This was my book club's selection for the month of February and the author's first novel.
Dava Shastri, one of the world's wealthiest women and self-made philanthropist, just received a terminal brain cancer diagnosis. As someone used to controlling everything to do with her work and life, she tries to control her legacy. While gathering her four children and their families on her private island, she prematurely leaks her death notice and obituary - so she can revel in the world's mourning of her and observe the adulations from her life of empowering women. But her plans backfire with her children and in the media.
Over the final weekend of her life, she and her children reflect on their life's as "Shastri's". Secrets are shared and discovered, and her children share the burden of being Dave Shastri's child and heir.
I love a good book about family dynamics and Dave Shastri's Last Day fits the bill. Each child has a different relationship with their mother as they struggle to create and define themselves in her shadow. Dave is a flawed, self-centered person who also knows how to love deeply and tries, in her own way, to be a good mother. She is a complicated person, which makes a most-interesting character study.
One note - the current day is set in 2044 but there really isn't anything futuristic about the book. I feel like the author did this to make the music and culture relevant to the reader. Both play a large role in the book.
I highly recommend this book for a book club - we had a great discussion.
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