This was the happy, hopeful read I needed after some more difficult reads. 

82 year old Frederick Fife is widowed after his wife dies from cancer. He doesn’t have money for rent and goes for a walk by the river. When he gets there, he notices a man in a wheelchair who looks like he has died. Fred tries to wheel him back to the caretakers, but the man falls in the river and floats away. Fred is assumed to be this same man (they look remarkably alike) and is hastened back to the retirement center. He quickly befriends some residents in the most quirky ways. He learns the man he replaced, was not as friendly and made some mistakes with his family. What life will Fred live now?

The plot, when I started, seemed so over the top, but Fred is so lovable and I enjoyed every page of this book.

“Grief’s blunt force could still wind him on bad days.” Ch 2

“Grief was love with nowhere to go.” Ch 15

“For so many years he’d taken for granted the significance of being known by another person, until all was lost and he was suddenly a stranger to everyone he met.” Ch 15

“Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life?” Ch 15

“So he tucked the lie away into a little box deep inside himself and shut the lid.” Ch 15

“When memory goes, you see, all that’s left is emotion.” Ch 20

“Asking for help isn’t failing, you know—it’s refusing to fail.” Ch 44