I’ll Leave You With This is the sixth novel by Australian neuropsychologist and author, Kylie Ladd. Three years after Daniel O’Shea died, his four sisters and his ex-boyfriend gather to remember him with their annual lunch at Sake, the restaurant to which he was headed for a business lunch when he was killed by a random shooter in a Sydey street.

Their parents had carefully planned their family, so there was a gap of thirteen years between the eldest and the youngest, perhaps one of the reasons that the sisters are not very close. They are all very different: Allison, crazy smart, good in a crisis , a bit scary, is a mother of twins and Chief Obstetrician and a major teaching hospital; Bridie is creative, driven, ambitious, but her career as a film director having stalled while her husband’s acting career seems to be taking off; Clare, solid, reliable, practical, no-nonsense, is a nurse whose baby lust has caused her wife of just one year to leave her; diminutive (and lonely) Emma, quiet, religious, introverted, has abandoned her career as a cellist for a job as the music director of the Crossfire Church.

“The four of them were like planets in the solar system, occasionally hoving into view of one another, but always, always fixed in their own immovable orbits.”

Clare wonders if it was Daniel who kept them connected. This diversity and disconnect is perhaps the reason for the mixed reaction to Clare’s proposal that they seek out the recipients of Daniel’s organs, to bring them closer to the brother they so tragically lost. And there are quite a lot of recipients: Daniel was a fit and healthy young man who had not only vital organs (heart, kidneys, lungs) in good condition, but also corneas, skin, bone, small bowel and other, perhaps unexpected parts, to donate.

Readers who think they can predict the way the plot will go from there are in for a surprise. Ladd takes the reader through the backstories of the main characters to give an idea of how they came to be at the point in their lives where they are mourning their loss whilst also dealing with their own challenges, be they working too much, or not enough, obsession, or loneliness. Ladd deals with each of these with wisdom and insight.

Her descriptive prose is often delightful, for example, defining the similarities between Bridie and Daniel: “They were exclusive members of a secret society of two, flamingos in a family of wrens.” Her characters, their reactions and behaviour, feel realistic and authentic. Thought-provoking, moving and ultimately uplifting, this is excellent contemporary fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton.