Some Bright Nowhere

The moving and well-rounded latest from Packer (after The Children’s Crusade) finds a terminally ill woman pushing her husband away and choosing to spend her last days with her two best friends. Eliot has stood by Claire since her breast cancer was first discovered eight years earlier. After Claire’s treatment ends and they prepare for in-home hospice care, she tells Eliot she’d like her childhood friend Holly and college roommate Michelle to stay with her, and he’s stunned to realize that she wants him to leave. Feeling stymied, he moves temporarily to Holly’s nearby house. Throughout, Packer explores the foundations of her central couple’s nearly 40-year marriage: the bonds, the inevitable ups and downs, the raising of their now grown children Josh, who’s still grappling with his music career, and Abby, a pediatrician who is married with two children. Though Eliot wants to continue being the attentive and understanding husband who accedes to his wife’s desires, he’s hurt and resentful about her decision, and feels supplanted by Holly and Michelle, who easily usurp his position as caregiver. Packer keeps the reader invested in her thought-provoking exploration of a marriage, as Eliot wonders why Claire doesn’t want him the most as the end of her life draws near. The author’s fans will relish this poignant novel. Agent: Sarah Bowlin, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)