A Dance for Emelia

Peter S. Beagle

Jacob and Sam have been best friends for over 40 years. Jacob receives a phone call from Sam's ex-lover; Sam is dead from a heart attack. Jacob is shocked, angry, saddened...all the emotions of grief from losing a dear friend.

He remembers their times together. He and Sam now lived on different coasts and only saw each other a few times a year. When they were together, their other friends did not exist. Jacob did not know anything about Sam's life that Sam did not tell. They had a bond that kept them close despite all. Jacob has to go to New York for the funeral and to be the executor. He meets the special person in Sam's life.

This short book is unexpectedly poignant. It took me an hour or so to read and pulled me right into itself. But I was surprised at the tears I felt when I closed it. I had not known it was affecting me that deeply until the last paragraph or two. It is more than the life long friendship of two men. It is the unusual way the relationship comes to closure.

Yes, I am leaving out most of the story. I do not want to ruin it.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle