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Ten Days
When Wolf's recently-estranged wife Miriam dies from cancer, his entire world is turned upside down. Wolf and his daughter, Ruth, travel to New York from London to scatter Miriam's ashes in the Hudson River. During the ten High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur they connect up with Miriam's conservative Jewish family, who are adamantly against Miriam's choice of burial. Battling the antagonism of Miriam's Orthodox family, Wolf is also coming to terms with his own hopes to put right wrongs before it's too late.
A tenderly written story of time, grief and memory, Ten Days delves deep into the complicated love between a father and daughter and the bonds of marriage over older family ties.
A tenderly written story of time, grief and memory, Ten Days delves deep into the complicated love between a father and daughter and the bonds of marriage over older family ties.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
Published January 28, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 29, 2021
This is such a beautiful exploration of a father and daughter’s relationship after the death of her mother, which really had me quite overcome with emotion at some points.
When Wolf takes his grieving daughter Ruth to New York to spend time with his estranged wife Miriam’s Jewish family, he isn’t only trying to help her come to terms with the death of her mother - he’s also trying to prepare her for a life without him. With his memory failing, and a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, he wants to have everything prepared for her future - he just doesn’t want her to know about it yet.
When you truly think about the tragedy of this novel, it’s almost impossible not to cry - a father who knows he has very little time to make amends to a daughter who doesn’t even call him dad, and a daughter already grieving and unaware of the further loss to come. It’s fairly intense, and if it wasn’t for the wonder and beauty of New York, and the heartwarming Jewish traditions then it might make for a bleak read.
Thankfully it never felt that way - the writing is very witty, and there are some lovely ‘big family’ moments which I found really uplifting (I’m obsessed with big families all around the table in books! 🤣).
The author also found the perfect balance with Wolf’s memory loss throughout - there were some moments of repetition where we can see he’s forgotten already thinking or saying something, but this was never overdone or clunky, it just captured his mental state and added authenticity to the story.
This is one of the few stories I’ve read which is told from a father’s perspective, and I found it really unique and moving - bit of a tearjerker but well worth it.
February 17, 2021
Duffy’s second novel opens with errant husband, Wolf Mateus, returning to the London family home and his cancer-stricken Jewish wife upon hearing of her diagnosis and just a year before her death. His return is greeted with a typically scathing reference to his years of philandering by his disdainful sixteen-year-old daughter, Ruth, who persists in calling him “Mike” and whose life he has been largely absent from since the age of seven. Just two weeks after Miriam’s death Wolf takes Ruth to New York to scatter her mother’s ashes in the Hudson River with Miriam’s family during the ten holy days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But for gentile Wolf there is a dual purpose to the trip, one that Ruth and her American family only slowly discover..
Irish by birth and with a propitious career in photography behind him, Wolf struggles to connect with his forthright and independent daughter and is mystified at her newfound fervour for Judaism, especially given her mother’s fairly relaxed attitude to her faith. Already facing suspicion and low-level hostility from Miriam’s orthodox family over his treatment of her Wolf also bears the brunt of their dismay that she has chosen a cremation over the Jewish preference for a burial. The connection between Wolf and Ruth is fragile at best and it is heartbreakingly sad to witness a discombobulating Wolf struggling to summon up memories of Miriam’s life in the city in a bid to find some common ground with his daughter. But for a grieving Ruth, exasperated at her father’s ambiguity and occupying an uneasy position managing Wolf and respecting her mother’s family, with every single day the gulf is widening.
The narrative throughout is the third-person perspective of Wolf and what becomes apparent as the story progresses are instances of repetition and peculiar breaks in an otherwise coherent narrative. At times this had me questioning whether I had read something correctly but what gradually becomes evident is that there is a far more serious issue at play and even Wolf’s fondness for alcohol can’t explain how increasingly odd he is appearing. I have never read a narrative quite like this and it is exceptionally well done without feeling laboured or heavy-handed and brought me far closer to realising how overwhelming life would seem in these circumstances. Assuming that he will play no part in her future the trip is a clumsy attempt by Wolf to set Ruth on the next phase of her life without yet revealing what the future holds for him.
Aside from the compelling insight into the fractured relationship between Wolf and his daughter I did had some issues with the novel. Despite the narrative being written from the third-person perspective of Wolf I noticed instances of head-hopping and found the relationship between Wolf and Miriam difficult to believe in with their history, and Wolf’s reasons for straying, notably absent. As someone who knows little about Judaism and the religious beliefs and practices I am not sure that I quite appreciated the subtext and understood why Miriam’s choice of burial would have upset her birth family so dramatically when surely the loss of her from their lives was the more significant matter.
A powerful and poignant read that tackles grief, faith and the regrets of a former husband and father waging an unwinnable war with his memory and is guaranteed to leave readers with much to contemplate.
Irish by birth and with a propitious career in photography behind him, Wolf struggles to connect with his forthright and independent daughter and is mystified at her newfound fervour for Judaism, especially given her mother’s fairly relaxed attitude to her faith. Already facing suspicion and low-level hostility from Miriam’s orthodox family over his treatment of her Wolf also bears the brunt of their dismay that she has chosen a cremation over the Jewish preference for a burial. The connection between Wolf and Ruth is fragile at best and it is heartbreakingly sad to witness a discombobulating Wolf struggling to summon up memories of Miriam’s life in the city in a bid to find some common ground with his daughter. But for a grieving Ruth, exasperated at her father’s ambiguity and occupying an uneasy position managing Wolf and respecting her mother’s family, with every single day the gulf is widening.
The narrative throughout is the third-person perspective of Wolf and what becomes apparent as the story progresses are instances of repetition and peculiar breaks in an otherwise coherent narrative. At times this had me questioning whether I had read something correctly but what gradually becomes evident is that there is a far more serious issue at play and even Wolf’s fondness for alcohol can’t explain how increasingly odd he is appearing. I have never read a narrative quite like this and it is exceptionally well done without feeling laboured or heavy-handed and brought me far closer to realising how overwhelming life would seem in these circumstances. Assuming that he will play no part in her future the trip is a clumsy attempt by Wolf to set Ruth on the next phase of her life without yet revealing what the future holds for him.
Aside from the compelling insight into the fractured relationship between Wolf and his daughter I did had some issues with the novel. Despite the narrative being written from the third-person perspective of Wolf I noticed instances of head-hopping and found the relationship between Wolf and Miriam difficult to believe in with their history, and Wolf’s reasons for straying, notably absent. As someone who knows little about Judaism and the religious beliefs and practices I am not sure that I quite appreciated the subtext and understood why Miriam’s choice of burial would have upset her birth family so dramatically when surely the loss of her from their lives was the more significant matter.
A powerful and poignant read that tackles grief, faith and the regrets of a former husband and father waging an unwinnable war with his memory and is guaranteed to leave readers with much to contemplate.
February 4, 2021
When his wife Miriam days from cancer, Wolf has to take care of their 16-year-old daughter Ruth whom he hardly knows since the couple has been separated for quite some time. Miriam had one last wish: to have her ashes scattered in the Hudson River. Thus, Wolf and Ruth leave London for New York where he also hopes his daughter can find a new home with his former wife’s Jewish family. They arrive at the holy season between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Wolf has never really been religious and also their daughter has not been raised to follow religious traditions. Yet, with Miriam’s believing relatives, conflicts lie at hand. They only seem to have one mission, yet, there is something else the father has to announce to his daughter.
Austin Duffy’s novel “Ten Days” tells the story of people who have to cope with the loss of a beloved mother and wife. Even though they have not been living as a couple anymore, Wolf’s memories come back when he shows Ruth where they met, where their first kiss took place and where everything began. It seems to be quite difficult for him to deal with his intelligent and at times rebellious teenage daughter, however, the more the narration advances the more questions arise about Wolf’s behaviour which becomes not only quarrelsome but strange.
I totally enjoyed the novel since the characters are lively drawn and really appear to be authentic in the way they try to make sense of Miriam’s death. Ruth is quite independent and strong-willed, when Wolf’s secret is revealed, however, we also get to know another side of her character.
Not a totally emotional read, much more a slow novel which makes you ponder.
Austin Duffy’s novel “Ten Days” tells the story of people who have to cope with the loss of a beloved mother and wife. Even though they have not been living as a couple anymore, Wolf’s memories come back when he shows Ruth where they met, where their first kiss took place and where everything began. It seems to be quite difficult for him to deal with his intelligent and at times rebellious teenage daughter, however, the more the narration advances the more questions arise about Wolf’s behaviour which becomes not only quarrelsome but strange.
I totally enjoyed the novel since the characters are lively drawn and really appear to be authentic in the way they try to make sense of Miriam’s death. Ruth is quite independent and strong-willed, when Wolf’s secret is revealed, however, we also get to know another side of her character.
Not a totally emotional read, much more a slow novel which makes you ponder.
May 28, 2021
Wolf and his teenage daughter Ruth have flown from London to New York City on a solemn errand. Ruth’s mother and Wolf’s estranged wife, Miriam, recently died of cancer and, in contravention of her Jewish faith, chose cremation. Wolf and Ruth are here to scatter her ashes and happen to coincide with Judaism’s high holy days, the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The book’s major theme is memory. It gradually becomes clear that I admired the novel’s clever construction but never particularly warmed to Duffy’s prose or characters.
October 1, 2022
The story of Wolf who has left his wife Miriam and their daughter Ruth. A whirlwind successful career as a photographer involved in the heady world of album covers, the fame goes to his head. Years later, when Ruth is a teenager, he hears from Miriam who has cancer. He returns to her and stays with her up to her death. He has promised to take Miriam’s ashes back to her hometown of New York and scatter them on the Hudson River. Her conservative Jewish family were never too impressed by Wolf in the first place because he is not Jewish and she moved to London, his hometown. Wolf’s relationship with Ruth is not great and she gets exceedingly annoyed by his lack of attention and seemingly eccentric behaviour.
Prior to the trip to New York Wolf put a number of things into motion: putting the house in London up for sale and setting up a bank account for his daughter in New York. As the story unfolds and Wolf seems to more frequently zone out it becomes apparent that the dislocations in his mind are the onset of dementia.
Wolf’s parents went to Dublin from Germany and his mother got dementia. His description of his mother “he hadn’t realized how easy it was for people to cover up that sort of thing. Confabulation is the technical term for it, an easily enough learned skill, where the individual can prattle away quite pleasantly and you have to be on the lookout to notice that they didn’t answer your question with any degree of specificity, even if it was a factual one along the lines of where are you or who are you or who am I or what day or date is it today?”
The story starts with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – ten Holy Days. Taschlich (“thou wilt cast”) is also described when it is customary for Jews to recite penitential prayers at a river, symbolically casting their sins into it.
A sad book where the truth of Wolf’s diagnosis unfolds piece by piece.
Prior to the trip to New York Wolf put a number of things into motion: putting the house in London up for sale and setting up a bank account for his daughter in New York. As the story unfolds and Wolf seems to more frequently zone out it becomes apparent that the dislocations in his mind are the onset of dementia.
Wolf’s parents went to Dublin from Germany and his mother got dementia. His description of his mother “he hadn’t realized how easy it was for people to cover up that sort of thing. Confabulation is the technical term for it, an easily enough learned skill, where the individual can prattle away quite pleasantly and you have to be on the lookout to notice that they didn’t answer your question with any degree of specificity, even if it was a factual one along the lines of where are you or who are you or who am I or what day or date is it today?”
The story starts with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – ten Holy Days. Taschlich (“thou wilt cast”) is also described when it is customary for Jews to recite penitential prayers at a river, symbolically casting their sins into it.
A sad book where the truth of Wolf’s diagnosis unfolds piece by piece.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2021
When his estranged wife is diagnosed with cancer, artist Wolf comes back to the family home to care for her and their daughter Ruth. Miriam's dying wish is to be cremated and her ashes scattered in the Hudson River as she is originally from New York. So Wolf and Ruth travel to New York to reconnect with Miriam's conservative Jewish family but Wolf also has another agenda.
This book is so cleverly put together that the reader is drawn in to the wildly disparate characters. As realisation slowly dawns the mood slips into a form of pathos so when the 'truth' is revealed it is not a surprise but is eminently sad. The whole set-up of Wolf's increasing dementia is portrayed in an incredibly sympathetic manner and the redemptive love of family comes through it all. A short but very poignant read.
This book is so cleverly put together that the reader is drawn in to the wildly disparate characters. As realisation slowly dawns the mood slips into a form of pathos so when the 'truth' is revealed it is not a surprise but is eminently sad. The whole set-up of Wolf's increasing dementia is portrayed in an incredibly sympathetic manner and the redemptive love of family comes through it all. A short but very poignant read.
June 20, 2023
i really didn’t know what to make of this book,
i get why the narrator was so unreliable but i did find the book too repetitive and jarring. if looking at the book through the lens of the narrator i see why this is the case but to carry it off i felt the plot needed to be stronger.
the location and its descriptions were fantastic and i could really picture new york. the characters were interesting, even though we only get a glimpse at most of them. the father / daughter relationship was interestingly explored as was the whole family dynamic.
i particularly found the examination of grief and loss compelling, i thought this was well done, especially through the eye of the daughter character.
i get why the narrator was so unreliable but i did find the book too repetitive and jarring. if looking at the book through the lens of the narrator i see why this is the case but to carry it off i felt the plot needed to be stronger.
the location and its descriptions were fantastic and i could really picture new york. the characters were interesting, even though we only get a glimpse at most of them. the father / daughter relationship was interestingly explored as was the whole family dynamic.
i particularly found the examination of grief and loss compelling, i thought this was well done, especially through the eye of the daughter character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2021
There’s a tension between Wolf and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Ruth, as they arrive in New York to spend time with relatives during the ten holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Is it because they’ve come to scatter Miriam’s ashes and are grieving the loss of a mother and wife? Or because the in-laws have never approved of Miriam’s marrying outside the faith? Is it because Ruth is a typical teenager or that Wolf had little contact with her in the seven years he and Miriam were estranged?
Turns out ut's something more ...
https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecd...
Turns out ut's something more ...
https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecd...
July 15, 2022
Ten Days was a book that I found difficult to understand until about halfway through it. My thoughts throughout the first pages were very much 'Why can't he communicate normally with his daughter? Why is he so dismissive? Can he not just answer when people talk to him?' Pure frustration. However, this was a carefully used tool and becomes very important to the book. We later discover that Wolf, the main character, has early onset dementia and finds communication very difficult to navigate. Without this piece of information, the reader views him the same as the people who surround him who are also none the wiser.
This book really puts dementia into an understandable perspective as Wolf vividly remembers a holiday he took years ago with his wife and caring for his mother but has no recollection of who the people in front of him are. The author utilises repetition to convey Wolf's memory loss.
Overall, this is a fascinating book, but not for the faint hearted.
This book really puts dementia into an understandable perspective as Wolf vividly remembers a holiday he took years ago with his wife and caring for his mother but has no recollection of who the people in front of him are. The author utilises repetition to convey Wolf's memory loss.
Overall, this is a fascinating book, but not for the faint hearted.
May 28, 2023
I really enjoyed most of this book. The strained relationship between father, daughter and wider family was highly believable, as was the journey into dementia.
The insights into Judaism were great too, and with not a lot actually happening in the story there was ample opportunity for the characters to come to the fore.
Unfortunately it lost its way towards the end of the book - moving more into essays than plot and I don’t think the author had a clear vision on how it should end,
Overall- a good book, well written that provides plenty to think on. Just a shame that it seemed to lose its way.
The insights into Judaism were great too, and with not a lot actually happening in the story there was ample opportunity for the characters to come to the fore.
Unfortunately it lost its way towards the end of the book - moving more into essays than plot and I don’t think the author had a clear vision on how it should end,
Overall- a good book, well written that provides plenty to think on. Just a shame that it seemed to lose its way.
February 23, 2022
Thoughtfully and skilfully written, Ten Days examines the difficult relationship between a previously absent father and his daughter in the aftermath of the death of their wife/mother. Spiky teenager Ruth, resentful and hurting, struggles to deal with her dad, Wolf (who she insists on calling Mike, just to p*ss him off) and the frustration she feels at his behaviour, past and present. There are hidden reasons for the erratic nature of Mike's interactions with family and strangers, and it's here where the book excels, spooling out its secrets in an unshowy, quiet, and affecting manner.
January 19, 2024
Wtf, was that practically a debut?! I’m sorry but how fecked must publishing be that a writer of this quality is only having their first book published now. This work reads more like a 7-books-into-a-career masterpiece. So reserved, so self assured, so beautiful. Sure, his daughter says “Mike” about 27 too many times but tbh, if that’s the worst criticism I can recall about a book, then yippee kay ey motherfucker
June 30, 2021
A look at a relationship between a daughter and her estranged father, centring on the effect the death of their mother/ex-wife has on them - I found this quite believable and touching, especially from the point of view of the father and the confusion that comes with the beginnings of dementia.
March 26, 2021
Very different to hos first book, but an excellent attempt to capture what it must be like to find dementia closing in around one, without being unduly morbid or precious about it.
April 1, 2021
Loved this book.
February 8, 2022
Emma Jones
April 20, 2022
A beautifully written touching story set in contemporary New York City.
January 3, 2024
2.5 stars
January 19, 2025
I really underestimated this book, such a beautifully written story
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews