Sunday, July 24, 2022

Review: Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent

 Dear Lit Loves,


Hi!  Recently, someone in the book club I attend selected Dinner with Edward:  A story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent as our August book selection.  Isabel Vincent is originally from Canada and is currently an investigative reporter for the New York Post.  Previously, she had been a foreign correspondent covering the war in Kosovo.  Once I read her author profile and learned she is an investigative journalist, I knew I should take a chance on reading this memoir.  (In another life, I am sure I was either a private investigator or investigative reporter because I am always curious about the people affected most by national tragedies or why various leaders and recently, our Supreme Court, decide to make decisions to invade a country or deny women the right to choose what to do with their bodies.)  (Hello, Clarence Thomas!  I am talking to you.  By the way, my nomination for a replacement for Justice Thomas would be professor Anita Hill.  Would that not be fabulous?!)  

So isabel Vincent and her husband move to Roosevelt Island where she takes a position as a reporter for The New York Post.  Roosevelt Island used to be home to a fairly famous mental asylum and she touches on the history of the place just enough to make the reader, like me, go research the area's history.  Unfortunately, Isabel finds herself in a truly rotten marriage and she has a daughter named Hannah.  Interestingly, Isabel strikes up a friendship with Edward, a ninety-three year old widower.  Edward was married for sixty-nine years to the love of his life, Paula.  When Edward's daughter asks Isabel to check in on her father since she lives near him, it becomes almost a weekly event of Edward cooking lavish dinners for the two of them.

Isabel and Edward are drawn to each other by a mutual need to find the courage to go on living after Isabel's mother dies and her marriage crumbles.  Edward has recently lost his beloved Paula.  Just when you think you have absolutely nothing in common with someone, the universe (God) intervenes and you are blessed with the presence of another soul who travels a similar journey as you.  Edward aspired to be an actor and playwright, but neither works out for he or Paula so he works part-time as both a welder and a tailor to help provide for the family.  Paula works as a jewelry painter in a local warehouse. 

During the tasty dinners Edward cooks for Isabel and an assortment of other friends, these two have meaningful conversations about the events in their lives.  Eventually, Edward communicates some valuable lessons to Isabel and these include:

1) Set an example of strength and independence for her daughter, Hannah.

2) Set aside time to take care of yourself and how you present yourself to the world.

3) Fight for what is yours and never allow someone to own you and your life.

4) Communicate well.  This should involve actual face to face conversations.  Email and texts are relieved on so heavily that people have forgotten how to actually sustain meaningful conversations in-person.

5) Do whatever possible to enhance your sense of self-worth.

6) Do what makes you feel most alive and useful each day.

7) Establish and maintain relationships.  Treat family like guests and guests like family.

8) Life is not stationary.  Do not languish in fear or doubt.  Seize the day.

Isabel eventually moves away from Roosevelt Island to Manhattan where she leases an apartment.  She starts making meals similar to Edward's, but with her own twist on the recipe.  She develops friends and eventually someone with whom she develops a romantic relationship.  Though at the end of the book Edward rallies from several health scares, we know that he has made an impact on Isabel and she has influenced his life.  They are better people for having known one another.  

This is a delightful book that has chapters beginning with dinner menus which is a creative way to tell a story.  The only part of the book that bothered me was when Paula is ill and a doctor tells Edward not to take Paula to hospice because they will just give her morphine until she passes.  Maybe that is true in New York City or on Roosevelt Island, but I have witnessed people truly benefit from hospice care.  Others I have witnessed desire hospice care in their final months and weeks only to die sometimes painfully at home all alone.  But the author was being true to the events that occurred as they were relayed to her so that portion of the book is not her fault. (I just had a strong reaction to that part of the book because of my personal experiences.)

Overall, a delightful book that invites readers to watch as two people who are generations apart help each other to move on with their lives and learn the value of friendship particularly when we are faced with difficult times in life.  A must read.

Till my next review,

Grace (Amy)

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