Hello Goodbye — Emily Chenoweth

A heartbreaking, beautifully-crafted debut novel about friendship, loyalty, and growing up--tracing a dying woman's final vacation with her family at a lavish New England resort

The summer after Abby Hansen's first year of college, several months after doctors find a malignant tumor in her mother Helen's brain, she and her parents drive to northern New Hampshire to say goodbye to a lifetime of friends. During a single week at a historic resort, the family welcomes a small procession of visitors, and shares with them the pathos and heartache of Helen's imminent passing.

As the week progresses, the Hansens and their guests deal with Helen's illness in varied, sometimes surprising ways, and Abby, drawn to the youthful, mischievous staff of the hotel, is torn between her duties to her family and the pleasures and temptations of her new life as an adult. For all involved, the occasion unexpectedly becomes one of awakening rather than farewell, as they discover how life inevitably blossoms in the face of death.