Oscar®-winning screenwriter and newly separated recluse Luke Bellingham reluctantly volunteers to be the “Finder of Lost Souls” for his 25th high school reunion. First on his list is Blair Clemens, a girl with a tragic past who vanished after graduation.
The day Luke finds Blair in San Francisco is also the day she also learns she has terminal cancer. Blair is not interested in remembering her former classmates or her painful past. She just wants to make the most of the time she has left with her teenage daughter Amanda.
Still mourning the sudden abandonment by his own wife, Luke is drawn to Blair. The two begin a fragile relationship, reluctant to address the inevitable future that looms ahead. Their path and its effect on those around them are chronicled in Ellen Sussman’s On a Night Like This.
Dismiss your assumptions that this is a standard tear-jerking terminal illness love story. Sussman doesn’t dwell on the obvious, instead letting the characters explore, fail and succeed in handling their emotions. The tale is filled with heartfelt highs and lows as well as challenges that Luke, Blair and Amanda must face in their day-to-day lives.
Any further comment on the story would spoil the enjoyment for other readers.
On a Night Like This is beautifully written and extremely touching. The tale is anything but depressing. Sussman’s cast of unique characters works well together to make this novel an easy favorite for the year.
