Beautifully told through notes left on the kitchen fridge, here is an intimate glimpse into the lives of a mother who has just discovered she’s got cancer, and her teenage daughter. This tragic but ultimately uplifting debut novel explores what being a ‘good mother’ or a ‘good daughter’ really means. It is a reminder of how much can be said in so few words, if only we made the time to say them. It’s utterly compelling and totally unputdownable for parent and teenager alike.
I went to the store. See inside the fridge. I watered the plants. I cleaned out Peter's cage. I tidied the sitting room. And the kitchen. And I did the washing up.
I'm going to bed.
Your live-in servant,
Claire
'Life on the Refrigerator Door' is told exclusively through notes exchanged by Claire and her mother, Elizabeth, during the course of a life-altering year. Their story builds to an emotional crescendo when Elizabeth is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Stunningly sad but ultimately uplifting, this is a clever, moving, and original portrait of the relationship between a daughter and mother. It is about how we live our lives constantly rushing, and never making time for those we love. It is also an elegy to how much can be said in so few words, if only we made the time to say them.
Alice Kuipers was born in London in 1979. She studied at Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan Universities. In 2003, she moved to Saskatoon, Canada, where she now lives. Life on the Refrigerator Door is her first novel.
