What remains

Earlier this afternoon I finished reading the book What remains: A memoir of fate, friendship and love by Carole Radziwill. I started reading it on the plane to London earlier this week but I wasn’t able to finish on my way home. Which in this case was very good since the last part of the book really made cry and I don’t mean shading a tear or two. I was really bawling and squalling.

Carole Radziwill tells the story of losing her husband to cancer just three weeks after the tragic death of Carolyn and John Kennedy Jr. Carolyn being her best friend and John the cousin of Carole’s husband Anthony Radziwill.

It is a sad story and we all know how it’s going to end, but at the same time it is a very honest and sincere story dealing with the deeply conflicting and confusing emotions surrounding illness and death and probably one of the reasons why the book moved me so much. Even though only being a teenager I remember very well my dad ‘s battle with cancer and the endless visits to doctors and hospitals. Just another round of chemo. Just another surgery. Just this. Just that. Then everything will be fine again. Hope is the last thing to die. Carole describes exactly everything to the tee.

The book also gives us a rare insight of the Kennedy way of life and the last moments before that fatal crash. All in all it’s a beautiful book about friendship, love and loss and a very good read. Just be prepared to bring out the tissues in the end.