Synopses & Reviews
Meet Elizabeth, Ava, and Daddy: a family. Elizabeth is mother to Ava and daughter to Daddy, and caretaker to both. Chief bottle washer, breakfast maker, bedtime story-teller, accidental accountant, and hand-holder. Her life is not something she anticipated, and, depending on the day, there are times when it is not something she particularly enjoys. But that is beside the point. Because Ava is tiny, an infant, with all the needs of an infant. And Daddy? Well, Daddy's a bit more complicated, because Daddy has Alzheimer's. It's not bad . . . it's just complicated.
Here is the story of one woman's struggle to keep her family whole, to raise her child in a house of laughter and love, and to keep her father from hiding the house keys in his slippers. It is a story full of little triumphs and monumental first steps, a story of one life in which new pictures, new words, new songs are being learned. And it is, too, the story of the twilight years of a man's life, when time moves slowly and lessons are not learned but quietly, frustratingly forgotten.
This book is about the precious nature of children . . . the soaring love of a mother . . . the beauty of grandparents . . . and the indomitable courage of the women (and men) who every single day take care of those who depend on them. And love. Perhaps more than anything else, this book is about love.
Synopsis
"The House on Beartown Road" is about the precious nature of children and grandparents, and the boundless and ferocious affection between a mother and daughter. It is about the indomitable courage of the women--and men--who take care of those who depend on them.
Synopsis
In this beautiful book, Elizabeth Cohen gives us a true and moving portrait of the love and courage of a family.
Elizabeth, a member of the “sandwich generation”—people caught in the middle, simultaneously caring for their children and for their aging parents—is the mother of Ava and the daughter of Daddy, and responsible for both. Hers is the story of a woman’s struggle to keep her family whole, to raise her child in a house of laughter and love, and to keep her father from hiding the house keys in his slippers.
In this story full of everyday triumphs, first steps, and elderly confusion, Ava, a baby, finds each new picture, each new word, each new song, something to learn greedily, joyfully. Daddy is a man in his twilight years for whom time moves slowly and lessons are not learned but quietly, frustratingly forgotten. Elizabeth, a suddenly single mother with a career and a mortgage and a hamper of laundry, finds her world spiraling out of control yet full of beauty. Faced with mounting disasters, she chooses to confront life head-on.
Written in wonderful prose and imbued with an unquenchable spirit, The House on Beartown Road takes us on a journey through the remarkable landscape that is family.