“In some cases, it’s like [Alzheimer's patients] submerge into ... The collective. The otherworld. The beyond. They’re so close to death, they dip into it. And they’re gone from us for a while. Still here, but in another world, too, at the same time. They don’t know us. Don’t remember our names or anything about the life we lived together. But then, without warning, they can pop up. Put their heads above the surface." [loc. 1213]
I think I acquired this as an Amazon First read: it's marketed as a gothic thriller with supernatural elements, but it's rather more cosy than that.
Brynn Wilder has had a bad year -- breakup of a long-term relationship, parental death, death of beloved dog, career burnout -- and decides to spend summer in the little lakeside town of Wharton. She takes up residence in a boarding house run by the redoubtable LuAnn (who informs her that there's a ghost in room five) which is 'filled with nice strangers who might become friends'. I think that sums up Brynn's attitude, and it's perfectly accurate: there are no real antagonists here.
Brynn meets Jason and Gil, a charming gay couple who have taken in Jason's ex-wife, Alice. Alice is suffering from Alzheimer's, and believes she and Jason are still married. She also seems to be able to prophesy the future, and knows secrets about people she's never met before. At the boarding house, Brynn also encounters, and falls for, the heavily-tattooed Dominic: he claims his job is to 'help people who are in transition', but the local police chief is suspicious of him. A certain amount of rudeness ensues.
There are ghosts, dreams of past lives, and a great deal of peace, love and kindness. Wharton is a charming place, and everyone is nice. A low-drama read, with unthreatening mysteries and a comforting depiction of Alzheimer's that chimed with my own views.
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