What a beautiful, heartwarming story! Set in a small town in Australia, it’s about an 82-year-old widower named Fred who is mistaken for a recently deceased nursing home resident named Bernard. Due to their uncanny resemblance and Bernard’s dementia, nobody believes Fred when he tries to correct the misunderstanding, and he finally gives up trying to convince the staff because living as someone else with a comfy room, 3 meals a day, and the friendship of his fellow residents to stave off his crushing loneliness is much better than being homeless, which was his next step had fate not intervened. However, when he learns that Bernard has a daughter he was estranged from for over 30 years, Fred has to make the difficult decision of whether to come clean or try to be a father to this lovely woman who has already lost so much in her life.
Author Johnston has written a unique story that highlights the plight of the elderly which is universal. Although the message is ultimately uplifting and redemptive for Fred, it also illustrates how shamefully inadequate the social safety nets are for some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Fred is as healthy as an octogenarian can be, with no signs of dementia, but thanks to medical debt he incurred when his late wife was battling cancer, he was forced to sell his home and is eventually evicted with nowhere else to go. More fortunate seniors are able to afford decent nursing homes, but they are still at risk of shabby treatment by staff if oversight is lacking, which is portrayed in this book by a nurse who is barely coping with the dissolution of her marriage by turning to alcohol. Johnston also uses a delightful character named Albert to portray dementia and Fred’s friendship with him to demonstrate the correct way to interact so as to cause the least emotional upset and heartbreak. There is plenty of humor as it relates to the human condition, but also plenty of tears. As someone who witnessed her own mother’s long battle with dementia, this story was sometimes painful to read, but I have no regrets thanks to Johnston’s thoughtful handling of the disease.
If you’ve read and enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, you’ll want to read this book as well. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from William Morrow through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Although this book ends on a high note, I struggled with it because it was really depressing and not just because Nora herself suffered with mental illness. After reading the synopsis, I’d expected an “uplifting and heartwarming” story, and it wasn’t. I’d describe it as sad and highly dysfunctional with a few pages of hope and renewal at the end. From the moment Nora wakes up from a coma after her near-death experience of drowning, it’s obvious that her family puts the D in dysfunction. Her ethically-challenged father, a personal injury lawyer, is both emotionally and physically abusive, her mother is in major denial and lives to criticize and gaslight her, her younger sister has lost all faith in her after being disappointed too many times when Nora’s depression caused her to break promises, and her cousin Gus is a lonely, sad alcoholic who also doesn’t trust her.
As Nora goes through rehab and therapy, she re-evaluates her life Before (capitalized in the book) the drowning and decides that she needs to make some major changes, including trying to recapture some of what she lost. She creates a reverse bucket list that includes trying to find Jack, the man she met during a robbery hostage situation who she thinks may be The One, and tending to her late grandfather’s community garden plot that she let go wild while her mental health was spiraling. I didn’t understand London’s choice to have Nora fail at everything she tried, unless it was to highlight how easy it is to slip back into depression and self-doubt. One of the only highlights of the story is the group of senior citizen thespians she meets who knew her grandfather. They provide the only bit of comic relief in the book and are instrumental in helping Nora navigate her After life. There are also many deathbed vignettes of Jack’s hospice patients which were really interesting and set the stage for how kind and empathetic he is. I wouldn’t classify this as a romance, although there was an element of it, but women’s fiction instead.
As someone who has suffered from chronic depression and lost my father way too young, it was somewhat triggering to read Nora’s story, especially the joy she felt seeing her late grandfather while in the coma. So, I think it’s important to share trigger warnings. If you don’t want any spoilers, stop reading here.
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Depression, abuse, suicide, death, grief, alcoholism
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Harper Muse through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
