We were reading "The Housemaid" by Frieda McFadden since a friend said it was gripping and striking. We got introduced to a single or divorced woman who was out of money and living in her car. She interviewed for the position of housemaid with an older couple who clearly had money. She found the job would include meals and living in an upstairs bedroom. During the interview, she meets the gardener, a well-built, attractive man who seems to speak only Italian, which she doesn't. The gardener says to her, privately, "Pericolo". She asks her phone to translate and hears "Danger". I felt we were being set up to shake and quake a little too obviously and proposed we take up a new book. Lynn agreed.
Earlier that day, informal off-the-cuff emails with a friend brought to mind the book by Pauline A. Chen, MD. called "Final Exam". It is a somewhat detailed description of a medical school experience of dissecting a human body. I've had the book for 15 years but I only opened it after my friend said that he didn't want any final exams. He was referring to typical school tests but the book is about facing death, experiencing death and having an ok attitude toward expiring. I read some of it and Lynn said she liked it. I like it, too, for the thinking and the language.
