Say Say Say

"A gem of a book . . . lyrical, tender, and profoundly insightful."—Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for StoneA beautiful, bracingly honest debut novel about the triangle formed between a young woman and the couple whose life she enters one transformative year: a story about love and compassion, the fluidity of desire, and the myriad ways of devotion.Ella is nearing thirty, and not yet living the life she imagined. Her artistic ambitions as a student in Minnesota have given way to an unintended career in caregiving. One spring, Bryn—a retired carpenter—hires her to help him care for Jill, his wife of many years. A car accident caused a brain injury that has left Jill verbally diminished; she moves about the house like a ghost of her former self, often able to utter, like an incantation, only the words that comprise this novel's title.As Ella is drawn ever deeper into the couple's household, her presence unwanted but wholly necessary,...