From the Inside Flap
On a snowy New England evening in a small college town, Sean Farrell-a hard-drinking, libidinous poet and professor-hosts a Thanksgiving dinner. The eleven guests include two fellow professors (one a novelist, the other also a poet), two of Sean's former lovers, his lawyer, his housepainter, and his baker. What none of them knows is that Sean is dying. This dinner could be his grand finale.
As food and drink flow, secrets are exposed, tragedies bared, and truths uncovered. "Never could we have dreamed how rough adult life would be," one character thinks. Yet there is wit and laughter too, in a novel about mortality that is also a celebration of life. With each new book, it becomes increasingly clear that Nancy Huston is a writer of exceptional gifts. Sweet Agony is another impressive performance from a writer whose eye is as sharp as her insight into the human condition is wise.
Having read and loved The Mark of the Angel and Slow Emergencies, I couldn't wait to read another Nancy Huston novel. Her beautiful prose has always enthralled me, and Sweet Agony was not an exception. The story centers on Sean Farrell -- an eccentric, alcoholic poet who decides to create his own version of the last supper. He invites eleven of his closest friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, where he regales everyone with stories of the wonderful and sometimes poignant times they had shared, and where they also vent their unexpressed feelings of anger, baring harsh secrets and truths. But there is a catch to the occasion. Sean is terminally ill and this could well be his final celebration. There are some twists throughout the novel.

Huston has once again wowed me with a story so engaging and beautiful that it was impossible to put down. This Canadian author's writing is deceptively stark, unmistakably dark. The novel is told from all characters' points of views, jumping from one narrative to another. Yet the multiple narratives did not confuse me in the slightest. Each character possesses his or her own voice, making them all unique. And the conclusion is what I expected from this brilliant novelist. This novel touched me in so many levels and I cannot wait to discuss it with friends. Sweet Agony is a novel that should be savored like fine wine. I cannot recommend it enough. I also recommend her two previous books. They are all wonderful.