I'm unsure about the ending of my novel

[Guest]

.. One of the main characters (male, mid-50s) has just lost his second wife to a terminal illness, and is clearly still grieving. He is rich and lives in a very large townhouse which is far bigger than he needs now for himself, his son and his stepdaughter (plus they are adults and will no doubt move out eventually). He has lived there for a long time and no doubt has plenty of good memories there, but his wife was also ill a long time before her death, hence some bad memories too.

As a reader, would you consider it unrealistic if he decided to move to a different, smaller home (albeit one with space for son + stepdaughter)?

[Jenny]

Everybody handles the death of a spouse differently. My best friend's father lost his wife and kept every last thing she had for years. It took him a long time to start sifting through things and letting them go. When my mom's husband passed she immediately started going through his stuff and clearing things out. She decided to do some redecorating as well. You should know your character well enough to know what he would do.

[Barb]

A good therapist would advise not to make a major change like that for at least a year.

[Zianna]

I just thought of something while reading this I know it's not suitable for ending, but could be a sequel (if you want) so um. While he moved to different house a he found a lost child and that child was adorable and persistent to make the man happy eventually the man dotted on the child, and you could continue the rest.

[Cheryl]

Have him move but devote some part to the grieving/healing process he goes through. While going through all the memories. Then move on to the “next “ chapter of his life and new encounters. Maybe tell how his son and stepdaughter feel about the situation.

[Marian]

Read "A Man Called Ove" for one possible answer (but don't imitate it!) Basically, as has been said, asking the question means you don't know your character well enough. There's no generic response. It all depends on who he is as a person.

[Andrew]

I'd have him give the house to his son with something about passing on the memories, the joy and the pain for him to carry forward and end with MC just staring out at the ocean or whatever fits the story. I wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't have a conclusion of acceptance and letting go.