Divestment

by Helene Wecker, Widdi Turner (Narrator)

New York Times best-selling author Helene Wecker (The Golem and the Jinni) brings us inside the disintegrating mind of a German-Jewish grandmother in this sometimes chilling, sometimes heartwarming, consistently riveting story.

When Gerda Kohl moves from the home in which she raised her family to a posh new retirement center, she must decide what to take with her and what to leave behind. This includes not only photographs, furniture, and mementos but weightier items, too - warring daughters, rebellious grandchildren, and the ghosts of a past that seems increasingly more real than the present.

Genres: Audiobook, Short Stories, Fiction

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published September 16, 2016

About the author

Helene Wecker’s first novel, The Golem and the Jinni, was awarded the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, the VCU Cabell Award for First Novel, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and was nominated for a Nebula Award and a World Fantasy Award. Its sequel, The Hidden Palace, was published in June 2021. A Midwest native, she holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from Columbia University. Her work has appeared in literary journals such as Joyland and Catamaran, as well as the fantasy anthology The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.

Reviews

[Amanda B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ Poignant short audio story.

[Melanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but really, really sad.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty heartbreaking, especially having taken care of my grandpa who suffered and died from Alzheimer's.

Gerda Kohl's life is moving too fast: one minute she's sitting with family talking, the next she's a luncheon with lady friends missing social cues. In the midst of all this happening, Gerda is having to leave her family home, her daughters are arguing about what stays and what goes, and the doctors keep messing with her meds, exhausting her in the process.

The end is tragic, but it was a good heartbreak.

I only rated this lower because the narrator wasn't as emotive as the other audiobook I listened to, she still did a fine job.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sad Deterioration of a Racist Old Lady

CW: Racism, Mental Degradation

This is a well written, rather spartan short story about an old lady losing touch with her present and making sporadic connections with the past as her mental health degrades. It's bleak and effective, though I didn't feel particularly emotionally connected or affected by it.

Competent, cold, and somewhat clinical. Not necessarily my sort of thing, as I would want a story like this to really emotionally hook me.

[shalini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of this really short and tiny book which is actually an essay of sorts. I have no clue why its been presented to the readers as I didnt really gain any insights of a story / character or even a philosophy.

I had really picked it up as I am a huge fan of Helen Wecker's writings and want to read everything she writes.

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this short story on audible.com. Wecker captures the strange life of an elderly woman moving from her family home into a care facility in a compelling tale that makes the reader think and feel the plight of old age.

[Abra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short! Ach, and too sad.