 |  | Meet author JJ Elliott in conversation with Anna Katsavos as they discuss Elliott's debut novel, There Are No Rules for This (2023), which is garnering significant press. The novel draws readers into a deeply affecting story of friendship, loss, guilt, healing, and forgiveness surrounding Liddy, Max, Ali, and Feeney, four adults who had celebrated, comforted, and commiserated with one another in Sonoma, California. Narrated from Ali's perspective, the story begins with Feeney's suicide and progresses through aftershocks while continually flashing back to memorable incidents over the course of the women's friendship. Interweaving moments of hilarity with expressions of profound grief, the novel offers glimpses of what drove Feeney to take her own life through comments that her friends dismissed and passages in the diary she kept. When the novel closes, the reasons Feeney did not seek help from her friends and felt unable to go on living remain a mystery. What shines out, however, is the value of Feeney’s life and her ongoing gift to the women she loved.
Pair this course with the book discussion led by Anna Katsavos, (Course 12249), also in the fall schedule. Separate registration is required.
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