Dava Shastri's Last Day
by Kirthana Ramisetti
Contemporary Fiction. Themes: Medical Aid in Dying, Legacy
Dava Shastri is a billionaire Indian-American icon who gathers her children and grandchildren to her bedside in the days before she plans to end her own life with the help of her doctor. As Shastri’s last days play out, she travels back in time to clarify and share the experiences that shaped her, the foundations of her legacy and the family that she will leave behind. In Shastri’s desire to see how she will be remembered, secrets arise and her family expands and contracts around their collective grief in the face of her death.
Popular fiction does not often cover the topic of Medical Aid in Dying and how such a choice impacts the family of the terminally ill. In the story of Dava Shastri, we see this delicate issue explored.
The author’s debut is an original and clever examination of grief, assisted suicide, terminal cancer, legacy and the impact of loss on a family. And she doesn’t stop there as other social issues abound such as: philanthropy, feminism, multicultural families. A tad wordy, for the end dragged while we waited to reach the book’s obvious conclusion. That said, it is still worth the read for it poses interesting questions and is compelling without being depressing. All in all, Kirthana Ramisetti’s Dava Shastri’s Last Day is an elegantly written invitation to consider some of the thorny issues we all contend with.