“Going up against Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, and, to a degree, Malamud and Salinger requires a measure of courage. Orwin has the technique to take on these worthies.” — Los Angeles Times

Waiting for Next Week

by Michele Orwin

Wise, funny, and deeply felt, Waiting for Next Week is a love story, a story about growing up, a story of confronting death. 

Three years ago, when her mother was diagnosed as having cancer, Beth Asher started mentally preparing for her mother’s death. She and her younger brother, Billy, dutifully traveled home on weekends only to be subjected to their mother’s criticisms and their father’s complaints—until it became hard for them to believe she was really going to die. But suddenly the end is imminent. 

Beth and Billy are the imperfect children; their older siblings are the ones their parents always favored, the ones who cannot now be bothered with their parents’ demands. Both Sharon, the hectoring perfectionist older sister, and Grim, the golden boy and ideal eldest son are married with children, while Beth and Billy have spent the years dodging relationships that offer a chance of happiness. Beth has been living alone since she walked out on Michael, a man she loved but whose love she felt unsure of. As she takes care of her mother, she longs for someone to take care of her; as she comes to accept her mother’s impending death, she must also learn to accept herself. 

When the Asher family comes together for the first time in years, the old ways and the old wounds pick up where they left off—despite marriages, divorces, and changes in fortune. Some understandings will be reached, others thwarted, before Beth and Billy finally find the possibility of happiness for themselves. 

Michele Orwin unravels the intricacies of these intimate relationships with deft humor and profound compassion, creating an often hilarious yet deeply resonant family portrait.

Reviews of WAITING FOR NEXT WEEK by Michele Orwin

“This is a remarkable novel, full of emotion but also filled with humor, intelligence and enormous understanding. It is a novel about death; but also about life--and about what the living take from the dead. And it is also a book about family relationships....The theme may not be original, but the treatment is impeccable and the descriptive passages are superb....Orwin displays the sort of talent that makes us wish for more.” Newark Star Ledger

“...a remarkable range of attitudes toward death and dying are explored with rare, poignant perception and humor. This wonderfully insightful, humane first novel deserves to be read.” Library Journal

“Best Book of Spring comes from Henry Holt and Company and is titled Waiting for Next Week by Michele Orwin. Although it is a story of death it is also one of wit and humor, insight and promise and a love story, too. It will grab you right where you live and when you finally put it down I think you’ll agree with me that author Michele Orwin can move men, women and mountains. She writes wonderfully well. Enjoy!” City Scene by Dick Sinnett

“Waiting for Next Week” offers a knowing and well-crafted portrait of an urban Jewish family in extremis, and the dialogues and characterizations ring absolutely true... Orwin has a discerning eye and an acute ear, and this novel is a promising debut.” Publishers Weekly

“...an ably written first novel...Michele Orwin is adept at propelling her tightly knit story along and she’s especially good at capturing the humorous kvetching of Beth’s relatives.” New York Times

“...an honest look at how death affects those left behind. Michele Orwin writes (often hilariously) of family dynamics in confronting death and life. Her characters are authentic.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The psychological insights into life...are compelling and delivered with wit and compassion. A satisfying first novel.” Kirkus Reviews

“Orwin’s style is intense and personal and each scene leaves as clear an impression in our minds as scenes we have experienced ourselves....1 even found myself laughing out loud at some of the ridiculous things family members do to one another. It may have been laughter of recognition rather than of joy, but I still found myself looking forward to Michele Orwin’s next novel.” The Monitor, McAllen, Texas