What a delightful surprise! This book was charming, heartwarming, and mostly predictable. Normally this foreseeability would irritate me in a sci-fi or fantasy book, but it was reassuring in this story. Especially when some of the more depressing themes hit close to home.

My brother and I took our grandma to the movies to see Thelma last summer on her birthday. If you haven’t seen it, you should! It’s funny and sarcastic, but also a clear window into the often imperceptible world of elderly people. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife similarly draws readers in regardless of how old you are. Was it over the top at times? Yes. Did we receive a resolved ending that tied up all narrative threads into a pretty bow? Most definitely! All the same, I was happy to let this elderly happily-ever-after consume me, and that my darling, is the froth on my cappuccino.