These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

 

There is so much in these stories that resonates with my past. When she is young, Ann Patchett talks about spending summers with her sister at her grandparent's house in Paradise, California. The room where she shared a bed with her sister took me right back to my grandmother's house, sharing a bed with my brother in the summer holidays (now realising this was the main bedroom that my grandparents had vacated for us. Where they slept I have no idea). Like the author's memories mine are so vivid. The ticking clock that I thought would stop me sleeping. The first time watching a TV channel with commercials. The list goes on.

In the chapter called "The First Thanksgiving", Ann says "I was a girl who always had money in her pocket" during her first year at college. (Me too). Here are four fantastic pages when she stays in her rooms for Thanksgiving, and cooks a dinner for the very first time for the other strays. Wonderful.

"To the Doghouse" describes how Snoopy was a big influence on her writing. How come? Well, Snoopy tries to be an author and that "taught me that I would be hurt and I would get over it. He walked me through the publishing process: being thrilled by acceptance, ignoring reviews, and then having the dream of best sellerdom dashed ...... Charlie Brown tells him "they've printed one copy of your novel. It says they haven't been able to sell it. They say the're sorry. You're book is now out of print". She learns "how to shape myself into who I was going to be with the guidance of a dog in the funny papers".

When Ann owns a bookstore, she says "It's a dream to hand a stranger a Jane Gardam novel". All her eleven books are at the front of my bookcase waiting to be re-read. Starting with the "Old "Filth" trilogy. The passages about the bookstore are just amazing.

Then late on we have the longest of these stories from which the book takes it's title. It's mainly about Sookie. She is Tom Hanks' assistant who Ann befriends when Tom records a reading of "The Dutch House". And later when she interviews Tom for his new book. This blossoming friendship with Sookie takes a hugely emotional turn that is unforgettable. I'm so glad I found this book.