It was the best of times, the worst of times. In "Left on Tenth," Delia Ephron's wry and touching autobiographical book about a scary, depressing, and fabulous period in her life takes readers along on a trip with hairpin turns, devastating setbacks, true love, and great friends.

The books opens in 2015 as Ephron's husband, writer Jerry Kass, is dying of cancer. Ephron talks about his final illness with humor and poignancy, as she and their friends try to make his final days easier. After Kass dies, Ephron seems to be heading in a Joan Didion-like book about loss, but the book takes a turn when she finds romance with a psychiatrist rom-com style after publishing an op-ed in the New York Times complaining about Verizon.

No sooner does the new romance take off then Ephron faces another turn: Doctors diagnose her with leukemia, the same disease that had recently killed her sister Nora. As Ephron faces the brutal reality of cancer treatment, she gets a surprise -- her new love (and soon-to-be-next husband), Peter, turns out to be totally devoted to her and determined to see her through her illness.

Ephron devotes most of the book to her fight against cancer, taking reader through countless visits with top specialists, trips to the emergency room, and soul-sucking stays in the hospital. It's an intense read, although Ephron's pithy comments keep the story (and herself) from sinking.

Anyone who needs some inspiration about getting through tough times and staying open to the possibilities the world offers while forging ahead with a sense of humor should read Ephron's book.

“I’ve gotten to make my living by my imagination. That’s a lovely thing.”
DNF😕 Was hoping the writing on this one would transcend memoir about death, certainly just a memoir about death, which hung on every page for me. I think that's my own fault.
Congrats to her on all of her lifelong friends though. And for the famous sister and parents. She's a lovely writer I'd still like to read more from some day.
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the free review eARC!

Release Date: April 12, 2022

📖📖📖📖

Deliah lost bother her beloved sister and her husband in short order, but then unexpectedly at the age of 72, she is given a second chance at love. It is an article she wrote lambasting Verizon after a frustrating and aggravating encounter she had with them, that brings her this second chance. The man, who will become her husband, whom also lost his wife. Then the genetic based cancer that killed her sister comes for her. What follows is a herculean struggle for her life.

Every once in a while, one picks up a book that hits one hard. The struggle and pain that Deliah talks about is visceral and though you know she wins in the end, you can’t help but cry along with her.Deliah says in her book, "Trauma is so isolating" which it is, but knowing that this is out there, maybe the people who read it won’t feel so alone.

Her honesty, her ability as an author to bring her struggles to life, touched me. I thank her for sharing her story, because I'm sure like myself she has touched many.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

#bookstagram #netgalleyreads #bookrecommendations #ephronsisters #leftontenth #deliahephron #biography #littlebrownandcompany

Not many writers can make the reader laugh and cry in such an honest, heartfelt way. Nora Ephron was capable of this and so is Delia Ephron. Faced with unimaginable loss and then new found love, followed by confronting terrible disease and the possibility of her own demise Delia Ephron shares her story with us. Second only to what would be the joy of being one of her close friends, this is a marvelous book.

gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous memoir about life and love after loss and grief and nyc and sisterhood and california and writing and illness. so many sections stopped me right in my tracks. will return to this

I didn't dislike this book, but about a week after finishing it, I'm also not finding it particularly memorable. Ephron's story itself is stunning - she lost her sister and her husband to cancer, fell in love again in her 70s, and was then diagnosed with cancer herself. She faced a treatment that would have been a struggle even for a younger person. That said, Ephron asked her doctors not to share too many details of her cancer with her, and she also endured a period of which she has little to no memory. The combination of these factors made it feel like she wrote this book from a distance - it didn't have the immediacy you would typically find in a memoir dealing with disease and illness. While she shared some of her emotions from this period, they weren't palpable, and it left me feeling like I was reading a biography rather than a memoir.

Left on Tenth tells the story of a difficult period in Delia Ephron's life when she lost both her husband and sister and then found herself diagnosed with a serious illness. The sign of any good book to me is when I find myself racing through it but also need to remind myself to slow down to savor all the beautiful language. I loved all the stories of Delia's life in New York and also valued her honesty about the extremely difficult challenges she faced in the depths of her illness. This is a heart-warming book and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for hope that you can make it through a dark time.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

A very touching memoir by talented author Delia Ephron who struggles with her husband's serious health issues and then has to tackle her own. The book has an upbeat tone in spite of the serious subject matter and Ms. Ephron's hope and courage shine through on every page. Highly recommend.

I've always been a fan of Delia Ephron's work but her memoir is anything but a romantic comedy. She writes of her personal losses of her sister and husband, her second chance at love (which could be the basis for another excellent romance novel) and her personal struggle with a rare form of leukemia. Her experiences are relatable and uplifting. Her ultimate hope in the face of such obstacles gave me hope as well.

I found Delia Ephron’s memoir so relatable. I have not suffered the tragedies that beset her, but her reactions to various things, people and situations made me feel we are using the same play book. After Delia lost her sister, she lost her husband. But she was still able to open herself to new love. And then faced her own cancer diagnosis. I respect and admire her for the honesty and self-revelation in this, her newest memoir.
In reading this memoir, you will get to know not only Delia Ephron, but all of the people who surround her, some famous, most not. She is clearly someone who has inspired love and loyalty all of her life. There’s no question that she loved her first husband, Jerry. But that doesn’t take away at all from the enormous love she has for Peter, her second husband.
If you are thinking that, with all that tragedy, this must be a depressing book, then you are wrong. Delia is upbeat, and full of the humor that she and her sister have both been well-known for. I’m certainly inspired and happy that I’ve had the chance to read this book

Delia Ephron’s memoir begins with the death of her husband from pancreatic cancer. It is searing and traumatic - certainly a grim way to start a book. Delia’s loss, however, frames the next five or so years in her life, which is the subject of her memoir. After writing an op-ed in the New York Times about the terrible customer service at Verizon she encounters while trying to discontinue her late-husband’s landline, Delia receives an email from a man named Peter, who had been introduced to Delia by her late sister Nora when she was 18. Their correspondence turns into late in life marriage, the ceremony for which takes place in a hospital wing on the eve of the start of Delia’s treatment for leukemia, the same cancer that killed her sister. The second half of Delia’s memoir focuses on her medical journey, from an experimental therapy she is given to a harrowing bone marrow transplant. Along the way, Delia introduces readers to her many wonderful doctors and friends, who support her in ways big and small. Delia preserves these moments by reprinting the emails sent by friends while she was in the hospital. I think the New York Times review would agree with me that not all of these emails needed to be printed in full and that it was difficult to keep track of the numerous people in her life - but boy does Delia Ephron have a literate group of friends. Left on Tenth was a challenging story of hardship and resilience, of finding love after death, and in some ways, an ode to New York City.

Full disclosure: I've been a Delia Ephron fan for decades. I'm so glad she wrote this book, and at the same time so grateful that she beat leukemia to do it. On the surface, it doesn't seem like uplifting material: the loss of her longtime husband, a cancer diagnosis, and the long, brutal battle to beat it (and I do mean brutal). But what I took from this book is the beautiful support she had during all of this, not to mention her story of finding love again. It is beautifully written - highly recommend.

What a powerful read. I was not 100% sure what to expect from this book but it was so gripping and emotional. I felt very nervous reading it- just hoping for a happy ending in one way or anything.
Beautifully written, gorgeously described, and ultimately touching. Memoirs about illness can be difficult to read but with the right author- as in this one- reading it changes you.
This is very graphic about her battle with cancer so I would avoid if this is a tough subject for you to read about.
Thank you, NetGalley and Little Brown for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an amazing book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It's sometimes hard reading, as the author describes her cancer treatment and its effects, but it's also a love story. And she is a true New Yorker-I loved her descriptions of living there. I look forward to recommending this book to our patrons.

Delia Ephron, Nora's sister, writes of losing her sister, losing her husband shortly thereafter and finding love again in her 70s.. Unfortunately, Delia develops a cancer similar to the one that killed her sister.

Part memoir of loss, part love story and part cancer memoir, I really liked this book.

Left on Tenth
A Second Chance at Life
By Delia Ephron

A Fabulous Book of Determination and Resilience and Finding Late in Life Love


SUMMARY
‘I’m not my sister. My leukemia is not her leukemia.’ was author Delia Ephron’s call to arms when she was diagnosed with the same disease that killed her sister, Nora, earlier. Just before her diagnosis, she falls madly in love with Peter, a San Franciso area psychiatrist. With Peter and close friends by her side, Delia takes us on a roller coaster of a journey through tears and laughter as she fights an uphill health battle and navigates the joyous emotions of finding love late in life.

REVIEW
Left on Tenth is simply a fabulous book. While memoirs about illnesses can be hard to read, Ephron adds levity and emotional honesty. But just because something is hard to read does not mean you shouldn't read it. Left on Tenth is definitely a book that should be read, shared and read again. It's about late in life resilience and determination and being open to new possibilities, and new options.

Ephron’s writing style, storytelling and tone were exceptionally moving. The flow of the book was smooth and easy. She beautifully and courageously shares the details of her illness and her thoughts and feelings as she is battling a cancer that has already ravaged her family. Her desire to write this book and the research required to put it together is admirable. She was certainly given a second chance at life.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher Little Brown and Company
Published April 12, 2022
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

This was a really quick read. Delia briefly tells the story of her incredibly happy first marriage and the death of her husband (and of her sister, Nora), but the book really gets going once she meets her new love and is diagnosed with leukemia (the same disease that took her sister's life). There are parts of her hospitalization and treatment that are very difficult to read, but overall this was a page-turner for me. Many thanks to NetGalley, Ms. Ephron, and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC of this title

Always a fan of Nora Ephron, I thoroughly enjoyed the moving story of her finding a second love and fighting her way through a tough war with leukemia. She endured and triumphed over so many losses (sister, husband, pet) and still found the joy in her second chapter.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance ebook copy. Delia Ephron writes in many different genres. This book is an accounting of loss, love, illness, and clawing her way back to health. When her husband dies, Della connects with a long lost boyfriend. In the first blush of their romance, she receives a terrifying diagnosis. This sends them down a long road of despair, treatment, and eventually recovery . Delia does not have much recollection of the time she was ill, so she used emails sent between friends and loved ones during her illness as a basis to tell the story.

This was a very emotional ride through Delia's life and illness, second chance love, loss of loved ones, & friendships that span decades. You feel every ounce of emotion during her illness, which left me with pure gratitude and the utmost respect for bone marrow donors and incredible physicians that truly fight for their patients. My heart was shattered for her and Honey, having been through similar situations with my own furbabies over the last few years. Peter is an amazing man that became a part of her story at just the right moment. It's truly something how love always finds a way to be at the time it's meant to be. Delia is an incredible writer and I'm so glad she found her spark for that again!!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this incredible memoir.