Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As a veterinarian, Helena had mercifully escorted thousands of animals to the other side. Now, having died herself, she finds that it is not so easy to move on. She is terrified that her 37 years of life were meaningless, error-ridden, and forgettable. So Helena haunts-- and is haunted by-- the life she left behind. Meanwhile, David, her shattered attorney husband, struggles with grief and the demands of caring for her houseful of damaged and beloved animals. But it is her absence from her last project, Cindy-- a chimpanzee who may unlock the mystery of communication and consciousness-- that will have the greatest impact on all of them.

When Cindy is scheduled for a research experiment that will undoubtedly take her life, David must call upon everything he has learned from Helena to save her. In the explosive courtroom drama that follows, all the threads of Helena's life entwine and tear as Helena and David confront their mistakes, grief, and loss, and discover the only way to save Cindy is to understand what it really means to be human.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In Abramson's debut, lawyer and animal rights advocate Helena has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Fearful of passing on to the next stage, she watches how her husband, friends, and pets cope with her death. A young veterinarian, Helena had a multitude of animals that David, her lawyer husband, now cares for as he goes through the grieving process. Joshua, her business partner, is overwhelmed with work in her absence. Her friend and colleague Jaycee can no longer prove to other researchers and government officials that a chimpanzee named Cindy responded in American Sign Language to her and Helena. Because of this, Jaycee's funding is pulled, and a legal fight begins as she enlists David's help to try and keep Cindy from being used for other scientific experiments that could possibly harm the chimp. VERDICT Abramson delivers a touching and dramatic story that is sure to please animal lovers. Though the heavy emphasis on animal rights becomes repetitive, overall this is a solid story of loss and love.-Joy Gunn, Henderson Libs., NV (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this heartfelt though predictable debut, Abramson explores the interconnecting relationships between animals and people, as well as the sensitive topic of scientific animal testing. Though wearying at times with endless narrative on compassion for all living beings, the novel is still touching and emotional. Thirty-seven-year-old lawyer David Colden is reeling from the death of his veterinarian wife, Helena, when he is approached by one of her colleagues, Jaycee, who worked with Helena teaching Cindy, a chimpanzee, to use American Sign Language. The funding for the chimpanzee project is about to come to a halt, and Jaycee initially wants David to obtain a court order so Cindy isn't used in scientific experiments. David refuses at first, too distraught over his loss and taking care of all Helena's pets: three dogs, six cats, horses, and a pig. But when Jaycee breaks into the government institution to "save" Cindy and is arrested, David agrees to represent her in court. Helena narrates from the afterlife and is an important presence in the courtroom during Jaycee's trial. Sudden life-changing events teach David love and acceptance, and while emotion often trumps plot, the focus on animal rights (Abramson is a lawyer who has been recognized by the ASPCA for his legal work) will resonate with animal lovers. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

A small-town veterinarian once involved in controversial primate research, Helena is destined to spend the months following her death in purgatory, where she observes the impact of her work on the people and animals she loved best and perhaps harmed the most. Her husband, David, is barely able to cope with their menagerie of dogs, cats, horses, and even a headstrong pig, and all but abandons his high-powered legal career in nearby Manhattan. Her best friend, Jaycee, has achieved impressive results in language studies with a chimp named Cindy, but when funding is withdrawn, she is forced to take desperate steps to keep Cindy from being reassigned to more inhumane fields of research. Arrested for her crimes, Jaycee hires David to represent her, and the ensuing trial provides Helena with the outlet to confront her past mistakes and relinquish her hold on worldly life. While frequently promoting the hard-to-quantify ties between animals and humans in mawkish tones, Abramson's first novel nonetheless raises powerful issues of communication, love, and responsibility between species.--Haggas, Caro. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The premise in lawyer and animal-rights activist Abramson's first novelabout a recently deceased veterinarian keeping her eye on the humans and animals she's left behindis that the "consciousness" of all living beings must be respected equally.A victim of breast cancer, Helena must resolve her responsibility for the animals whose lives she ended before she can ascend into a peaceful afterlife. Meanwhile, she hovers near those she loves: her dogs, cats, horses and pet pig as well as her lawyer husband David, her mentor and vet-practice partner Joshua, and her college friend Jaycee, now a researcher into animal intelligence. Orphaned in childhood, David has always had abandonment issues, and he is too numbed with grief to take adequate care of Helena's equally grieving animals on their beautiful farm outside New York. Fortunately, Joshua suggests David hire Sally, an out-of-work vet tech. Sally's a widowed mother; her young son Clifford has Asperger's syndrome and a heightened sensitivity to animals, particularly to Helena's dog Skippy, who suffers from a debilitating heart condition. Sally has unfinished romantic history with Joshua, who left his professorship at Cornell to became a country vet while anguished over his small son's death. Helena and Jaycee met at Cornell working as students in a primate immunology study where they shared a sense of guilt over the research-motivated death of a bonobo in their care. More recently, Helena has helped Jaycee work with a 4-year-old chimp named Cindy whose language skills are comparable to a human 4-year-old. After the government shuts down her study, Jaycee gets caught breaking into her lab to save Cindy and hires David to defend her. Her employer/researchers, who put human benefits of research above the risk to the animal subjects, seem heartless at best. The more morally evolved characters (most of them grieving a human loss) find solace mainly through their animal relationships.Readers will either adore or despise this combination of animal-rights zealotry and love-conquers-all spirituality.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.