“Barbara Isn’t Dying” by Alina Bronsky is actually about Barbara dying. We don’t realize that at first, and while the main character, Herr Schmidt (as he is referred to in the narrative) or “Schmidt, Walter” (as he refers to himself) refuses to admit that there is anything wrong with Barbara, it becomes crystal clear to us that she is not getting any better. It also becomes crystal clear to us as we read the narrative from Herr Schmidt’s point of view that he is not a nice man. He has few friends, and Barbara has waited on him hand and foot throughout their marriage.

So one morning when he wakes and realizes that he doesn’t smell the coffee that Barbara brews for him every morning, his first thought is that she has died. He then thinks that’s impossible because of her robust health. So when he finds her fallen on the floor, he doesn’t understand what is happening. Barbara goes back to bed.

Herr Schmidt is helpless when it comes to even preparing a cup of coffee for them. Barbara has cooked and cleaned and served him basically since his mother had performed all those tasks. Now he’s completely inept. But we soon see how resourceful Walter can be, and he goes to the bakery and gets coffee there. Eventually, he learns how to make it himself with the help of the girl who works at the bakery.

And as Barbara doesn’t really get any better, Walter continues to believe, or at least profess to believe, that if he can just get her to eat enough, she will recover. When their two adult children visit and take her to the doctor, Walter doesn’t go. He doesn’t ask what the doctor said. When their children want Barbara admitted to the hospital, as the doctor suggested, Barbara says no and Walter supports her decision. He still knows nothing about her diagnosis.

As time passes, Walter learns to cook and bake. He learns to use the computer, which previously had belonged to Barbara. But the changes in Walter go deeper than those superficial improvements. We learn about Walter’s past with Barbara, and his cruelties, small and large. His prejudices. His small-mindedness. In fact, his daughter is in a relationship with another woman, yet Walter still refers to them as best friends. His mind cannot conceive of any other kind of relationship.

As the months pass, we see Walter interact with his old buddies, with the women who know his wife and stop by to help, with old friends he doesn’t really want to see, with a local woman he has a mysterious past with, and with his own children, whom he resents at first and then comes to appreciate — perhaps just a bit more.

As we see Walter change, we come to dislike him less. We wonder (at least I do), if Walter is on the autism spectrum; his inability to read people, to engage in small talk, to smile and act nice even if he isn’t feeling it. He’s really not a very likable person, but he is undergoing a metamorphosis. Like the beautiful butterfly that emerges from the hard-shelled chrysalis, Walter is changing into something not beautiful, but kinder and stronger.

This is a quick read at only 182 pages. In fact, the ending is a bit abrupt. I checked to make sure it really was the ending of the story because in fact, there really is no ending. I think the author wanted us to create our own ending. Instead of tying up the ending neatly with a bow on top, we will wonder about it. What will happen next? What will his family make of Walter’s decisions? Is Walter really a changed person? For this reason, I think this novel would be a perfectly marvelous book to read with a book club.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.