Structure

This book is divided into three sections or ‘books’, “Cold Feet,” “Dust and Ashes,” and “Endings and Beginnings.” The section titles illustrate the main ideas discussed in each, for example “Cold Feet” discusses Taylor’s misgivings about using her euthanasia drug, “Dust and Ashes” discusses the haunting legacy of some of Taylor’s deceased loved ones, and “Endings and Beginnings” explores Taylor’s approach to the end of her life by remembering her early childhood.

The book has three ‘timelines’ between which it jumps back and forth: the first is Taylor’s own lifetime before her diagnosis, the second is her mother and father’s lives stemming from their own childhoods to their children’s youth, and third is Taylor’s lifetime after her diagnosis while she is battling her illness. Of the three, the first timeline regarding Taylor’s lifetime pre-diagnosis is discussed the least, as...