The Very Last List of Vivian Walker (Megan Albany, Hachette)

This quiet but compelling novel follows the very ordinary path of an ordinary woman completing the ordinary business of dying. However, it is in this ordinariness that the heart of the novel lies. Vivian Walker has always been a list-maker: she makes lists for herself, lists for her family and, importantly, lists for her husband Clint—which never seem to be completed. So when Viv learns she has terminal cancer and only a few months to live, she makes the last list of her life. But this isn’t a bucket list kind of story. There is something so beautifully relatable about Viv’s very practical final desires to cull her closet and paint her bedroom doors, rather than take extravagant trips or revisit old regrets. She is supported by memorable secondary characters who all have their own role to play in her life and on her path to death. Special mention needs to be made of the portrayal of Viv’s young son Ethan and the pain Viv feels in leaving him and the hopes she has for her future. The arc of her relationship with her husband is not dissimilar: Clint is a source of ongoing frustration but also of commitment and acceptance, which becomes clear as Viv’s life shrinks to its very core. Not a story of transformation or big revelations, The Very Last List of Vivian Walker is a small, touching story that provides insight into how even the most ordinary person can leave a lot of love behind.  

Kate Cuthbert is program manager at Writers Victoria. 

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews