The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

 The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold - 361 pages

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she's been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who's just entered hospice care.

But there's more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she's not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it's a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that's just what Mrs. Kip will give her--but she's going to have to work for it.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
(Harold Fry #2)
491 pages / 10 hrs, 35 mins

"When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked.  Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?

"A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything.  In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past.  As the volunteer points out, 'Even though you've done your travelling, you're starting a new journey, too.'

"Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story.  She was wrong.  It was the beginning."      --from the publisher

I loved "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" so I was excited to hear the story from Queenie's perspective.  The premise and writing style are wonderful, but I thought it dragged a bit in places.  The colorful characters in hospice with Queenie are a hoot, though, and the humor is very welcome in such a sobering setting.