THERE ARE NO RULES FOR THIS

A group of women in California wine country deal with the suicide of one of their friends in Elliott’s debut novel.

A former pharmaceutical sales rep and mother of two, Ali Stirling lives in Sonoma County with her husband, Drew, enjoying the good life. But she receives shocking news: Her close friend Feeney Simms has, without warning, ended her own life. Ali and Feeney, along with friends Max and Liddy, made up a foursome of close companions that began as a trio before Feeney and her husband moved to California from New York. Quirky Feeney was a breath of fresh air and made the group “feel like we were all wrong before her arrival, a car that had been limping along with three wheels.” Max, a former prosecutor, has anger management issues and is now working at a driving range collecting golf balls. Artist Liddy left painting behind when she married her developer husband. All are equally stunned by Feeney’s sudden passing and desperate to know why she took such a drastic action. The group gets some insight into Feeney’s private life when they find her journal, which they slowly read through. In the meantime, Ali’s marriage suffers as she spends all of her time grieving with her friends and becomes hostile toward her understanding husband. The trio decides that the only way they can cope with their loss is to clearly affirm how much they mean to one another while they are still alive. The author writes beautifully about her unique characters, bringing a lot of style and a great deal of heart to this emotionally difficult story. The novel, by the nature of the situation it depicts, is not plot-driven, but the scenes are affecting and full of genuine sentiment, creating a satisfying narrative nonetheless.

A story of grief made compelling by its strong-willed characters.