Matthew Norman, with his latest Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon, just said "Hey Tropper, hold my beer." This novel, also an extremely funny novel about grief, includes TWO people who have just lost their spouses. Grace's husband Tim died of cancer, leaving Grace to take care of their two children, Stella and Ian. Henry's wife Glynn died in a plane crash, and the shattered dude hasn't even been able to go back to the Baltimore row house he and Glynn shared to take down last year's holiday decorations.
Now, nearly one year later, the dreaded holiday season approaches again. Meddling family members plot a meet-cute for Grace and Henry, assuming they'd both be interested in meeting someone else whose partner had died.
They start as awkward friends watching holiday movies together with the kids and Grace's new dog named Harry Styles. But might there be more there? Wouldn't it be a terrible idea, though, if there were -- since they're both so damaged? Will they or won't they? Will they or won't they??? Even if you assume they eventually will, any romcom worth its tropes is adept at planting just enough of a seed of doubt they won't that you continue reading feverishly. We have that here, too, but we also keep turning the pages because Norman is just such a damn good writer. He's funny, he's charming without being schmaltzy, and he can even surprise you with little nuggets of wisdom that sort of catch you off guard for how much sense they make. "So relatable," you say to yourself, nodding.
And the man knows his holiday movies. Drawing from a deep appreciation of movies ranging from Die Hard (don't @ Norman, or Grace and Henry: it IS a holiday movie) to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Agreed: "Bend over and I'll show you" is the funniest line in any holiday movie.) to A Christmas Story (overrated?) to Love Actually (Grace has issues with it, Henry loves it), these classics are both the way Grace and Henry build their comfort with each other and also a nifty frame for the plot of his novel.
Pulling off a funny novel about grief isn't easy -- overcorrecting the grief with the humor would feel disingenuous, but making it too sad, especially a book centered on the holidays...well, no one wants to read that, really. Norman mixes the perfect ratio in this delightful romcom. I really had a lot of fun here, and I think you will too!
