Oscar and the Lady in Pink by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Wikipedia: Oscar and the Lady in Pink
From The Book Nut's Blog:
Just to round off the year, I read this rather sweet little book. It’s very short – 88 pages of widely spaced font, but packs a punch with its story. Oscar is a young boy who is dying of leukaemia, and lives in hospital. He receives visits from the ‘lady in pink’ who he calls Granny Rose, and she is the only person who he thinks understands him. He resents his parents and Doctor for their inability to tell him he’s dying, or to treat him normally. Granny Rose encourages him to see each of the following 12 days – which lead up to Christmas – as a decade of his life, and to write a letter to God each day, telling him what had happened in that decade. Even though Oscar doesn’t even believe that God exists he starts to write the letters anyway.
The book is narrated by Oscar (through his letters to God) and he shares the great things about his life – falling in love with another patient, the friends he has at the hospital,and especially Granny Rose; and the not-so-great – his frustration with his parents, feeling tired all the time. He is a very wise for a child, but somehow this all seems believable. I adored Granny Rose especially and found the myths and tales that she told Oscar to be very entertaining (it was easy to see why he loved her).
Although the book consists of letters to God, it is not preachy in any way – it is just a deceptively simple story. I’d recommend this – it would only take about an hour to read and I think many people would enjoy it.
First suggested: July 2012 – live choice at our July meeting 😃