Before I die

One day, just like any other, you find out you have only a few months to live. A difficult blow to comprehend, no doubt, for how do you face such a reality? What psychological mechanisms are unleashed in the face of the certainty of the inevitable?

This debut novel by British author Jenny Downham—which, thanks to word-of-mouth, soared to the top of the sales charts in England for weeks—is unlike any of the many others published on the same subject.

Discovered by editor David Fickling—to whose keen eye we owe discoveries such as Philip Pullman's trilogy, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas—Tessa's story offers a much broader perspective than the dubious spectacle of sharing a painful ordeal.

A new perception of time, the redefinition of relationships with parents and friends, first romantic adventures—in short, an accelerated process of maturity that, narrated with unforgettable moments of irony and humor, distills a surprising vitality while also inviting reflection on the true value of things.