One of the The Wall Street Journal's 10 Best Fiction Books of 2019

"A gem of a book . . . lyrical, tender, and profoundly insightful."--Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

Ella is nearing thirty, and not yet living the life she imagined. Her artistic ambitions as a student have given way to an unintended career in caregiving. One spring, Bryn—a retired carpenter—hires her to help him care for his wife Jill, who was left verbally diminished after a car crash.

As Ella is drawn into the couple's household, she finds that this is unlike the other caregiving jobs she’s held. She is profoundly moved by the tenderness Bryn shows toward the wife he still fiercely loves, and she’s startled by the yearning this awakens in her. She finds herself looking differently at her relationship with her girlfriend, Alix, and questioning what she knows about relationships of all kinds—between partners, between employer and employee, and above all between men and women. Say Say Say is a powerful story about what it means to love in a world where time is always running out.