Brave to tackle such taboo topics, and Lerner weaves different angles together in this fictional take on severe depression and assisted suicide/guided transitioning. Appreciated the cultural diversity and the integral inclusion of the dog who graces the cover. May this book guide many readers and book groups into open discussion of tough themes.

"If you focus instead on what you will do, what you can do, it will change your brain. It will change what you feel. But you need to be brave enough to allow that change, to not think that changing your feelings means letting go..".

My god, what a beautiful meditation on grief and the way loss deeply embeds itself into every little fiber of our being. Lerner does such an incredible job here of approaching the topic of loss, especially loss by suicide, in a way that is raw and unflinching without sacrificing compassion.

I did have the ever so slightest hang up trying to gain momentum when starting this book, but once becoming familiar with the narrators voice, it was difficult to put it down. There's something both haunting and comforting in the way Lerner is able to portray the nuances of grief and paint grieving humans in the most humane of ways. As a mental health worker and mental health advocate, I'm very eager to be able to pick up a physical copy of Ring in January and add it to my shelf of other books about grief and loss.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bancroft Press for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ring will be published on January 28th, 2025

“Ring”,
…..tagged as LGBTQIAP + Literary Fiction, by Michelle Lerner, is a debut novel that is genuinely special.
It’s ‘extraordinary’ in depth and beauty. The emotionally wrenching aspects are wrapped in wisdom and consciousness.
I absolutely love this book. My connective-relationship to it runs deep. Themes & experiences in this novel are very familiar to me. Old memories came flooding back faster than the speed of light.
I not only cried while reading the Author’s Notes (admiration
& blessings to Michelle Lerner)….but there is a headshot photo of Michelle at the end of the novel that I couldn’t stop staring at. Her face and soul were jumping off the page. I honestly couldn’t moved for a good five minutes— just staring and feeling….staring and feeling! Feeling LOVE.

Upfront, we learn this novel discusses suicide.
“There was before Rachel, and there was after Rachel. There were twenty-three years in between. The twenty-three years that were Rachel”.
However….the subject of suicide is handle superbly….not out-of-proportion to the totality of the entire story.
We meet a wonderful-memorable small cast of characters and a dog named Ring, at a healing retreat: “The Seven Pillars” in Canada.

Small Description: [I couldn’t say it better] . . .
“Ring takes you on an unforgettable odyssey through the depths of human emotion, from the hollows of grief to the heights of newfound hope. In the backdrop of a snow-covered sanctuary designed to aid the dying, Lee, a middle aged non-binary person from the Midwest grapples with the unbearable weight of losing their young adult daughter. Abandoning their previous life and even the comfort of a longtime spouse (to Susan of twenty-six years), Lee is driven by a quest for closure-or an end to it all”.

Just traveling to ‘The Sanctuary’ for Lee was quite an adventure….(train, small propeller plane, and even a snowmobile). The atmospheric setting throughout was glowing (literally and figuratively).

Lee finally arrives. She learns from the staff, (Catherine and Samu), what is expected of her. Lee knew ahead of time - that guests were not allowed to walk ‘The Seven Pillars’ without training. The training was not lectures about society, philosophy, or how to walk properly along the trail…..
it was hands on….roll up your sleeves and get those hands dirty working the soil. Everything with a purpose to calm the soul…..mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

“The sanctuary’s food was grown in three different greenhouses attached to the main building. Two hydroponic and one soil, kept at different temperatures through complicated systems involving solar panels, geothermal heating, grow lights, pipes, and gravel”.

Actually ….everything about the sanctuary ….from eating, special teas, veggie smoothies, sleeping, yoga, meditation, saunas, cold plunges, ice baths, resting, reflecting, thinking, being with other guests in the community, emotional freedom therapy, (EFT), celebrating milestones, respecting boundaries between others, ……all were aimed to support healing.

The heart of the novel for me were the characters, including Ring, and the valuable conversations that were transformative.
Oh….and I had one very enjoyable laugh over a pair of red stretch pants worn by Samu. He looked like Pa in the illustrated “Night Before Christmas”.

I paused when Catherine had a little chat with Lee —
“Weather you recognize it or not, you’re certainly making some choices for the people in your life by removing yourself from them this way, and if you have this much concern about what Robert and Ring are doing, I think you need to think about why that is, and weather you’re ready to be here. That’s not a judgmental or scolding. It’s a real question that I want you to think about”.

Much more — to say about this WONDERFUL book….(it sure would make a great book club pick).
I could talk about issues and themes in here for another hour….(loss, grief, activism, human rights, estrangement, death, love, forgiveness….and the value of simplistic living, cleansing, and healing.

My friend Cheri, lead me the way to this book (thanks Cheri)….and I now, in turn, wish to put it in the hands of all the other people I love.

Absolutely wonderful!!!
I look forward to reading more books by Michelle Lerner.

There are books we choose to read for the pleasure of inhabiting another person’s life, and then there are books that slowly pull us into another life, one that on the surface, and beneath it as well, that we can sympathize with, possibly relate to, but know we will remember long after the last page is read. For many, perhaps most, this is why we read.

Set predominantly in Canada at Seven Pillars, a sanctuary, this is a story of family, of love and loss, of trauma, grief, of searching for something that will fill the empty places inside us, and perhaps finding a way to move through the pain, misunderstandings, and loss. Of finding the people (or dog) who love and help us, and share our journey.

All the stars for this profoundly moving and lovely read with themes of trauma, loss, hope and healing.



Pub Date: 28 Jan 2025

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Bancroft Press