The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes: The unforgettable Richard and Judy Book Club pick

by Anna McPartlin

Here is a truth that can’t be escaped: for Mia ‘Rabbit’ Hayes, life is coming to an end . . .

Rabbit Hayes loves her life, ordinary as it is, and the extraordinary people in it.

She loves her spirited daughter, Juliet; her colourful, unruly family; the only man in her big heart, Johnny Faye.

But it turns out the world has other plans for Rabbit, and she’s OK with that. Because she has plans for the world too, and only a handful of days left to make them happen.

Here is a truth that won’t be forgotten: this is a story about laughing through life’s surprises and finding the joy in every moment.

Praise for Anna McPartlin:

'What a beautiful book. I cried and smiled my way through' Jane Green

'I loved the clear, elegant prose, the feisty characters and the sparkling dialogue' Susan Elliot Wright

'A delightful roller-coaster ride of emotion' Sunday Independent

'Buy a packet (or box) of tissues and settle down with this wonderful story' Heat Magazine

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes is a Richard and Judy recommended read, and a Simon Mayo Book Club pick.

• ISBN10: 0552773743
• ISBN13: 9780552773744
• Publish Date: 1 January 2015 (first published 19 June 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Black Swan
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[brokentune]

3.5* but just not 4*

"It was a bright April day and forty-year-old Mia ‘Rabbit’ Hayes, beloved daughter of Molly and Jack, sister of Grace and Davey, mother of twelve-year-old Juliet, best friend to Marjorie Shaw and the one true love of Johnny Faye’s life, was on her way to a hospice to die."

I have put a spoiler tag on this short piece but really, the fact the Rabbit Hayes is going to die is the underlying premise of this book. There are no surprises about this, the quote above appears on page 1. (Be warned, tho, that the quotations may contain swearing.)

Nevertheless, this book is different from other books with a similar premise.

Whilst reading this I was strongly reminded of Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger in which the MC is dying from cancer and recollects her life whilst waning in and out of consciousness and morphine-induced hallucinations.

Rabbit Hayes also remembers her own story but this in not the main story. Unlike Lively's main character, Rabbit Hayes has not lived a remarkable life. Rabbit is an everyday woman. What the book is driven by instead are the reactions of her nearest and dearest to the inevitable event of Rabbit's death. Each of them going through different stages of grief and realisation.

"When she was a teenager she’d bought a red clay Buddha in a charity shop, and when her mother asked her why she wanted it, she told her she preferred to look at a fat god laughing rather than a skinny one dying. Rabbit never needed to believe in any god to marvel at the world, to feel joy, hope, love and contentment. Rabbit lived in the moment. She didn’t know what came next, nor did she care. It was likely that death meant a full stop and that didn’t scare her. In fact, when she thought about it, the notion of eternity was far more worrying."

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes was not an easy read as it expressly describes living with cancer and also MS. However, the writing style was refreshingly light and, well, just - Irish. It reminded me a lot of Mrs Browns Boys. If you haven't seen the show, check them out.

On the same note of combining comedy and serious context, The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes could come across as a bit cheesy and over-evocative - but never for long.

"Her mother’s curses upset many, but not her. She found them entertaining, familiar and comforting. Ma was kind, generous, fun, playful, wise, strong and formidable. She’d take a bullet to protect an innocent, and nobody, not the tallest, strongest or bravest, messed with Molly Hayes. She didn’t suffer fools gladly and she didn’t give a toss about pleasing people. You either liked Molly Hayes or you fucked off."

[Leah]

Anna McPartlin is an author I very much admire. Ever since I picked up her novel Pack Up The Moon, I have made in my mission to read as many of her books as I can. She’s the author of six novels and I’ve managed to read four of them so far (including this one I’m reviewing now) and she has not let me down yet. Her books are always emotional affairs and she has made me cry a few times, so I was over the moon when Transworld announced their book deal with Anna for The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes. It’s been a while since she last published a novel – so it was a relief to see she was back! I was super pleased to receive a copy to review, and I wished I’d known before hand just how emotional a read I was getting myself in to.

The premise of The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes could not be simpler – Rabbit Hayes is, sadly, dying, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it, despite the best efforts of all those around her. It’s really that simple, and really that depressing, because the novel is like one big, goodbye letter and it’s the saddest thing ever to read. At least sometimes there’s hope, but here there’s very little in the way of hope, and everybody knows (even if they haven’t yet accepted it) that no matter what they do, at some point really soon, Rabbit Hayes will be no more. But, believe it or not, despite its sombre moments – of which there are many (obviously!), would you believe me if I told you there were moments the book literally made me laugh out loud? I think it’s because of the whole Irish tradition of not being able to take anything too seriously, and not letting a matter such as death get you down, and it always surprised me when I found myself giggling because I knew I wasn’t exactly reading a bloody comedy! I think it shows the mark of the writer when they can make a book about dying be amusing, too.

Considering we know where The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes is going, right from the beginning, I wasn’t entirely sure what the point of the novel would be – there ain’t gonna be no happy ending here! But, I thought it was a really great novel about family. How your family rally round, even in the tough times, even though there’s arguments and frustrations, tears and tantrums, at the end of the day, the entire Hayes family was there for Rabbit in her final days, in her final times, keeping her spirits up, keeping her company, and taking care of her daughter, Juliet. The Hayes are you typical Irish family – with the loud Mammy, Molly, head of the clan, and Dad Jack being the quiet, stoic one, trying to hold all his emotions in. Then there’s the kids Grace and Davey – in their fourties, with families of their own (at least on Grace’s side and still fighting like cat and dog). I felt for a little while like I was part of their family, part of their little group, re-living old memories and laughing and joking and being sad right alongside everyone else, and I was just so surprised at how tight this family was, and it warmed my heart down to the cockles.

Rabbit had such a wonderful story to tell – I loved the flashbacks to her life as a teenager, hanging around her brother’s band, playing sound engineer, and being best friends with rock star Johnny. It wasn’t all happy times, then either, with Johnny struggling with some problems, and I just wondered how much bad luck one set of people, all family really (even if not by blood) could really get, and that made me sad all over again. But the real kicker came towards the end when I spent a solid fifteen minutes crying like a baby. Just because you KNOW there is an end coming, and just because the synopsis warns you someone is dying does not mean it’s easy or simple to absorb and it killed me, I had to sit still, unmoving for five minutes after finishing to catch my breath. It hit home for me – I’ve never known anyone personally die from cancer, but I followed Lisa Lynch’s blog right up until the end and Rabbit’s story somewhat mirrored Lisa’s real life tale (at least from what I read of Lisa’s tale) and it reminded me of reading that awful blog post about Lisa’s passing all over again, and Rabbit had become such a huge part of my life in such a short space of time, that I was quite surprised to be saying goodbye. Anna McPartlin is one of the finest writers I know and The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes is one of the most bittersweet, heart-warming novels I will ever have the pleasure to read and cry over, and I don’t regret it one bit.