A married couple decides they will take control of their final years by exiting the world together at the age of 80&;with unexpected consequences and possibilities in New York Times bestselling author Lionel Shriver&;s brilliantly conceived parallel-universe novel of sickness, marriage, old age, and mortality reminiscent of The Post-Birthday World.
&;The Cassandra of American letters.&;&;New York Times
When her father dies, Kay is relieved. For ten years, she watched helplessly as Alzheimer&;s ravaged this once decorous man. Her husband of twenty-eight years, Cyril, found his brief exposure to her father&;s decline intolerable.
Healthy and full of vitality, both Kay and Cyril, now in their early 50s, fear what may lie ahead for them. One thing is certain: neither wants to die without dignity. To avert a similar fate, they make a pact: on Kay&;s 80th birthday they will commit suicide together. Cyril, a doctor, acquires the means they will need to exit the world, a bottle of tablets they keep in black box tucked away in the back of the fridge. Their deal is made in 1991. They will have thirty more years together.
But as time passes and their &;final&; day approaches, doubts begin to arise.
Lionel Shriver&;s highly imaginative and utterly captivating novel unfolds in a series of scenarios that depict various versions of how Kay and Cyril&;s unfolding story ends, all with unexpected twists. As these highly imaginative scenarios build upon one another, it becomes clear that trying to control fate is futile. With cool logic, Shriver reveals how the idea of taking charge of one&;s final years and saving oneself from the indignities of old age is a fallacy. Contemplating the inescapable end of their lives, Kay eventually discovers that when it comes to the end of life, &;real bravery and nobility entails losing everything you love by degrees like everyone else, and dying when you least expect it like everyone else.&;
Brilliant and psychologically astute, Should We Stay or Should We Go is Lionel Shriver at her iconoclastic best&;a novel that is fascinating to contemplate and impossible to forget.
Industry Reviews
"A wild romp," -- Bookreporter.com
"Shriver said that her favourite novels are those that pack both an intellectual and emotional punch. With Should We Stay or Should We Go, she's added triumphantly to their number." -- The Times (UK)
"Her best novel since The Post-Birthday World . . . . A return to form, merging Shriver's better instincts as both novelist and social critic." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This sharp-elbowed satire is also a brusquely tender portrait of enduring love." -- Washington Post
"A delight to read. . . . Wildly inventive and sometimes hilarious . . . Shriver may be a contrarian--but she has a sense of humor about it. More to the point, she never lets her politics interfere with the sheer zest of her imagination." -- Seattle Times
"I think Shriver's novels are wonderful . . . fun, smart and, perhaps because of their author's unconventional political views, unlike anything else you'll read." -- Financial Times
"Shriver delivers on a high-concept premise full of alternative narratives based around themes of illness and aging. . . . Readers will be entranced by Shriver's freewheeling meditation on mortality and human agency." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Entertaining and poignant." -- Daily Mail
"Very moving . . . Shriver has the magic ability to make the reader invested in the fate--fates, I should say--of her characters." -- Daily Telegraph (London)
