Tag: Dementia

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Literary Fiction)

Phoebe Manigault is called home to the South Carolina Low Country when her none-too-stable sister says she can’t handle their aging mother on her own. Phoebe has moved as far away as she can (Bend, Oregon) and is none too thrilled to be drawn back to a place that holds quite a few bad memories for her, including the fact that she barely survived being struck by lightning 20 years earlier, and has “enjoyed” strange premonitions ever since. What follows is a story of finding love, dealing with your demons, charting the narrows of dementia, and the Power of Place. And discovering the dark secret that underlies most of the pain of the last decades.

What could have been a simple (and pleasant) piece of women’s fiction quickly reveals itself to be a wonderfully insightful piece of literary fiction. The characters are deeply drawn with realistic confusions, longings, protections and vulnerabilities. They make mistakes, lose their way (and sometimes their cool), and general act like people, but they also push through bad habits, fears, and habitual suspicions and make their way forward — which is critical for me. The story was dramatic without going overboard into melodrama — I was gripped from page one yet never felt manipulated, never cringed from ridiculous coincidences, and could find myself relating to situations that were alien to me. The writing was so good that I even enjoyed the descriptions of the place (which I usually skip over, not being a great visualizer). She brought it to life for me by describing the place through the narrator’s eyes (and other senses and emotions). I should add that while the book dives deep into topics that can be very painful, I found it uplifting overall as intentional resolution led to closure. Lastly, lots of fascinating bits about birds — I’m no twitcher (love the word!), but I loved the bird facts peppered about and the ornithological epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter that often related bird behavior to aspects of people — all spot on.

I’m a big fan of Karen White’s Charleston-based Tradd Street series (and her newer New Orleans-based Royal Street series), but for me this book is in a class of its own.

Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on July 22nd, 2025.

You Must Remember This by Kat Rosenfield

Writing: 5/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5

When Mimi, elderly and suffering from dementia, comes back to the family home (Whispers) in Bar Harbor for Christmas, the family knows it will be for the last time — she will either be gone or completely lost in the past by the following year. But they didn’t expect it to happen so quickly: somehow escaping the house, Mimi goes walking on the ice surrounding the estate in the middle of the night and freezes to death. What sounds like a simple accident evolves into a bit of a mystery and an ongoing hash of family dynamics both past and present.

The characters were both interesting and surprising, especially as they shifted in the eyes of the narrator — Mimi’s granddaughter, Delphine. Del who is also living in Whispers after (spectacularly) blowing up her life in New York City. Del loves hearing Mimi’s stories, and I loved hearing them too. The shifts and connections between past and present bring surprises both in plot and in our perceptions of character.

I’m a big fan of Rosenfield’s columns on various aspects of culture — she goes deep and original. I always find her interesting and most often agree with points made that I hadn’t even considered before. I had no idea she wrote novels and am finding her characterization and plot points to be fully steeped in her cultural acumen and clear writing style. She’s very good at essence! Time to go seek out earlier books — I love discovering a new novelist!

Great for fans of Carol Goodman.

Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry (Middle Grade Fiction)

11-year old Sophie’s best friend is another Sophie — her 88-year old neighbor Sophie Gershowitz. Older Sophie is the one with whom young Sophie has a “true and lasting friendship, a friendship of the heart.” But older Sophie is not doing well — her memory is failing and there are rumors of her being removed to a facility in a distant town. To help, young Sophie tries to prepare her for the memory tests she will be faced with. She tries to get her to remember three simple words — Tree, Table, Book — by cementing them in stories that are important to the older woman. But the stories that come out are heartbreaking, secret, and revealing to the point of translucency. Pieces of history that explain who Sophie G is and how she became that person.

Lowry is (and always has been) an incredible writer. I’ve probably read everything she has written, and she has never failed to catch me in surprise with her revelations. The 86-year old author is able to put herself into the characters of both Sophies beautifully. Young Sophie’s mind meanders like an intelligent, curious, 11-year old. Older Sophie’s mind loses details but holds on tenaciously to the important truths of life. Lowry — as usual — manages to get essence into every single sentence. I was brought to tears multiple times. The tears were not dragged out of me, though, but were natural products of the feelings at the heart of the book. I felt more reading this 200 page book aimed at 8-12 year olds than the most dramatic adult books. And I love the (almost) last line which is included in one of the quotes below.

Quotes:
“I had told Sophie Gershowitz that I always got the dates right, on history tests, always got As. That was true. But I had never really got it, never understood history, how things fit together, because I needed someone to tell me the stories not of politics and dictators, but of berries and bunnies and books. Of how things are lost, and what that means and how it hurts.”

“I prefer curved and winding roads. They make me think about Stuart Little setting off in his tiny car to look for love.”

“In order to understand how it feels to say goodbye to your dearest friend, you need to know about a flowered apron, a Jello-O mousse, an old refrigerator with ice trays, and a whistling teakettle. You need a size-small T-shirt that says Live Long and Prosper. You need a yardstick. Maybe you above all need a yardstick, because you have to measure everything so that it fits together, because you have to aim for an understandable ending.”

“It is exhausting to think about it. There is so very very much to fix. And I know, of course, that a lot of it isn’t fixable. I understand that.
But I can try. I’ll start small.”

Thank you to Clarion Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 23rd, 2024.

The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman (Literary Mystery)

Number four in Richard Osman’s deservedly popular comic mystery series. Four retirement village pensioners tackle a Romance Fraud, some missing heroin, and the professional looking murder of an elderly antiques dealer who happens to be a friend. A reminder on the four pensioners from my previous reviews: Elizabeth, with the mysterious background and friends in high and low places who all seem to owe her favors; Ibrahim, the retired psychiatrist, who pores over the cases he failed; Ron, the former trade union leader who loves a chance to get back on the stage; and Joyce, who has the often under appreciated skill of bringing everyone together while remaining invisible herself.

While the book has all the hallmarks of Osman’s previous work — tight, content rich prose, laugh out loud moments every few pages, and irreverent mystery solving — this title is different. With one of the regular characters progressing steadily into ever increasing dementia, there is a philosophical turn and one of the most poignant scenes I’ve ever read. I was honestly weeping (correct term) for quite some time. Osman shows a different side of his prodigious writing abilities in blending this very real, and yet unfortunately very ordinary, experience to an otherwise fun, comic, and artfully written romp celebrating friendship and the purposeful embrace of old age.

Some quotes:
“Friendship, and Joyce flirting unsuccessfully with a Welshman who appears to be the subject of a fairly serious international fraud. Elizabeth could think of worse ways to spend the holidays.”

“Mervyn is not one of lifes hand-takers. He lives life at a safe distance.”

“The easiest way to make a small fortune in antiques is to start with a big fortune and lose it.”

“In my business you hear a thing or two about love. I find it easy to replicate. It is largely a willing abandonment of logic.”

“There comes a point when you look at your photograph albums more often than you watch the news.”

“ That’s the thing about Coopers Chase. You’d imagine it was quiet and sedate, like a village pond on a summer day. But in truth, it never stops moving, it’s always in motion. And that motion is aging, and death, and love, and grief, and final snatched moments and opportunities grasped. The urgency of old age. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.”