When You Read This
Mary Adkins
Told entirely in emails and messages as people grieve a young woman's death. Funny and sad in equal measure.
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Perfection
Vincenzo Latronico
A young expat couple in Berlin with the perfectly curated life and a creeping sense that none of it means anything. Short and quietly devastating.
Us
David Nicholls
A husband tries to save his marriage on a family tour of Europe. Funny and sad in that very Nicholls way.
★ 5Writers & Lovers
Lily King
The protagonist of Lily King’s novel Writers & Lovers lives in Cambridge, too, but Casey is older than Becky, a little more rudderless. Her mother has just died, her boyfriend has broken up with her, and she’s living in a garden shed splitting her time between waitressing and writing. It sounds depressing. It’s not. Casey’s wit, relatability, and dogged ambition make her easy to spend time with, and I ended the book almost hoping I’d run into her in Harvard Square.