“SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO” by Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver is my favorite writer by far. 
The subject of her latest book was extremely interesting to me because my husband and I are at the same age as the main characters from the novel. Therefore some of their concerns are also ours.

The main characters of the book, British citizens Cyril and Kay (fifty years old), decide to kill themselves on their eightieth anniversary.
The decision is not taken lightly : Kay is fed up after taking care for fifteen years of her Alzheimer’s diseased dad, and the couple decides do not be the same burden for their three adults children.

For me, the beauty of this book is how Lionel imagined the END: there are multiple choices!!!
One of them is the situation where, FINALLY 🙂 , the pill for eternal youth is produced:

“According to the rumour, which the subsequent longevity of a certain someone bore out, one of the first beneficiaries of the new restorative was the UK’s official head of state, who, it was said, began discreetly popping the pills along with her nightly G&T whilst the drug trial, showing such early promise, was still underway.
Consequently, the poor, inhumanly patient Charles, Prince of Wales, was unlikely ever to ascend to the throne after all; when the secret finally leaked, the Princess-Consort-in-waiting Camilla Parker-Bowles was livid.
The country at large, however, was delighted. With the wildly popular Queen Elizabeth II installed in perpetuity, the monarchy was safe, a thriving British tourism industry guaranteed.”

It amused me to read which businesses went down because of this pill:

“Certain business sectors suffered.
Demand for a variety of products and services shrank or evaporated:
-creams for the amelioration of spots, wrinkles, and eye bags
-reading glasses and corrective lenses
-hearing aids
-in-home caretaking
-walk-in bathtubs, shower-stall rails, transfer discs, and electric stair lifts
-wheelchairs, canes, and walkers
-a panoply of pharmaceuticals that treated the cancers, hypertension, heart disease, and strokes that soon grew exceedingly rare
-artificial hips and knees
-pacemakers and stents
-pension fund management
-the writing of wills and the settlement of estates

But the modest damage to the economy was more that made up for by the explosion of the working population, whose taxes now largely supported dependents who were under eighteen.”

Kindle, 2021