At once witty and elegiac, a beautifully rendered story of dignity, endurance, and joy in the face of loss. Available now from Rootstock Publishing.
“I recommend this touching novel to anyone who wants to learn about the effect of an elder’s cognitive deterioration on a family and its caregivers.”
—Sandeep Jauhar, MD, New York Times best-selling author of My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s
“Set on the beautiful, but ever-more crowded coast of Maine, [this book] is a fitting reminder that despite our memories of how idyllic things might have been, we can come to accept a new reality: the past is history, the future a mystery, while being present, especially in the presence of dementia, is a gift to all.”
—Kevin Jameson, chair of the Dementia Society of America
The story of Yvette Allaire, an elegant Francophone, as she succumbs to dementia and her lovely Maine town turns into a vacation resort. Focused on her acerbic daughter’s and peripatetic son’s attempts to cope with her decline, the book draws parallels between its beleaguered heroine and Maine’s tourist-embattled coast, suggesting that, much as a place’s intrinsic beauty seldom altogether vanishes, a dementia victim’s personality doesn’t necessarily disappear.
Honorable Mention, Lorian Hemingway Competition