Imperfect Endings

A Daughter's Tale of Life and Death

By: Zoe FitzGerald Carter

Narrated by: Karen White

After 20 years of living with terminal illness, Zoe FitzGerald Carter's mother decided to end her life - and asked her three daughters for their assistance. For months, the decision dragged on as her mother changed her methods and schedule, and the negotiations stirred up old memories, sibling rivalries, and questions about family loyalty. Eventually, there was compromise and courage, and Zoe's mother had her happy - if imperfect - ending.

Zoe and her sisters struggled to accept the imminent death of their mother, circling around the same questions: Who will help her? Will they go to jail? Can they bear to let her die alone? With a doctor prescribing lethal doses of sleep medication, a visit from a member of the Hemlock Society's "Final Exit Network", and the temptations of overdosing on morphine, the issues and people in Imperfect Endings are at the center of the debate on assisted suicide. With echoes of best-selling grief memoirs like Elegy for Iris and The Year of Magical Thinking, Carter's memoir is the unforgettable story of a family learning to love and to let go.

©2010 Zoe Fitzgerald (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Carter tackles a depressing subject with dark humor and heart." ( Booklist)

"Imperfect Endings raises difficult questions about love and loyalty, but it is written with such style and sympathy that it is difficult to put down.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)