What do you think?
Rate this book
Hello Goodbye
In a single week, a family leaves behind its past and a daughter awakens to the future in Emily Chenoweth’s intimate and beautifully crafted debut novel.
In the winter of 1990, Helen Hansen – counselor, wife, and mother in the prime of her life – is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The following August, Helen, her husband, Elliott, and their daughter, Abby, a freshman in college, take a trip to northern New Hampshire, where Helen will be able to say goodbye to a lifetime of friends. Ensconced in a historic resort in the White Mountains – a place where afternoon cocktails are served on the veranda and men are expected to wear jackets after six – the Hansens and their guests must improvise their own rituals of remembrance and reconnection.
For Elliott, the trip is a parting gift to his beloved wife, as well as some needed respite from the caretaking duties that have become his main work. For Helen and the procession of old friends who come to pay their respects, the days offer a poignant celebration of a dear, too-brief life. And for Abby, still unaware that her mother’s cancer is terminal, the week brings a surprising conflict between loyalty and desire as, drawn by the youthful, spirited hotel staff, she finds herself caught between the affections of two very different young men.
Heartbreaking and luminous, Hello Goodbye deftly explores a family’s struggle with love and loss, as a summer vacation becomes an occasion for awakening rather than farewell, and life inevitably blossoms in the face of death.
In the winter of 1990, Helen Hansen – counselor, wife, and mother in the prime of her life – is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The following August, Helen, her husband, Elliott, and their daughter, Abby, a freshman in college, take a trip to northern New Hampshire, where Helen will be able to say goodbye to a lifetime of friends. Ensconced in a historic resort in the White Mountains – a place where afternoon cocktails are served on the veranda and men are expected to wear jackets after six – the Hansens and their guests must improvise their own rituals of remembrance and reconnection.
For Elliott, the trip is a parting gift to his beloved wife, as well as some needed respite from the caretaking duties that have become his main work. For Helen and the procession of old friends who come to pay their respects, the days offer a poignant celebration of a dear, too-brief life. And for Abby, still unaware that her mother’s cancer is terminal, the week brings a surprising conflict between loyalty and desire as, drawn by the youthful, spirited hotel staff, she finds herself caught between the affections of two very different young men.
Heartbreaking and luminous, Hello Goodbye deftly explores a family’s struggle with love and loss, as a summer vacation becomes an occasion for awakening rather than farewell, and life inevitably blossoms in the face of death.
273 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2009
28 people are currently reading
1448 people want to read
About the author
Emily Chenoweth
10 books20 followersEmily Chenoweth is a former fiction editor of Publishers Weekly. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Bookforum, and People, among other publications. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
July 27, 2011
I honestly don't know where to begin. This book was a very emotional read for me. I wouldn't say the book is full of sad moments, it's not. I think it's because my personal life is experiencing a similar situation. This book made me cry. It made me laugh. It made me shake my head. I connected with each and every character presented. In my opinion, this book was real. It was raw. It was fantastic.
It tells the story of Elliott, Helen and Abby. Helen, the mother has been diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer. She has only months to live so Elliott puts together an anniversary party and invites all their friends. It's said that Helen isn't told she is dying but throughout the story it seems to me as if she does know. It's as if Helen is giving her family what they need instead of vice-versa. I love that the story explores the feelings of Elliott, Helen, Abby and their friends. When we are experiencing something traumatic we sometimes forget how it affects others. As a daughter, I especially loved Abby. 18 years old. Coming into her life as her mother leaves hers. A wonderful heartwarming story.
It tells the story of Elliott, Helen and Abby. Helen, the mother has been diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer. She has only months to live so Elliott puts together an anniversary party and invites all their friends. It's said that Helen isn't told she is dying but throughout the story it seems to me as if she does know. It's as if Helen is giving her family what they need instead of vice-versa. I love that the story explores the feelings of Elliott, Helen, Abby and their friends. When we are experiencing something traumatic we sometimes forget how it affects others. As a daughter, I especially loved Abby. 18 years old. Coming into her life as her mother leaves hers. A wonderful heartwarming story.
July 30, 2009
There wasn't anything I didn't like about this book...but I just don't think it will stick with me. Well written characters, especially the teenage daughter. However, this is a book more about a weekend and how a terminal illness effects the people involved...not a lot of "plot".
June 22, 2011
I did not enjoy this book. This was a book I started reading with the hopes of it getting better and by the time i was halfway through it I wanted it to be over. I found it very slow moving with little hills throughout. something small would happen and then you would be back to mundane everyday living...something small...back to everyday living, etc. The positive in this book is I do think it did well touching on the characters feelings about death and showing how each dealt with it. However, I just thought it was lacking overall.
May 11, 2010
I would give this book ten stars if I could. Beautifully written, with gorgeous prose and deep emotion, it tells the tale of a woman with terminal brain cancer, and the struggle of her family to spend their last days together. A farewell gathering of old friends, wrapped up in the guise of an anniversary party, takes center stage as each person who knows and loves Helen says their goodbyes. Her husband and daughter each connect to Helen in their own way, and the emotion is so heartfelt and real. I am so impressed by this author's ability to walk a fine line between sorrow and reflection, making the reader realize how fragile life is, and why we should be grateful for the gifts in life we are given.
August 15, 2011
This was such a sad but beautiful story about how illness effects one family.
July 15, 2012
Helen returns back one morning from a refreshing run, looking forward to her day, only to get a seizure. This sends her off to plenty of hospital tests after which it is determined that Helen has inoperable brain cancer. The doctors tells her husband, Elliot, that she has 9 months, but Helen doesn't know that yet***, since it's her hope that's holding her so far. With just 3 months left out of the original estimated 9, Elliot plans to spend their wedding anniversary at the Presidential hotel in New Hampshire with a few very close friends. To him, this is more of a goodbye trip for Helen, although she doesn't know that yet. What follows is a way for each of them - Elliot, Helen, and their teen daughter, Abby, to come to terms with Helen's illness.
*** I didn't notice this at first, but after two readers pointed out, I realized that it is weird that Helen isn't told of her time left on earth. I could understand Elliot's reasoning - he wants to keep Helen's hope alive and wants her to keep fighting. What if...? But, I do know that the doctors (most definitely in the US) wouldn't hold back that information, especially to avoid lawsuits - that would also be the hospital policy. Now that I've reflected on it, it does sound very strange and the only way I can explain it out is that the doctors probably didn't have time to spend with Helen because she was very ill. This definitely goes against what Elliot says about the doctors' reasoning.
This was a very different kind of book. It talks of a pending death due to terminal illness, but not in a depressing way. The author talks about death, and yet doesn't talk about it either, if that makes sense. It reflects the state of the characters - the illness is foremost in their minds but they try to bury it under several distractions. Isn't that how anyone tries to respond to a life-changing matter? Each character tries to address their fears and worries while still dealing with the usual yearnings of life.
I was most able to connect with Abby. It's not always that I can say that I connect with a teen, but Abby's emotions felt so realistic and vulnerable that it was hard not to relate. Seeing her mother as a shadow of her former self was stressing her out. Helen made simple spelling mistakes, was tired more often, acted childish sometimes and was so thin that her usual clothes could wrap two of her. This pained Abby a lot, but at the same time, she didn't want to acknowledge it, because then it would be more real than it is. She tries to find comfort in companionship. When a boy at the hotel starts showing interest in her, she feels special.
Elliot on the other side, made me feel deeply for him. Elliot and Helen were just in their forties, too early for death to claim either. When Elliot is with a group of couples having fun, he enjoys the company one minute and next minute, the realization that he will be alone soon shatters him. He feels terrible about holding the whole burden of Helen's time left, but he doesn't feel up to sharing with anyone.
I loved the addition of the close friends to the story. On one hand, it livens up the story, on the other, it makes the stark contrast between Helen's family and the other families even clearer. Even though they are their closest friends, with whom they have spent many a vacation, in matters of illness and death, one is still alone. There were times when I felt there was an excess focus on the trivial matters, but I still enjoyed the character focus these sections brought about.
Despite the depressing matter of death, this book hardly felt depressing. Mind you, I was reading this one at a time when I was feeling pretty low myself, and yet I was able to read it without feeling depressed. A few months back, I read a memoir about a person trying to come to terms with her mother's death, and finding it a near-impossibility. Hello Goodbye is from the other side - the whole period of anticipation, and how that can still never get you ready. You start hoping for miracles, or even buying and trying out the so-called "miracle cures" that never work. Although I have never been through either experience, I felt I could understand both at a very deep level, since I have been though similar feelings because of something terrible that happened last year. I found the reactions of the characters very realistic, and it always amazed me that the person actually going through the illness-death process is the most accepting of all.
Hello Goodbye is written in a quick fast-paced style that I found easy to read anytime, anywhere. Also, the prose was split into very short chapters. I found this a plus so far as reading was concerned, but I also thought it matched the state of the characters, in which they all dwell on the same subject and yet switch topics in their head quickly.
Overall, this was a really wonderful read, one that I would recommend. I didn't love this book, but I definitely enjoyed reading it, if that is the right choice of word here. I thought there were some parts that felt a little too convenient, but I was willing to forgive those, because I was more interested in the mental/emotional journey of the characters.
*** I didn't notice this at first, but after two readers pointed out, I realized that it is weird that Helen isn't told of her time left on earth. I could understand Elliot's reasoning - he wants to keep Helen's hope alive and wants her to keep fighting. What if...? But, I do know that the doctors (most definitely in the US) wouldn't hold back that information, especially to avoid lawsuits - that would also be the hospital policy. Now that I've reflected on it, it does sound very strange and the only way I can explain it out is that the doctors probably didn't have time to spend with Helen because she was very ill. This definitely goes against what Elliot says about the doctors' reasoning.
This was a very different kind of book. It talks of a pending death due to terminal illness, but not in a depressing way. The author talks about death, and yet doesn't talk about it either, if that makes sense. It reflects the state of the characters - the illness is foremost in their minds but they try to bury it under several distractions. Isn't that how anyone tries to respond to a life-changing matter? Each character tries to address their fears and worries while still dealing with the usual yearnings of life.
I was most able to connect with Abby. It's not always that I can say that I connect with a teen, but Abby's emotions felt so realistic and vulnerable that it was hard not to relate. Seeing her mother as a shadow of her former self was stressing her out. Helen made simple spelling mistakes, was tired more often, acted childish sometimes and was so thin that her usual clothes could wrap two of her. This pained Abby a lot, but at the same time, she didn't want to acknowledge it, because then it would be more real than it is. She tries to find comfort in companionship. When a boy at the hotel starts showing interest in her, she feels special.
Elliot on the other side, made me feel deeply for him. Elliot and Helen were just in their forties, too early for death to claim either. When Elliot is with a group of couples having fun, he enjoys the company one minute and next minute, the realization that he will be alone soon shatters him. He feels terrible about holding the whole burden of Helen's time left, but he doesn't feel up to sharing with anyone.
I loved the addition of the close friends to the story. On one hand, it livens up the story, on the other, it makes the stark contrast between Helen's family and the other families even clearer. Even though they are their closest friends, with whom they have spent many a vacation, in matters of illness and death, one is still alone. There were times when I felt there was an excess focus on the trivial matters, but I still enjoyed the character focus these sections brought about.
Despite the depressing matter of death, this book hardly felt depressing. Mind you, I was reading this one at a time when I was feeling pretty low myself, and yet I was able to read it without feeling depressed. A few months back, I read a memoir about a person trying to come to terms with her mother's death, and finding it a near-impossibility. Hello Goodbye is from the other side - the whole period of anticipation, and how that can still never get you ready. You start hoping for miracles, or even buying and trying out the so-called "miracle cures" that never work. Although I have never been through either experience, I felt I could understand both at a very deep level, since I have been though similar feelings because of something terrible that happened last year. I found the reactions of the characters very realistic, and it always amazed me that the person actually going through the illness-death process is the most accepting of all.
Hello Goodbye is written in a quick fast-paced style that I found easy to read anytime, anywhere. Also, the prose was split into very short chapters. I found this a plus so far as reading was concerned, but I also thought it matched the state of the characters, in which they all dwell on the same subject and yet switch topics in their head quickly.
Overall, this was a really wonderful read, one that I would recommend. I didn't love this book, but I definitely enjoyed reading it, if that is the right choice of word here. I thought there were some parts that felt a little too convenient, but I was willing to forgive those, because I was more interested in the mental/emotional journey of the characters.
August 27, 2011
At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book - it had the potential to be a long and depressing story filled with repetition of the pain of grief. However, Chenoweth exceeded my expectations and offered a novel that was so sincere and realistic that it often had me crying. This is certainly going to be a book I remember to offer friends going through the loss of a loved one. The best part about this book is that it covers different types of grieving - by switching perspectives between the mother, dying of brin cancer, the husband, and the daughter, as well as by showing snapshots of their friends coming to realize that not only is the end inevitable, but that it is rapidly approaching, the reader gets a sense of various kinds of grief by watching all of these people gong through it. Chenoweth's writing is so poignant that at points, I even felt that I was going through it with them.
Other reviewers have chastised the daughter for being so selfish while her mother is dying, but I think that this is selling the book short - if you take a closer look, it becomes clear that the daughter just doesn't know how to grieve and she is so caught up in her adolescent self-importance that she doesn't always make the right choices. Does that mean she isn't hurting inside just as much as the others? No, it just means she is trying to figure out how to deal with it. Let's be honest, if your mother was dying and you were just barely into college, would you have known exactly what to do? I remember being quite self-absorbed at that age and I know that I probably would have made some mistakes too. Therefore, I think Chenoweth's portrayal of the daughter isn't "irritating" as some have said, but real. She didn't just show us the standard portrayals of grief, she showed us the harder to understand ones too. Similarly, the portrayal of the husband's grief, towards the end of the novel, also becomes a bit less 'perfect' in its portrayal. You see a weakness of his, but rather than find him less sympathetic, I found him to be more real and my heart went out to him even more.
Believe me, I am not usually one to go on like this about a sappy, sentimental book, but given the subject matter, Chenoweth has turned this into something much more than the trite and affected book that I was kind of expecting. This is one that I think will go beyond library book status for me and will earn a place on my bookshelves. Read it, it really is incredible.
Other reviewers have chastised the daughter for being so selfish while her mother is dying, but I think that this is selling the book short - if you take a closer look, it becomes clear that the daughter just doesn't know how to grieve and she is so caught up in her adolescent self-importance that she doesn't always make the right choices. Does that mean she isn't hurting inside just as much as the others? No, it just means she is trying to figure out how to deal with it. Let's be honest, if your mother was dying and you were just barely into college, would you have known exactly what to do? I remember being quite self-absorbed at that age and I know that I probably would have made some mistakes too. Therefore, I think Chenoweth's portrayal of the daughter isn't "irritating" as some have said, but real. She didn't just show us the standard portrayals of grief, she showed us the harder to understand ones too. Similarly, the portrayal of the husband's grief, towards the end of the novel, also becomes a bit less 'perfect' in its portrayal. You see a weakness of his, but rather than find him less sympathetic, I found him to be more real and my heart went out to him even more.
Believe me, I am not usually one to go on like this about a sappy, sentimental book, but given the subject matter, Chenoweth has turned this into something much more than the trite and affected book that I was kind of expecting. This is one that I think will go beyond library book status for me and will earn a place on my bookshelves. Read it, it really is incredible.
December 16, 2015
lovely and surprising.
There was a moment in the movie "Shadowlands" when a dying Deborah Winger tells Anthony Hopkins (as her husband C.S. Lewis) that the joy that they grab hold to in the present will make her future absence even more painful, but that her future absence is what makes THIS moment, this NOW, so beautiful and joyful.
This book is a lovely few days in a family's retreat in New England to ostensibly celebrate an anniversary with their friends... it would be a subtle, well-observed tale of family, friends and humanity even if that were the whole of the tale. But the mother Helen is actually terminal and her husband set this up as a way to give their friends a chance to say goodbye (and to tell his daughter who doesn't know there is no hope). It is sentimental in all the best ways... avoiding the maudlin while savoring all those quiet moments and histories that make us a person, a family unit, a friend.
It manages to be in turns tragic and joyful without making me bawl. It reminded me to love my body as it is now (as I love my teenage body in hindsight but failed to do in the present), it reminded me of what it is like to be a horrible and yet wonderful teenager, it reminded me of the little things that make up a marriage and turn it into something wonderful (or the little things that can break it)... I managed to love it without feeling like gushing, it is more a quiet relishing.
This fits the PopSugar Challenge for a book with antonyms in its title, which is why I discovered it (happily so). I recommend it!
There was a moment in the movie "Shadowlands" when a dying Deborah Winger tells Anthony Hopkins (as her husband C.S. Lewis) that the joy that they grab hold to in the present will make her future absence even more painful, but that her future absence is what makes THIS moment, this NOW, so beautiful and joyful.
This book is a lovely few days in a family's retreat in New England to ostensibly celebrate an anniversary with their friends... it would be a subtle, well-observed tale of family, friends and humanity even if that were the whole of the tale. But the mother Helen is actually terminal and her husband set this up as a way to give their friends a chance to say goodbye (and to tell his daughter who doesn't know there is no hope). It is sentimental in all the best ways... avoiding the maudlin while savoring all those quiet moments and histories that make us a person, a family unit, a friend.
It manages to be in turns tragic and joyful without making me bawl. It reminded me to love my body as it is now (as I love my teenage body in hindsight but failed to do in the present), it reminded me of what it is like to be a horrible and yet wonderful teenager, it reminded me of the little things that make up a marriage and turn it into something wonderful (or the little things that can break it)... I managed to love it without feeling like gushing, it is more a quiet relishing.
It’s ironic, isn’t it,she thinks -- you don’t have to get more attractive to catch your husband’s eye; you can just get sick and ugly.
But God she loved that old self of hers! She hadn’t appreciated it enough. Why hadn’t she celebrated those big strong thighs instead of trying all the time to shrink them? Why hadn’t she found her feet beautiful, or her sturdy ankles? Why hadn’t she loved her coarse, graying hair? Why had she not praised every perfect square inch of herself? She feels an almost unbearable ache of longing for all that doesn’t belong to her anymore.
This fits the PopSugar Challenge for a book with antonyms in its title, which is why I discovered it (happily so). I recommend it!
June 25, 2010
A sweet and smartly written book about the cycle of life; beginnings and endings. This was the author's first novel and one containing deep truths about grief, aging, love and uncertainties. It tells the story about a woman in her mid 40's who is dying of brain cancer. To mark her upcoming 20th anniversary-her husband arranges for a week-long stay at a resort in the mountains of NH that sounds exactly like the MT Washington Hotel. He also arranges for 6 friends to come and celebrate with them over a gala dinner at the resort. Their daughter Abby is a sophomore in college and this story is as much about her exploring her independence and sexuality as it is the tale of her mother letting go of hers. Some chapters focus on Abby (the daughter) others on the father's perspective as he observes his adult daughter, or dying wife. What I loves most about this book were the subtleties. The author often hints at something that you might think is foreshadowing but it isn't. I think she is expressing each person is a complex mix of secrets and a wide spectrum of behaviors. Just as humans are unpredictable the author tells us a the story of a family without being trite or cliche. The descriptions of the environment and atmosphere are unique and lovely. The author is wonderful at writing about incidental characters and suggesting who they are and what is going on in their heads.
July 11, 2011
While this book doesn't neatly wrap up in a tidy package, it is a very human story. The writer does a very good job of creating a host of characters, most of whom are made real by their honest (and haphazard) attempts to grapple with terminal illness. There were times when I wanted to smack Elliot and Abby for their seeming selfish attitudes; the voice of Helen was fragile and precious, and I wish the reader were given more chances to hear the story from her perspective.
This story has many layers and at times seemed a little overreaching, but in the end, the book does the story justice. I particularly liked the setting-- a mammoth hotel of yesteryear set in the mountains of New England, attended to by a bunch of teenagers.
Yes, at times the book was a bit slow, but there were some very moving characters, all of whom were mirrors for the grief of Elliot, Helen, and Abby. Some exquisitely written pages. All in all, a pretty good read.
This story has many layers and at times seemed a little overreaching, but in the end, the book does the story justice. I particularly liked the setting-- a mammoth hotel of yesteryear set in the mountains of New England, attended to by a bunch of teenagers.
Yes, at times the book was a bit slow, but there were some very moving characters, all of whom were mirrors for the grief of Elliot, Helen, and Abby. Some exquisitely written pages. All in all, a pretty good read.
November 23, 2009
This novel received good reviews, and was, indeed, a solid effort. It contains some lovely passages and nicely identifies some truths.
However, overall the novel is trapped somewhere between an awkward young adult novel and an unsatisfying novel for adults about a family's grief. For as many passages that pleased there were an equal number that caused a grimace ("the rustling leaves said, Hush, hush," and "In her chest, a box opened and something fell out").
The contrast between the very good versus the borderline maudlin passages made for interesting if not always enjoyable reading. Hopefully, Chenoweth's next effort will shed some of this novel's clumsiness and do a better job of showcasing her talent.
However, overall the novel is trapped somewhere between an awkward young adult novel and an unsatisfying novel for adults about a family's grief. For as many passages that pleased there were an equal number that caused a grimace ("the rustling leaves said, Hush, hush," and "In her chest, a box opened and something fell out").
The contrast between the very good versus the borderline maudlin passages made for interesting if not always enjoyable reading. Hopefully, Chenoweth's next effort will shed some of this novel's clumsiness and do a better job of showcasing her talent.
September 4, 2010
If it weren't for the emotionally difficult subject matter of this book, I would classify it as breezy summer reading. The author didn't delve deeply into any of the characters. Usually, I read every word in a book and often go back to re-read entire passages. I found myself skimming over entire pages and feeling like I hadn't missed a thing.
September 26, 2009
I had read such good reviews of this book, but was disappointed. It started out well, but then the pace of the book became so slow. It did not hold my interest, and the subject matter was very depressing.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Hello Goodbye - Nevisande : Emily Chenoweth - ISBN : 006203460X - ISBN13 : 9780062034601 - Dar 273 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2009
August 6, 2025
I had a lot of feelings while reading this book, the rather simple tale of a family who go to a fancy resort for vacation. The wrinkle is that the mother has terminal cancer, although her college-age daughter doesn’t know it yet.
As I’ve briefly mentioned in some of my recent reviews, I myself have had a health crisis this year. A Sunday afternoon trip to the emergency room for what I thought was a bad UTI led to two inpatient hospital stays and two surgeries. (I’ve just celebrated the two-month anniversary of my second surgery, I’m healing remarkably well, and my overall condition seems to be improving.)
While I was reading the book, I identified strongly with the mother, Helen, who can’t do the things that she used to do and is having to accept that she probably never will again. Then I realized something— although I vividly remember feeling the way she does, I’m actually getting better every day and am probably going to be fine. I’d never put that thought into words before, and it took reading about a terminal cancer patient to get me there.
The book itself is much less depressing than you might expect. Chenoweth’s prose is finally wrought and really elevates the material. Although the story is ostensibly set at a resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, descriptions of certain rooms and views reminded me so strongly of my beloved Mohonk that I’m putting this book on my Mohonk shelf, just because.
As I’ve briefly mentioned in some of my recent reviews, I myself have had a health crisis this year. A Sunday afternoon trip to the emergency room for what I thought was a bad UTI led to two inpatient hospital stays and two surgeries. (I’ve just celebrated the two-month anniversary of my second surgery, I’m healing remarkably well, and my overall condition seems to be improving.)
While I was reading the book, I identified strongly with the mother, Helen, who can’t do the things that she used to do and is having to accept that she probably never will again. Then I realized something— although I vividly remember feeling the way she does, I’m actually getting better every day and am probably going to be fine. I’d never put that thought into words before, and it took reading about a terminal cancer patient to get me there.
The book itself is much less depressing than you might expect. Chenoweth’s prose is finally wrought and really elevates the material. Although the story is ostensibly set at a resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, descriptions of certain rooms and views reminded me so strongly of my beloved Mohonk that I’m putting this book on my Mohonk shelf, just because.
February 23, 2022
Después de su primer semestre de carrera, Abby 👱🏼♀️regresa a su casa a pasar las vacaciones con sus papás 👨👩👧 en un resort muy elegante. Ella no tiene tantas ganas de ir peroooo podrían ser las últimas vacaciones de su mamá 👩🏼, que está enferma de cáncer. El papá 🧔🏻planeó una cena de aniversario con todos sus amigos. Todo el libro trata de esa semana en el hotel, con los amigos y la manera de como se enfrentan al ver a Helen muy enferma. Me gustó 😁 por que todo el tiempo te sientes parte de la historia, por que la cuentan (una parte) cada personaje. Está triste la historia 🙁🙁 y aparte te das cuenta que ni Helen ni Abby 👩🏼👱🏼♀️ saben que el cáncer es terminal 😵 y que tiene menos de seis meses para vivir🤭. Me gustaron las interacciones de los amigos por que todos reaccionan suuuper diferente a la noticia y te das cuenta que ni los adultos saben como reaccionar y como comportarse en situaciones como esta. El libro se acaba después de la semana de vacaciones y me chocaaaaa 😡😡😡 que dejen las historias inconclusas... jajaja pero bueno fuera de eso, si me gustó. (Ahorita escribiendo la reseña entendí el título 🙄del libro... jajaja no entendía por que no le habían puesto una coma entre hello y goodbye y es por que le están diciendo hola al adiós😮😮😮😮.)
January 25, 2020
A story that's told in alternating voices from inside the heads of three members of a family, Helen, Elliott, and Abby - wife, husband, daughter. The mother begins, with the well described explosive attack inside her head that turns out to be brain cancer. Immediately the story jumps to six months later when the family takes a vacation trip to New Hampshire where they'll celebrate among old friends their 20th wedding anniversary. It is during the events of that week that the characters' relationships are related and described in terms of the new awfulness - the debilitating reality of Helen's cancer - in their lives. It took some time for me to warm to the characters. Even as the story ended I didn't understand some of the motivation and /or choices of various scenes. But, it did seem believable that characters with their stresses could do some flaky things. I enjoyed it but I didn't cry; given the subject matter, I expected to have tears.
May 29, 2018
Helen gets back from a run and while making coffee has a seizure, she is diagnosed with brain cancer. The book is told from the viewpoints of Helen, her husband Elliot, and her college aged daughter Abby. Elliot plans a week vacation at a historic beautiful hotel in New Hampshire to spend quality family time as well as invites some of their closest friends as both an anniversary party and a way for them all to be able to say goodbye to Helen.
Having gone through a similar experience at the same time in my life as Abby there were many moments that hit me hard. At the same time, I felt a lot of the book just kind of dragged along. It’s a hard book to rate but I’m glad I read it.
Having gone through a similar experience at the same time in my life as Abby there were many moments that hit me hard. At the same time, I felt a lot of the book just kind of dragged along. It’s a hard book to rate but I’m glad I read it.
December 6, 2024
At first this book had a slow start, I almost didn’t finish it but I had hope it would get better. It wasn’t until the middle of the book that I started to enjoy reading it. It did get better as it got to the end of the book, but I did find it interesting that this book was based on some real events which is why I rated it a three. The fact that someone took the time to write a book based on real events in their life is amazing that they wanted to share. If I could I would rate it 3.5 at least but overall it was an interesting ending and I enjoyed some of the characters.
August 15, 2017
I had no expectations, and it finished well. The prose was meandering, however, and I didn't connect with any of the characters. The author did a lovely job of showing the vulnerabilities and awkwardness of each character, and it should have warmed me. I guess I am not in the right mindspace to read about a dying mother and the legacy of love she is leaving. I might revisit it at another time.
May 20, 2021
Way too slow and dull, and I kept thinking of the movie ‘Dirty Dancing’, where the teenage daughter of hotel guests becomes friendly with the hotel staff. But I digress - this book was nothing like the movie.
Too many unanswered questions and by the time I got to the Duke’s ending, I was annoyed with the book.
Too many unanswered questions and by the time I got to the Duke’s ending, I was annoyed with the book.
November 21, 2018
Yikes. I always like to leave a short review with the books I dislike to give some reasons why. Needless to say, this book was a mess. If anyone has read it you’ll agree. This writer needs an editor BAD.
October 11, 2023
I found the first half of the book too slow and a little boring to be honest. But the second half was quite interesting and enjoyable. The main characters are so well written and was easy to relate and understand them.
July 16, 2024
I appreciated how the author found the beauty in ordinary moments and the real messiness of life. It perhaps wasn't one of my best choices to read a book about a woman dying of cancer, but it certainly helps point out the importance of appreciating the little things.
August 12, 2017
I've read far worse books this summer. I'd give it three and a half it that was available to me. Easy to read. Interesting characters. Just felt ordinary.
March 26, 2018
Well written & very sad.
August 23, 2019
3.5 stars.
October 11, 2022
Seemed like it took forever to get through. It wasn't a book I'd hurry through my day so I could sit down and read.
July 29, 2024
Very slow and didn't feel like a hello Goodbye.
September 21, 2024
Such a good book!! The details in this are amazing and I feel lm right there with the characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews