Caring for the Cantankerous

By Julie Duffin
November 2024 View more Books

The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon touches a topic with which many of us are familiar—a relative suffering from dementia. Eva lives with her granddaughter, Breezy, in a Boston suburb but yearns to return to her life in Cape Cod. When Breezy gets engaged, they both move to Breezy’s husband’s family farm, where he lives with an elderly uncle. It’s here, at the aptly named Try Again Farm, that Eva encounters a cast of quirky yet endearing characters who help her overcome past regrets and her desire for solitude as she deals with her fading memory.

The novel explores the challenges of caring for a loved one who is difficult to be around. “Eva is a really cantankerous character,” says Wheaton author Linda MacKillop. “She is very unlikable, but eventually she is wooed by people who know how to love well and love unconditionally. It’s really a story about second chances.”

It’s a theme MacKillop embraces. “I enjoy writing about broken people hoping they can find a way to heal,” she says. “If people read the book through the lens of compassion, they will see there is a lot to understand about people who might seem crusty or broken on the outside.”

Photos: Linda MacKillop; Kregel Publications