Synopsis – Sara My Sara
This is a book
about making a friend
and this is a book
about losing that friend.
Yes there is sorrow
but there is also joy
as well as black coffee
a glamorous mother
and several dogs.
So fix a warm drink
get comfy on the couch
and come meet Sara
An intimate and moving exploration of friendship, unexpected loss, and the gifts revealed in grief’s aftermath.
Author Florence Wetzel is delighted when her elderly mother Marion develops a close bond with Sara, her new housekeeper. When Marion falls ill, Florence and Sara work together to take care of her, forging their own warm friendship in the process.
Eighteen months after Marion’s death, Sara is diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma, with no more than two years left to live. Florence does her best to enjoy the remaining months with Sara, while at the same time watching helplessly as her beloved friend disappears.
When Sara dies, Florence finds herself mute with grief. Amid the chaos of the global pandemic, she embarks on a journey throughout Europe, trying to find a place in the world after her many losses.
Laced with humor and filled with beloved dogs, strong coffee, and even a touch of Botox, Sara My Sara is an honest exploration of a warm friendship, the devastation wrought by cancer, and the unexpected gifts in the middle of grief.
Author Bio
Florence Wetzel was born 1962 in Brooklyn, NY. Her novels include the thriller The Woman Who Went Overboard and the Swedish mystery The Grand Man. She has also authored horror short stories, a book of poems and memoir essays, and co-authored jazz clarinettist Perry Robinson’s autobiography. At the start of 2025 she published her cozy mystery, Dashiki.
My Review
Sara My Sara: A Memoir of Friendship and Loss by Florence Wetzel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars. This is a moving memoir about friendship, love and loss.
It is written as though it is a poem. I personally found that distracting and I think this could have been much more powerful if it had been written as prose. The poetry style made it repetitive in parts which for me detracted from the emotional impact.
I did enjoy reading the authors story of losing her mother and then preparing to lose her friend and how this led to her own anxiety. Also very interesting to see the ways the pandemic played a role in how the author was able to see and grieve her friend.
The author touched on other aspects of her life prior to the scope of this story. I found myself wishing she had given us some of her back story.
Overall, I did enjoy this memoir and could greatly empathize with the author and her sense of loss and her need for a new beginning in a new place.
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