In this
adventurous, poignant novel, a feisty 88-year-old comes to the rescue of his
roommate's troubled granddaughter.
Brooke Fossey's cleverly conceived, charming first novel, The Big Finish,
centers on gruff and feisty 88-year-old Duffy Sinclair--a never-married Vietnam
vet and recovering alcoholic. He believes his days are numbered while in
residence at Centennial, an assisted living community in Everton, Tex. Duffy is
fun and spirited. He jokes with the nurses, complains to the dining hall cook,
riles the facility manager and flirts endlessly with an attractive female
resident. Duffy and his staid best friend and roommate, Carl Upton, are still
able-bodied and intellectually sound. But Duffy worries, if he doesn't toe the
line or if he loses mobility, he'll be moved to Simmons, a dreadful nursing
home for the aged, to live out his last days. Duffy's fears soon fall by the
wayside, however, replaced by bigger ones, when Carl's granddaughter, Josie--a
reckless 20-something whom Duffy never knew existed--breaks into their room
through a window, seeking refuge. Her mother, the daughter of Carl's former
mistress, has died, and Josie, in trouble, has fled an abusive boyfriend.
What
ensues is an often madcap yet deeply poignant story. Josie's predicament and
presence (Duffy and Carl secretly harbor her at the assisted living community)
rallies Duffy's empathy and affections, forcing him to re-examine his life and
take stock of--and perhaps even alter--his destiny.
Fossey
delivers a funny, adventurous novel about second chances, redemption and how,
just when it might seem as though life is winding down, it's actually just
getting started.
Berkley,
$26.00 Hardcover, 9781984804938, 336
pages
Publication Date: April 14, 2020
NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission
of Shelf Awareness. To
read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (May 15,
2020), link HERE