She had managed to carve out a new life for herself as a housemaid in the city of Omdurman, across the River Nile from Sudan's capital Khartoum. I would have gone anywhere, but I had no choice,' the 26-year-old said. 'I would not have come back to South Sudan. Weaving in a host of contemporary issues, from Brexit and mass migration to the coronavirus, Shriver has pulled off a rollicking page-turner in which we never have to mourn perished characters, because they'll be alive and kicking in the very next chapter.RENK, South Sudan, May 8 (Reuters) - The last place Lina Mijok wanted to go as she fled fighting in Sudan was back to her own country, South Sudan, which she had left as civil war erupted in 2013.īut when Sudan's army started battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the streets around to her home last month, South Sudan was the only place she and her two young children could reach. Were they to cut life artificially short, what would they miss out on? Something terrific? Or something terrible? Might they end up in a home? A fabulous luxury retirement village, or a Cuckoo's Nest sort of home? Might being demented end up being rather fun? What future for humanity awaits-the end of civilization, or a Valhalla of peace and prosperity? What if cryogenics were really to work? What if scientists finally cure aging?īoth timely and timeless, Lionel Shriver addresses serious themes-the compromises of longevity, the challenge of living a long life and still going out in style-with an uncannily light touch. When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades together.īy turns hilarious and touching, playful and grave, Should We Stay or Should We Go portrays twelve parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. To spare themselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they should agree to commit suicide together once they've both turned eighty. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal. Although healthy and vital in their early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. Surely one's own father passing should never come as such a relief.īoth medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril have seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Over ten years, Alzheimer's had steadily eroded this erudite man into a paranoid lunatic. When her father dies, Kay Wilkinson can't cry.

Should we stay shriver