Days of Awe by Lauren Fox; Penguin Random House Vantage Books: © 2015; ISBN 978030-7388278; 256 pages; $16
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO –Isabelle’s life is ruined after her best friend and fellow school teacher, Josie, died when her car plunged off an icy road. She was so devastated by the loss that her marriage began to fall apart under the strain, with her 11-year-old daughter Hannah blaming her. To top off her misery, Josie’s husband, Mark, whom Isabelle, aka Iz, had known since childhood, is able to get on with his life far faster than she is.
The only person who is unchanging, and loving, in Isabelle’s world is her mother, who, as a child, had left Germany in the early years of Hitler’s reign, before the Nazis had decided upon a “final solution.”
The novel examines the friendship that developed between Josie and Iz, who shared dark senses of humor, keen observational skills, and a love for word play. When a pupil on a field trip went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a bee, Josie save the day by sprinting to the school bus and retrieving an EpiPen. Perhaps for this reason, Iz idealized Josie, far beyond the limits of reality. In the process of her recovery, Iz digs into Josie’s life, and learns that she too was a human with flaws.
We also meet Iz’s husband Chris, with the story of their Jewish-Christian romance told in flashback. Although Iz’s mother is a potentially unforgettable character, for the most part she is on the sidelines of this story, much to my disappointment. Also an extra is Cal, an older man whom Isabelle begins to date, after her separation from Chris.
“Days of Awe” typically refers to the Jewish High Holy Days, but author Fox attaches a different meaning to the expression in this novel. Though Days of Awe deals with a depressing situation, it is leavened with sufficient humor to make it quite readable.
When I finished the novel, I felt as if I had been permitted a fly-on-the-wall’s perspective on Iz’s life. Like that fly, however, I learned no lessons, nor found any reason to draw a meaningful conclusion, other than what I, and any other reader, had known already: life goes on.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)