Yay! One of my favourite authors is back to being how I remember her to be! After absolutely loving her earlier works (Bel Canto, State of Wonder) I was a bit lukewarm about some later ones (Commonwealth, The Dutch House). In this book of stories and essays I learned two things about these last two books that made me appreciate them more in hindsight. Hmmmm. Oh well, maybe it was me, not her. Anyway, years ago I loved another book of essays by this author called The Story of a Happy Marriage so I was happy to see another.
During the pandemic, Patchett couldn’t write any novels for reasons she describes in the Introduction entitled “Essays Don’t Die” but writing short pieces kept her going. This is a collection of those essays.
These Precious Days felt like a conversation over coffee with a good friend, skipping around through various personal stories and opinions on things–stories about family members and friends, travelogues, funny anecdotes, hard-won wisdom, insights into the writing life, moving reflections, favourite authors (one of hers is Kate DiCamillo who is also a favourite of mine!)–all the short pieces were readable and enjoyable. There’s even one about knitting!
The longest essay and cover story, celebrates the joys of hospitality. It’s about how we ourselves are blessed when we open our hearts and our homes. It’s a remarkable story about Sooki Raphael (former assistant to Tom Hanks) who came to stay with Ann and her husband Karl in Nashville while undergoing cancer treatments. While there, Sooki rediscovered a love for painting. One of her works is of Ann’s dog Sparky and it adorns the cover of this book.
My benchmark for short stories and essays is that I be drawn in immediately because there’s no time to lose! Patchett did that. Her writing is delightful–I’m back to being an enthusiastic fan of her elegant prose!
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