Book ~ "We Are All Made of Stars" (2016) Rowan Coleman

From Goodreads ~ Stella Carey has good reason to only work nights at the hospice where she is a nurse. Married to a war veteran who has returned from Afghanistan brutally injured, Stella leaves the house each night as Vincent locks himself away, unable to sleep due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

During her nights at the hospice, Stella writes letters for her patients, detailing their final wishes, thoughts and feelings – from how to use a washing machine, to advice on how to be a good parent – and posts them after their death.

That is until Stella writes one letter that she feels compelled to deliver in time, to give her patient one final chance of redemption.

Stella is a hospice nurse who works night shifts, partly to avoid her husband, Vincent, an Afghanistan veteran who is struggling with the scars of war and the loss of his leg. At the hospice, Stella has a special role ... she writes letters for patients to be sent after they die. These letters are full of things people waited too long to say ... love, apologies, confessions and unfinished business. With one patient's letter, Stella has to decide whether to follow the rules or deliver it before the patient's death.

Hope is a 21-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis, who after a near-death experience, is staying temporarily at the the hospice. She still lives at home with her parents and because she assumes she won't be living to an old age because of CF, tends to be negative and brooding. Her best friend is Ben and is the opposite of her as he is lively and outgoing.

Hugh is a curator at a small museum and lives alone with his cat, Jake. His mother had committed suicide when he was young and his father recently passed away dying. Reluctantly he meets his next door neighbor and her son and gets pulled into their life.

I thought this book was okay. I found it a bit draggy and depressing, especially considering the subject matter. I think it would have been a better story if the Hope/Ben portion was left out (and maybe moved into it's own book) because it didn't really add anything and I found Stella and Hugh's stories more interesting. It's written in first person perspective in Stella, Hope and Hugh's voices. The letters Stella writes are included and were intriguing. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Day We Met" (2015) Rowan Coleman

From Goodreads ~ The name of your first-born. The face of your lover. Your age. Your address …

What would happen if your memory of these began to fade?

Is it possible to rebuild your life? Raise a family? Fall in love again?

When Claire starts to write her Memory Book, she already knows that this scrapbook of mementoes will soon be all her daughters and husband have of her. In her mid-40s, Claire is scared and increasingly confused by the world around her, struggling to hold onto her identity as thoughts of her mother, her daughters and her husband grow fuzzier every day. Fearing what will happen if those memories fade altogether, her family’s gift of a red sketchpad is her most treasured possession. As they fill it with scenes from a joyous life lived together, Claire again experiences the ecstatic highs and terrible lows of a life well lived: full of heartbreak and love, tears and laughter.

Claire was a single mother approaching 40 with a teenage daughter (Caitlin) when she met Greg, a contractor who was younger than she was.  They fell in love, had a child (Esther) together and got married.  Then Claire discovered that she has early onset Alzheimer's.  Her mother, Ruth, moves in with them to take care of her, just as she had taken care of her husband (Claire's father) before he died of the same disease when Claire was young.

For a while, Claire is able to live a normal life.  But her illness forces her to quit her job as a teacher and she isn't allowed to drive anymore.  In the beginning, Claire occasionally loses touch with reality but it gets progressively worse as time goes on.  To help her preserve her memories, Greg gives her a book and it becomes a family project.

As Claire gets worse, everyone does everything they can to keep an eye on her but she manages to get out of the house and then ends up confused some place somewhere else in time.  Did a minute pass or was it a couple hours?  Claire has no idea.  As 20-year-old Caitlin deals with her mother's illness, she has some additional issues in her own life to contend with.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  It's written in first person from various perspectives ... Claire, Greg, Caitlin and Ruth.  When it's from Claire's perspective, it's when she is having a good day but also when she isn't ... she can't remember how to read to Esther or even the name of that thing you pour water down in the kitchen (a sink).

I liked the characters and felt for them (especially Greg because eventually Claire doesn't remember her feelings for him and shuts him out).  I found three-year-old Esther a bit annoying at times.  I liked that she and Claire became childlike conspirators but I would have thought that a three-year-old would have had a better grasp of the English language than she did.

I look forward to reading other books by this author.