Mara Nichols lives in a beautiful house with her adoring husband, Tom, and her adorable young daughter, Laks. Her birthday is just five days away, and while her family prepares to celebrate her life, she prepares to end it. Mara was once an up-and-coming lawyer at a prestigious firm, but began to experience puzzling problems, such as forgetfulness and mood swings. When Tom insisted she be evaluated, they were devastated to receive a diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, an incurable and fatal neurological disorder. 

It’s been nearly four years since Mara received that terrifying medical verdict. She has had time to enjoy her daughter and strengthen her marriage, but all along she has been making plans to end her life when her symptoms progressed to a certain point. She is determined to spare her husband, daughter and parents the agonizing end that is inevitable. She chooses her birthday, a date she believes will always be painful to her family in the future, anyway.

"FIVE DAYS LEFT boasts a unique plot, which is sure to be thought-provoking as readers ponder Mara’s (especially) and Scott’s predicaments. Mara’s disease process feels true-to-life and utterly real, and her unbearable choice undoubtedly will wring readers’ hearts."

However, even as Mara’s condition drastically worsens, causing her to suffer humiliations such as urinary incontinence in a grocery store, she can’t help but waver. How can she choose to never again hold little Laks or snuggle up to her husband, who assures her he will be there for her and care for her forever? When Mara’s parents show up for the umpteenth time, with food, offers of help and unending affection for Mara and her family, she teeter-totters between resentment for their seeming pity and whole-hearted love for them. Even as she ticks off the items on her secret list of what to do before her birthday, she has difficulty committing to the action she must take on that day. How can she choose to hurt her family this way? Yet, if she doesn’t choose to end her life, how can she bear knowing what her family will face as she declines?

Meanwhile, Mara’s online-only friend, Scott Coffman, faces his own heartbreaking five-day countdown. Scott, a middle-grade teacher, and his wife, Laurie, have been fostering eight-year-old Curtis while his mother serves a jail term. During this time, Scott and Curtis have grown closer and closer. Scott has come to love the boy as if he were his own son. Now he tries to reconcile the fact that Curtis will return to his mother in five days. Surely, he tells himself, any child will be happier with his own parent. Yet, he has seen the filthy apartment Curtis and his mother lived in, and heard tales of her horrifying neglect. Still, Scott can’t prevent the event; Curtis will soon be back in his mother’s custody.

All Scott can do is enjoy his remaining time with Curtis, even as the pain of the imminent parting increases with each passing day. Laurie has been a good substitute mom for Curtis, yet she is looking forward to the baby they are expecting. She anticipates, with great joy, a few months of one-on-one bonding with Scott before the birth. While Laurie tries to sympathize with Scott’s agony, their polarized attitudes add tension to the situation and to their marriage.

FIVE DAYS LEFT boasts a unique plot, which is sure to be thought-provoking as readers ponder Mara’s (especially) and Scott’s predicaments. Mara’s disease process feels true-to-life and utterly real, and her unbearable choice undoubtedly will wring readers’ hearts. While lengthy passages of backstory (some of which is repetitive) slow the story’s impetus somewhat, it’s impossible to resist reading on and on in order to discover the conclusion to both Mara’s and Scott’s tales. I am quite impressed with Julie Lawson Timmer’s debut novel and look forward to reading future books from this promising new literary voice.