The Pickerings' Last Tango
A Very Different Love Story
The Pickerings’ Last Tango is a bittersweet, affecting novel about grief and the power of true love.
In John Grayson Heide’s moving novel The Pickerings’ Last Tango, a grieving husband makes the difficult choice to leave the world alongside his suffering wife.
Guy and Dorothy are a perfect couple. Their childhood romance grew into a loving marriage. In their sunset years, their doctor tells Guy that Dorothy has weeks left to live. Guy recalls a promise they made years ago to help each other die on their own terms. Faced with this grim reality, Guy decides that he wants to pass away beside his soulmate. What follows is a comedy of errors in which Guy’s private, painful decision is publicized and a media storm erupts around the dying couple.
Dorothy’s personality is the highlight of the book and the reason for its evocative pull. Described by her doctor as “feisty and special,” Dorothy has a lively, if inappropriate, sense of humor, charming yet off-putting bluntness, and an indignant, sharp wit. Her brute force of will and stubborn persistence inform her painful decision to die on her own terms, and her vibrant personality makes Guy’s decision to follow through even harder. Indeed, her magnetic charm causes Guy to think he cannot live without her, making his decision to die alongside his wife make perfect sense.
The supporting cast includes overzealous reporters and Guy and Dorothy’s children (a business-focused divorced father of a teenager and a doting, worried daughter with young children of her own) and grandchildren. Guy worries about leaving them behind, a conundrum that escalates once his lost teenage grandson, Alex, comes to help him take care of Dorothy. Alex—who narrates the novel alongside his grandfather—grows closer to his grandparents; in doing so, he finds himself, adding a coming-of-age subplot to this family-focused tale. In fact, Guy’s loving family is his biggest obstacle, making the story suspenseful and heartwarming in equal turns, including at its heart-pounding conclusion.
The story is bittersweet and emotive from the start, as Guy is faced with Dorothy’s mortality and his impending promise. Occasional flashbacks to Guy and Dorothy’s childhood and courtship further flesh out the couple and the depth of their relationship, though they sometimes distract from the suspense of the main timeline. Guy’s internal turmoil, combined with his being forced to navigate his loved ones’ feelings while planning a murder-suicide, makes the story equal parts devastating, humorous, and philosophical—a delightful combination that makes the novel a standout example of literary suspense.
The prose is gorgeous, with decadent descriptions of people and places alongside Guy’s and Alex’s internal monologues. Guy and Dorothy’s house, for example, is a singular entity in the midst of a cookie-cutter housing development, sticking “out like a dusty farm truck amid a fleet of shiny sedans.” This writing style displays mastery over figurative language and a rejection of clichés; its rhythm is lyrical, making the book entertaining and cohesive from start to finish.
A grieving husband dodges his loving family members while trying to plan a peaceful death for his terminal wife in the deeply felt novel The Pickerings’ Last Tango.
Reviewed by
Leah Block
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
