Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn

from goodreads

4 stars

After a beautiful long weekend it is now a very gray and wet week. I was awoken today by crazy hard rain and wind blowing. My only thoughts were, of course it is raining and probably will stay raining when I take the kids to school. It always rains at either drop of time of pick up time. What's up with that.

By the time it was time to go to school the rain had lightened to a light drizzle and no wind. Much more preferable.

Now, I love rain. I know it is important and I love that it gives us puddles to splash in. I just don't love it when I have to be standing outside waiting for kids. I want to enjoy it on my own terms. Usually that means curled up with a caf-lib and and blanket on my couch with my latest read. That's the kind of rain I am talking about.

Synopsis

Lillian and Audrey live at Tranquil Meadows. While other residence seem to enjoy their time there Lillian and Audrey are plotting their escape. When they finally make it out their trip is almost doomed, until they meet a young man named Raine who agrees to drive for them.

My Thoughts

This was  a beautiful story. It is told from the vantage point of an octogenarian who has dementia, the beginnings of Alzheimer's. This sometimes makes the story seem a bit confusing as it shows that she herself is confused. But, it was also great to have her view point and understand how people suffering with that condition feel and think and how frightening and frustrating it must be for them.

As I have travelled the same route as the characters it was kind of fun to picture it as I went along. I could actually visualize where they were and how desolate Northern Ontario can be. It has lots of rocks, trees, and lakes, and to me the trees are all scraggily. Not the nice, thick lush trees of the south. But, some people may prefer the scraggily trees, and that's fine too.

I love the character of Raine and wished that he could have been fleshed out a bit more. He seemed like a decent guy, yet, you are still not quite sure, so I wished that could have been explained a bit more.

While I was reading this, the story really hit home. My parents are quite a bit older. My dad is 80 and my mom will be turning 74 in November. My father is suffering from dementia and I know what a toll it takes on not only him, but my mother, and then slowly trickles down to us, but not as much as what my mom gets. And things are starting to slip for her too. This book helped put a voice to what my parents are going through, that I don't always get to see, or what they are not telling me. (I live quite a distance away and don't get up to see them as often as might be helpful.)

I love how the book shows these elderly people as people who still have hopes and dreams. They have the desire to be loved, appreciated and respected. I think to often we see people's limitations and think that is all there is. Usually there is a lot more going on under the surface than we realize. We don't need to patronize them as if they are completely helpless. It can be a hard line to walk.

The ending was sort of open ended. I hope that the old girls made it to the coast. That would make me super happy.

Despite some feelings of repetition, some awkward plot moments and the need for some meatier character construction this was a great read. I highly recommend it.