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| Australia - Present Day Life is getting difficult for 82-year-old widower Frederick Fife. Broke, achingly lonely, and on the verge of homelessness, with no family or friends left in the world, Fred has no idea what he's going to do next. Ten years after the death of his wife, Dawn, he still gets hit with a jolt of grief when he least expects it. And now he must somehow figure out how he will survive his last years. Wandering by the river where he finds a bit of peace, he comes across a man in a wheelchair, all alone. Fred approaches and realizes that the man has died. Always one to do the right thing, Fred covers the old man with his own jacket, and proceeds to wheel him away from the shore. But the uneven ground forces the wheelchair to tip over, and the man slides into the river, and is washed away! As she sees one of her charges out of his wheelchair, Denise, a carer at the Wattle River Nursing Home, panics. Helping the old man back into his chair and then into the transport vehicle, she just hopes she doesn't lose her job! Grumpy old Bernard had insisted on feeding the seagulls, and now he's jeopardizing Denise's position. Settling Bernard back in his room at the nursing home, Denise just hopes nothing more comes of this incident. Fred wakes up in a strange room, with no clue how he got there. On the table next to him is a photo of him at his 83rd birthday party. But he's sure he's 82, and he doesn't remember this cake! What is going on? Fred and Bernard could easily have been brothers, looking so much alike that no one in the nursing home has any doubt that it's Bernard being, well, Bernard. Although today, he seems different. He's less grumpy, he seems friendlier, in fact, and that's not the Bernard the staff knows. How will Fred deal with this sudden change in his life? Well, he tries to explain to everyone that he's not Bernard, but the staff was aware of Bernard's growing dementia since his stroke, and no one believes him. What's a man to do but go with the flow? A warm bed, three delicious meals a day, and people to take care of him. THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE is an absolutely wonderful story of a lovely man who deserved a better life, and the cockeyed way he may have got it. Fred is a kind, gentle soul who has always done what is right, and while he feels a little unsettled about being "Bernard", he is relishing the feelings of being cared for, and cared about. As Fred learns more about Bernard's past, however, he wonders what he would have done in the man's shoes. A story that also shows the plight of the elderly in our world, THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE is so worth everyone of every age reading. Jani Brooks |
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THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE - Anna Johnston