Memorial Days

27 May 2019, Memorial Day. Geraldine Brooks, alone at her home on Martha’s Vineyard, receives a phone call that changes her life instantly and profoundly. Tony Horwitz, her partner of over 35 years, has died, collapsing on the street alone in Washington DC while on tour promoting his new book, a world away. Brutal.

How does one even begin to process such finite news? In Memorial Days, Brooks questions and details this deeply personal journey of grief, one that is uniquely different for every individual yet for which expectations are universal. Recounted through two storylines in alternating chapters, the first recounts the events at the time of Horwitz’s death and in the immediate months following. The second storyline takes place on Flinders Island three years later, when Brooks escapes there and allows herself the time and permission to finally grieve.

The complexities of ‘duties’ in the aftermath of Horwitz’s sudden death, and the blur of the details – of identifying the body; breaking the news to her sons, siblings and Tony’s elderly mother; the generosity of community; and the rigmarole of dealing with overburdened healthcare systems and impersonal financial institutions – are all beautifully told with warmth and candour. We learn of the details of Horwitz’s last meal, an unremarkable breakfast at a cafe, but share in the comfort that this knowledge of a regular, commonplace activity of daily life can bring. All this while trying to complete her novel, Horse.

On the rugged Australian coastline of Flinders Island, reflective, Brooks recalls a relationship both professional – two accomplished Pulitzer Prize-winning writers and journalists with an adventurous shared past across different continents – and everyday, filled with love and humour.

Brooks is a remarkably gifted storyteller and writer, whatever the genre may be. Give yourself the time to read Memorial Days, you will want to read it in one sitting if you can. I highly recommend it.