Kristan Higgins’ latest novel, Pack Up the Moon, isn’t for everyone. However, if you’re one of those readers who cried and loved Cecelia Ahern’s 2004 debut, PS, I Love You, as I did, you’ll want to try this book. I can think of several people, though, who shouldn’t even read the review of this book about a woman who dies, leaving behind a grieving husband. Higgins’ voice, though, is wonderful in this story.

Readers meet Lauren Park through her letter to her deceased father, written just eight days before she dies. She’s not quite twenty-nine, but she’s dying of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, IPF, a disease that will eventually take away her lung capacity. There’s no cure, although Lauren’s brilliant husband, Joshua, does everything he can to find a cure before he loses the woman who loves and understands him.

Lauren knows she’s dying, and wants her life to be filled with joy and laughter. She also knows that Josh will be lost without her. Lauren sees Josh as “a wildly successful, gorgeous entrepreneur”. He holds multiple patents, but he’s also on the autism spectrum. He has a rough time “peopling” , and lacks social skills. Lauren is his connection to the social world. When Lauren dies, Josh doesn’t know how to continue to live or deal with people.

Lauren understands that, and she’s written letters to guide Josh. Her best friend delivers one a month. He’s told to invite several people over for dinner. Buy new clothes. Get rid of their bed and couch. Each task is difficult for Josh, but he moves ahead a little with each task. There are several disasters, but also opportunities to find connections with other people.

If this was a novel just with letters to Josh moving him along in life, it might become a little too boring. But, Higgins wisely allows Lauren to tell the story of how she reacted to the news she was dying, and how she coped, ignoring it, until she couldn’t. She does that by writing to the father who died eight years earlier. She tells him what’s going on in her life, and her hopes for the GB, the Great Beyond.

Pack Up the Moon isn’t just a tragic story of a young couple who barely make it to their third anniversary. It’s a story filled with compassion and love, some sass from Lauren, some humor. Even Josh’s worst moments sometimes lead to laughter and the chance to move forward. If you’re willing to be moved both to laughter and tears at times, Kristan Higgins’ Pack Up the Moon is a story of how to live life to the fullest, and how to eventually find joy again.

Kristan Higgins’ website is https://www.kristanhiggins.com/

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins. Berkley, 9780593335369 (hardcover), 448p.

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