Books Read: Laurie Frankel - Goodbye for Now

Imagine a world in which you never have to say goodbye.

A world in which you can talk to your loved ones after they've gone:

About the trivial things you used to share
About the things you wish you'd said while you still had the chance
About how hard it is to adjust to life without them.

When Sam Elling invents a computer programme that enables his girlfriend Meredith to do just this, nothing can prepare them for the success and the complications that follow. For every person who wants to say goodbye, there is someone else who can't let go. And when tragedy strikes, they have to find out whether goodbye has to be for ever. Or whether love can take on a life of its own...

I hadn't heard anything about this book before it arrived out of the blue so I was intrigued to read it to find out what it was all about.  The one thing I'd say upfront is that it's definitely not your typical chicklit or romance novel, although there is the initial love story between Sam and Meredith, it's definitely a lot more thought provoking.

What would you do if you had the chance to speak to a loved one for just one last time?   What would you say?  When Sam sees how upset his girlfriend Meredith is following the death of her grandmother, Sam decides to build a computer programme that would allow her to do just that.   After all, he'd been sacked for building a successful love match programme, that had found her his own love match, so surely he could do this for her to help ease the pain.

Using his technical know-how, and the internet history between Meredith and her grandmother, he designs a programme that will enable Meredith to have a conversation with her grandmother, first by email and then video.  After finding that this actually works, they decide to develop it and offer the services to other users with some interesting results. But does this really help them in the grieving process?  Or simply delay it?   

This was definitely an intriguing concept for a storyline and I know that if this type of software was available I would probably try it out as I never got to say a proper goodbye to my mum when she died suddenly 12 years ago.  If you loved One Day then I think you'll love Goodbye for Now.

I'd like to thank Headline for sending me a copy of this book to review.