"A year-long journey by the renowned psychiatrist and his writer wife after her terminal diagnosis, as they reflect on how to love and live without regret. Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counseling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A Matter of Death and Life, Marilyn and Irv share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irv to live on without her. In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irv's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into facing mortality and coping with the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had numerous blessings--a loving family, a Palo Alto home under a magnificent valley oak, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage--but they faced death as we all do. With the wisdom of those who have thought deeply, and the familiar warmth of teenage sweethearts who've grown up together, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief. Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter of Death and Life is an openhearted offering to anyone seeking support, solace, and a meaningful life."--Publisher.

"In the summer of 2000, Israel teeters between total war and total peace. Similarly on edge, Helen Michaelson, a respectable suburban housewife from Michigan, has brought her ailing husband and rebellious college-age son, Jeremy, to Jerusalem. She hopes the journey will inspire Jeremy to reconnect with his faith and find meaning in his life ... or at least get rid of his nose ring. It's not that Helen is concerned about Jeremy's sexual orientation (after all, her other son is gay as well). It's merely the matter of the overdose ('Just like Liza!' Jeremy had said), the green hair, and what looks like a safety pin stuck through his face. After therapy, unconditional love, and tough love ... why not try Israel? Yet in seductive and dangerous surroundings, with the rumbling of violence and change in the air, in a part of the world where 'there are no modern times, ' mother and son become new, old, and surprising versions of themselves. Funny, erotic, searingly insightful, and profoundly moving, Faith for Beginners is a stunning debut novel from a vibrant new voice in fiction."--Jacket.

After having a close encounter with death, Iris loses the impetus for living until her first lover, her fiance from twenty years before, arrives dying of an incurable disease and holds her to an old promise to take him in

Would you risk everything for love? Bestselling children's book writer Angelica is amused and flattered at the attention of Jack, the owner of a vineyard in South Africa, whom she meets at a dinner party. With his easy charm and reputation as a ladies' man, Jack makes her feel good about herself -- surely it can't do any harm to indulge in a mild email flirtation? After all, she wouldn't risk her stable marriage and the happiness of her children. But things don't stop there, and when Angelica is sent to Cape Town for a book tour, the affair begins in earnest.