In Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel, “The Friend,” a woman mourns the suicide of a close friend and fellow writer whose bereft dog, a slobbering, arthritic Great Dane, she reluctantly agrees to adopt. The book, which won a National Book Award, is a moving and witty meditation on loss, consolation, the art of fiction and the many shapes that love and friendship can assume.

Ms. Nunez followed “The Friend” in 2020 with “What Are You Going Through,” another exploration of how empathy and a newfound, unexpectedly deep attachment to another living being—this time a dying friend whom the narrator agrees to assist in her final days—can bring joy but also leave you open to loss and grief.