narrated by the author, and it took me awhile to get into it. (Not a good thing when the story is only 1.5 hrs long to being with.) Some quality in the authors voice, I'm not sure what, seemed to get between me and the story. And then there was this repetition of certain phrases that annoyed me. Over and over again, his shaggy eyebrows, his voice an octave lower than God's, his melisma (sp? Note to self, look up this word.)

But then I realized, no, that's exactly how it is. When someone has died, that's what you have left. A few vivid fragments to play over and over and over again. She was exactly right.

Definitely want to check out some more Gail Godwin now. ❤️

[VerJean · Rating 4 out of 5]

One to re-read now and again. Concise but meaningful. Rituals are in all our types of relationships. They define so many of our memories and some are so difficult to give up. Depiction of grieving and some of healing process.

[Marta Skoober]

Mais um achado da estante de alguém do Skoob. Por aqui publicaram apenas a novela Todas as tardes, às cinco. Uma história triste sobre perdas, saudades e ritos. Os ritos que dão consistência à vida.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would not have read the whole thing if it hadn't been so short. Hated the illustrations.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Gail Godwin has been writing novels for many decades. She is now 87 years old, and still writing. I was delighted to learn that she is the reader of her audiobook of "Evenings at Five." If you did not know that she is the age she is, you would never suspect that the reader is not a young woman. She has a lovely voice, and because the novel contained her words and feelings, she knew exactly how to read it to set the mood, which was quiet and somber, as her words meandered in nearly a stream of conscious manner. The book is fiction, but I sensed it was mostly autobiographical. After finishing it, I did a little research and learned that my supposition is correct. In her real life, Godwin lost her beloved partner of many years in 2001. He was a composer, as is Rudy, the fictional beloved partner who has died. The book was published in 2003. I do not think this is a coincidence.
Having read several novels by Ms. Godwin over many decades, I have noticed that she writes of strong female characters and good men, but men who may not have been as strong and forceful as the women. In "Evenings at Five," an elderly couple, Christina and Rudy, have been together for a long, long time. She is a writer, and he is a composer. Rudy has died, and Christina finds herself afloat. She rambles on about their life together, especially their sharing a drink every evening at five, when their work days were brought to a close. They would discuss their work and anything else that crossed their minds. Christina does not know how she will cope without that shared time, so she continues to have a drink, sometimes too much, to the point where her doctor suggests she needs to stop drinking.
What Christina misses most about being married is companionship, and the ritual of sharing her thoughts and all the minutia of the day with someone who cares. She struggles to find her way without Rudy.
I loved that when it was five pm, instead of Christina or Rudy declaring it was cocktail hour, or time for a drink, they would say, "The Pope called," or "The Pope is calling." This was their little joke signaling it was time to stop working and to start drinking.
There was no real high point or low point in the book. It is just the story of Christina's learning to navigate her new normal without her beloved Rudy. I wanted to be moved. I wanted to feel her sorrow, cry real tears for this character who was grieving, but I never could get there. I guess I needed more than what was offered in this little book. I am waiting for the author's newest book, her memoir, to be mine to borrow from the library. I imagine it will not be very different from this little novel. My curiosity needs to know how many of Godwin's actual experiences appeared in this fictional piece. 3 stars because the writing is lovely, but I was not terribly moved by it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An evening ritual of cocktails may start this melancholy read. But what oozes from the novellas pages is a love story of two artists and the profound grief that follows the death of a partner.

I discovered this book on my public library’s “Short Summer Reads” display. I’m enjoying breezing through shorter stories and being reminded that I can get an emotional punch from a few pages just as I can from hundreds. Evenings at Five was particularly powerful. If I had read the dust jacket blurb completely, and seen “What did I think I had forever? muses Christina, seven months after Rudy’s unexpected death.”, I’m not sure I would have taken the book home much less start reading it while my husband was absent on a trip to see his parents.

But I started reading. And I couldn’t stop. Even if one has not experienced the loss of a partner, Christina’s grief was identifiable. It is the grief everyone who loves fears, the grief that permeates every fiber of your being and invades every interaction. Will it provide comfort for those in the midst of loss and trying to live after a loved one’s death? I’m not sure. Because, thankfully, this isn’t me. Yet. And hopefully won’t be me. For a long, long, long time.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

My book only contained the novel and no added short stories.

I picked this hardback book in a thrift store for $1 on one of my recent trips to Mississippi to assist my husband in the deaths of his parents. I picked it up because of the author whom I thought I had read before.

With all the issues surrounding the death of a parent (father in November, mother in July; 90 and 94 respectively), I needed a short fiction read to "reset" my brain on something other than the whirlwind of activities related to closing out an era and the mounting list of "to dos" following a lenghty absence from home.

It was a timely read. Love, death, dying, survival in moving along in the land of the so called living. The void always there, but slowing filling never to be filled, but managed. Grief is hard and never ending, but teaches one much about the person that is dead as well as oneself. Particularly hearing and understanding past words spoken and past scenarios lived.

Death is part of life. Death is only hard on the survivors.

Worth a read, but not a book I will tell others that it is a "must read".

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a couple whose favorite time was their cocktail hour together at five p.m. From this poin the story moves one coping with grief when one dies. It's a happy tale until this event that turns sad. She revels in the memories about what they shared together, feels guilt about their disagreements and that she wasn't by his side when he left this earth. Yes, it's hard for the the one left behind who must find a way to develop a new life.

Well written, it's a realistic tale about the end of life, how retirement develops, learning to cope with the frailities of later life and finally, living with declining health that ends in death. Realistic, this is little look provides much food for thought.

Robert Louis Stevenson sums it best: The changes wrought by death are in themselves so sharp and final, and so terrible and melancholy in their consequences, that the thing stands alone in man's experience, not a received condition, and has no parallel on earth. ("Aes Triplex)

[Georgetowner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely novelette that intimately puts the reader inside the grief and memories of the surviving spouse of a long term marriage. It is loosely autobiographical I read, so it is not surprising that all the little details and emotions ring really true. I listened to the audio book read by the author and think that diminished some of the powerful writing. The audio book might have been stellar had it been read by a better performer. Regardless, the writing is very good. I might have given it 4 stars if I had read it instead of listened to the audio book. The edition I listened to did not have the five new stories listed on this publishing.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely meditative novella. Christina has lost Rudy, her larger-than-life husband, and she reflects on their moments together and traverses her grief. This is a thinly disguised story of the real loss that Godwin suffered when her husband died. There is humor and intensity as she shares her grief and loneliness. There is also pathos and a struggle with alcohol. Some lovely line drawings illustrate each chapter and tell a story themselves. The novel is followed by five "Christina Stories" which I found slightly less enchanting but still very strong writing.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very brief book, 114 pages, about the grief that comes with the loss of a loved one. An uplifting look at grief as, Christina the wife and an author deals with the loss of Rudy, her husband and a composer. The particular sentence that spoke to me was, “And then I had this further idea. That somewhere in the gulf between those opposites, ‘absence and presence’ or ‘presence and absence’, might lie the secret of eternal life”.

Yes, we see Christina’s struggle, but seems she comes to terms with the grief through memories. A positive read, but an unusual read at the same time.

[Chris Wharton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely disguised as fiction, Godwin recounts the mourning of an aging writer after the death of her composer husband, much of her loss most keenly felt at the time of their 5 o’clock happy hour together after spending their days apart at their creative works. A slim volume and a bit precious with sketches of home, hearth, workspaces, and cherished objects, but characteristically smoothly written. Well suited to reading on a winter’s eve in front of the fire with a single malt in hand.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

For such a quick read, this book was hefty with emotion. Godwin captures the emotions of missing a loved one and the loss of shared routines. What a beautiful little treasure that I will save for days of missing. I picked this up on the tenth anniversary of my mother-in-law’s death. I don’t even remember buying this little book, but there it was, waiting for me, just when I needed it.

The illustrations are also lovely.

[Dory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written little book -- a true-to- life novella, really -- written from Christina's perspective as her relationship with partner Rudy unfolds in a non-linear fashion, moving back and forth across the book from her grieving over his death to when they first met. I appreciated that the characters could be so fully developed in a modicum of words. The very simple line drawing illustrations underscore Rudy's "presence in absence," to borrow a phrase from Godwin.

[Renny Barcelos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gail Goodwin has such a way with words, such a lyricism in her work that it is beyond beautiful, anything she writes. Her work reminds me of Saramago and that, for me, is the highest compliment to give to any author (I adore José Saramago's work so much I have his signature tattooed on my arm).

This is a short story that feels immense. It is filled with sorrow, heartbreak, love, and survival.

[Iya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And then I’ll go from there, creating my own rituals. Taking possession, in nightly increments, of all you meant to me.”

This little book HURTS. It’s a genuine story about loss and finding the strength after losing someone you nearly spend half of your life with. Cried a little at the end. All I know after this is that I don’t wanna be the one left behind by my better half.

[Swan Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucky me to find this hidden amongst my fat books yesterday afternoon while gleaning titles I thought I would pass on. I started reading it and didn't stop until I reached the end. I was quite moved by the resilience of love, romance, humor and acceptance.

[NONA BROWN · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that has been non my list for several years and so worth the wait. While the topic is one we sometimes want to avoid, Gail Godwin shows us that death of a loved one is not the end of that love.

[Jacinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wee gem, a couple, she an author, he a composer sit down each night at 5 to discuss their day. Several months after his death she reflects on their life and tries to adjust to her life without him. A touching story of a love lived.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, sad story of continuing to live after your spouse has died.

"Absent in his presence, present in his absence."
" A strong personality comes into the world, touches some people, infuriates others, then goes out again."