What makes [Ending] first-rate is that Wolitzer captures the conditions of the spirit rather perfectly herself, with an amazing intensity and richness. And in the rash of new books on dying, fiction and nonfiction, Ending is a distinguished entry.

Sandy and Jay Kaufman are a young couple (30 and 32—with two boys under five) going through the agony, together, of Jay's death from bone cancer. There is that much obvious plot comparison with Love Story, but the similarity ends there…. [Eric] Segal's hero dealt with his wife's death only as a learning experience for himself, Sandy Kaufman is as deeply involved in her husband's feelings as in her own….

Even though the action centers around Jay's dying, the novel is really Sandy's. It records her efforts to deal in a continually alive way with her dying husband and the fact of his death. She deliberately chooses to live in...