For One More Day by Mitch Albom

This is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond.  It explores the question:  What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one?

Charley Benetto is a broken man.  His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret.  He loses his job.  he leaves his family.  He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding.  And he decides to take his own life.

He makes a midnight ride to his small hometown, with plans to do himself in.  But upon failing even to do that, he staggers back to his old house, only to make an astonishing discovery.  His mother, who died eight years earlier, is still living there, and welcomes him home as if nothing had ever happened.

What follows is the one ordinary day so many of us yearn for, a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain family secrets, and to seek forgiveness. 

This is a fairly quick read and if you enjoy sentimental stories, you will probably enjoy this book.