The Kindest Thing (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

I've been a fan of Cath Staincliffe for many years and this is her best book to date. It's a story that's beautifully written, heart-stopping, and also very topical for our times.

Deborah, a wife and a mother of two children, faces an impossible dilemma. Neil, her husband, is diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Terrified of facing a long, painful decline, he begs her to help him commit suicide. He wants to have a 'good death' rather than resign himself to absolute helplessness in the wake of a vicious disease. Although Deborah is torn, she eventually relents and helps the man she loves die peacefully.

Then her world falls apart as she is charged with his murder and must pay the ultimate price for following her heart and helping the man she loves. The book follows Deborah through her harrowing experience in court. If found guilty, she will be sentenced for life. And then her own daughter takes the stand to testify against her.

The characterisation, dialogue, and plotting are all pitch perfect. Staincliffe manages to write about difficult themes without resorting to sentimentality. Deborah is a tough heroine, without self-pity, a warrior in her way.

I recommend this book especially because its theme-assisted suicide--is so sadly relevant to our times. A beautiful book about a painful subject.

Cath Staincliffe is a well-known crime author, the Sal Kilkenny series and the Blue Murder television programme. 'The Kindest Thing' is a new direction for her writing, yes there is a crime that is central to the story, but this is also a love story and a story of modern family life and how one decision can change your world,

So - what would you do? Your partner of over twenty years has Motor Neurone disease - he wants to choose when to die, before he becomes just a shell of the man he is. He wants you to help him - you both know that it is murder. You love him but you dont want to lose him, but you dont want him to continue to suffer. What would you do?

Deborah and Neil met at University, over twenty five years ago. They have a loving and strong relationship, they are a modern couple, professional and both with successful careers, they still have an active sexual relationship, they still have fun. They've had their problems; Deborah once strayed - attracted by another man. Their son has mental health problems, brought on by drug use - but they have survived, and look forward to an old age together.

Neil is diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease, a cruel illness that will kill him. He will get progressively worse, Deborah will have to become his carer, their roles will change. Neil cant bear it and decides that he will end his life when he feels he can bear it no longer. He wants Deborah to help him. At first Deborah resists, but she loves him and in the end she does as he asks.

The novel follows Deborah through her trial for murder. During the trial she reflects on their life together. As the prosecutor tries to make the jury believe that she is a cold-blooded killer who deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison and her solicitor tries to convince them that she was mentally unstable at the time of Neil's death.

Deborah has to deal with the fact that her daughter and mother-in-law chooses to testify against her and have her life scrutinised by not just the jury but the readers of the local newspaper too.

This is an expertly written novel - only short, around 250 pages, but the characters are brilliantly portrayed - the plot is fast paced and the dialogue very well written.

The trials and tribulations of family life, the love between a couple, the dilemma they face - all put across so well.

Page turning stuff which really makes you wonder - what would I do?

.......if you ever found yourself in Deborahs' place? If the man you loved was slowly, excruciatingly wasting away in front of your very eyes - would you help him to die? Would you lie for him, would you cover for him, would you end his suffering? Deborah and Neil were lovers, partners, friends, and parents to Adam and Sophie. They'd had their wild times, and were settling into middle age contentment, when Neil was dealt a life-shattering blow - being told that he had an incurable condition that would slowly destroy him, bit by bit. We then see the hopelessness, the sadness, the inevitability of death that he and his family have to cope with - in particular Deborah as she has to remain positive and in control. Slowly, as Neil's condition worsens, Deborahs' life begins to unravel, until he asks her the ultimate question - will she end his suffering, and allow him to die with dignity? The aftermath of this question, and the consequences, are immense. Families turn on each other, skeletons tumble out of cupboards, loyalties are tested to the ultimate. The questions remain however - what would YOU do? It's a position that we all hope we'll never be in, a decision we all hope we'll never have to make....but what if...? If you end someones' suffering at their request, when there is no hope of recovery, is that murder? In the eyes of the law it is, but is it as cut and dried as that?
This book is extremely well-written, dealing with a very emotive issue, on which we will all have an opinion. It handles a very sensitive subject and raises many questions - some of which will be debated upon I'm sure. I would definitely recommend this book, and it is one that will stay on your mind for a long time after reading.