The End of Your Life Book Club

Will Schwalbe’s The End of Your Life Book Club is a profoundly moving and beautifully crafted memoir that transcends its premise—a son and his dying mother bonding over books—to deliver a universal meditation on love, loss, and the stories that shape us. Set against the backdrop of Mary Anne Schwalbe’s battle with pancreatic cancer, this intimate narrative captures the impromptu book club she forms with her son Will, a former publishing executive, during her chemotherapy sessions. What emerges is not just a tribute to a remarkable woman but a testament to the power of literature to foster connection and meaning in life’s final chapters.

“We all have a lot more to read than we can read and a lot more to do than we can do.”

What makes this memoir stand out is its authenticity. Schwalbe doesn’t shy away from the messy realities of terminal illness—the exhaustion, the hope, the bureaucracy—nor does he idealize his relationship with his mother. Their book club becomes a sacred space where they confront fears, share regrets, and celebrate life’s small victories, like debating a character’s motives or savoring a perfect sentence. The literary references are a delight for book lovers, but you don’t need to have read the titles they discuss to feel their impact; Schwalbe deftly extracts universal truths from each work, making the story accessible to all.

“We’re all in the end-of-your-life book club, whether we acknowledge it or not; each book we read may well be the last, each conversation the final one.”

The End of Your Life Book Club is a love letter to reading, to family, and to living fully until the end. This is the rare book that leaves you both heartbroken and inspired, eager to call your loved ones and dive into that novel you’ve been meaning to read. Certainly a must-read, but be sure to keep tissues and a notepad handy for those book recommendations.