So Much for That
Lionel Shriver
An extraordinary novel from the Orange Prize winning author of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’.What do you pack for the rest of your life?Shepherd Knacker is bored with his humdrum existence. He's sold his successful handy-man business for a million dollars and is now ready to embark on his 'Afterlife' - a one way ticket to a small island off the coast of Africa. He tries to convince his wife Glynis to come with him, but she laughs off the idea as preposterous.There's no way she'll let Shepherd uproot the family to some far-flung African island.When Glynis is diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer, Shepherd's dreams of an exotic adventure are firmly put on hold. He devotes himself to caring for his sick wife, watching her fade before his eyes.Shepherd's best friend Jackson knows all too well about illness. His sixteen year old daughter has spent her life dosed up on every treatment going while he and his wife Carol feed their youngest daughter sugar pills so she won't feel left out. But then Jackson undergoes a medical procedure of his own which has devastating consequences …So Much For That is a deeply affecting novel, told with Lionel Shriver's trademark originality, intelligence and acute perception of the human condition.
Copyright (#u82e9a611-6ed8-54f8-8f77-9bdbedf84de5)
The Borough Press
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2010
Copyright © Lionel Shriver 2010
Lionel Shriver asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
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Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
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Source ISBN: 9780007578061
Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780007351886
Version: 2015-01-22
Dedication (#u82e9a611-6ed8-54f8-8f77-9bdbedf84de5)
To Paul. In loss, liberation.
Time is money.
—BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
Advice to a Young Tradesman, 1748
Contents
Cover (#ue80ddf81-708d-5550-b07f-d5bc43b38525)
Title Page (#u381673d3-f346-557d-b64c-7167c658370e)
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph (#u736a64ba-ad88-5dc7-910c-f3d647f116c7)
chapter one
chapter two
chapter three
chapter four
chapter five
chapter six
chapter seven
chapter eight
chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
chapter seventeen
chapter eighteen