Wren is absolutely shocked when she learns that her best friend Stewart has died. They’d essentially known each other since birth (their mothers met during pregnancy) and even though their lives took very different paths (he became a TV star, she worked in grant writing), they were each other’s anchors.
Shaken to her core but unable to fully grieve, she is asked by Stewart’s mother to go through his apartment along with his friend and lawyer, George. She is quickly angered and horrified by the group of Stewart’s friends—each one needier than the next—who fight to prove who knew him best, whose grief is more palpable, who should have a bigger part of his legacy.
But as she remembers her friend, she starts to realize there was a lot she didn’t know about Stewart the man. Was he the person she thought he was? Was she the person he thought she was? Do we ever really know anyone, even our childhood friends?
Competitive Grieving is a poignant, funny, hopeful, and thought-provoking book, but it’s not too sad. I loved Wren’s character and felt she was very realistic, and even though many of the other characters’ behaviors were so shocking, you could see why they acted the way they did and why Stewart would keep them around.
I’m grateful to my friend Stacy for bringing this book to my attention on Bookstagram. She said it was her favorite book last month and it’s easily going to be one of my favorites of the year. Nora Zelevansky's storytelling was just fantastic here.
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