A husband and his wife, Nora, grapple with the death of their housekeeper in this elegiac novel.

Mrs. A., or Babette, as our narrator fondly calls her after the character in a movie, has been a force in the lives of the young man, a physicist, and his wife, Nora, ever since she was hired when Nora was pregnant and on bed rest. The narrator explores the relationship they had with the housekeeper through her work, her cancer treatments, and ultimately her death, as well as more ignoring than acknowledging the strain in his marriage (the original Italian title, "Black and Silver" reflects this more than the English title, more suggestive of the housekeeper's role "Like" (but unlike) family. Based in part on the author's real experiences, though names and some situations have changed, this exploration of grief will ring true for many who have lost someone who touched their lives. ( )

I seem to have a penchant for reading depressing books lately.

They have a nanny. She gets cancer. She dies. Not necessarily in that order.

I knew the plot from the jacket but I expected . . .I don't know. . .more? I didn't really get to see a lot of how Mrs. A lived, but a lot of how she died.

And the main couple. Their relationship seemed a bit off somehow. Most intriguing was Mrs. A's long dead husband. Too bad he couldn't be in the book more. Alive. ( )

An exceptionally beautiful portrait of what family is when you let it happen. Sometimes it's not bloodlines but friends and connections that give us the family we need when we need them.

Very touching and moving book ( )

Like Family is summarized on premise more than plot: a family of three struggles with the impact of losing their longtime nanny/caretaker to cancer. The woman, always identified as “Mrs. A.,” joined the narrator’s household during his wife Nora’s difficult pregnancy and remained to help manage the couple’s home and raise their son, Emanuele, until she got sick. She lived as part of their family for years, but she wasn’t actually related. How does one process and respond to the death of someone who has been such an intimate part of one’s life, yet was never truly acknowledged as an intimate?

Giordano explores that question without really answering it, and that seems appropriate. Like Family is a novel of moving through grief rather than one about moving on from it–his characters haven’t found their answers yet.

MORE: https://3rsblog.com/2016/02/book-talk-like-family-paolo-giordano.html ( )