Stage Seven - Ruth F. Stevens - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Ruth F. Stevens

GENRE: Contemporary Drama

PUBLICATION DATE: October 26, 2021

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: Strong mixed feelings. Loved some parts. Disliked some other parts.

Story:

Barbara, a single mom to teenaged Sally, has dedicated her life taking care of home and family. She is underconfident about her strengths but is a whiz with organising and planning. Their mother Dolly has recently been admitted in a nursing home as she is in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Here, Barbara meets Jack, an older man whose wife Helen is at an even later stage of AD. Soon a bond develops between Barbara and Jack. But will their circumstances allow them to take their relationship ahead?

The story comes to us from the first person perspective of Barbara, and third person narratives from the points of view of Jack, Sally and Jack’s grandson Scott.

Where the story clicked for me:

💖 The portrayal of AD and dementia, and the devastation they cause on a person was traumatic and brilliantly portrayed. Helen's struggles made me really emotional. I could feel her sense of helplessness as she struggled with her failing memory. This was the best part of the book. The author’s note at the end says that she based this on her own experiences with her mother. No wonder it seemed so authentic! AD is a horrid disease not just for the sufferer but also for the caregivers, and the author covers both their struggles perfectly.

💖 All the characters are portrayed with layered emotions rather than being predictably 2D. This adds to the appeal of the story, more so as it is a character-oriented book. No one is portrayed as being completely good or bad so every person comes across as realistic.

💖 A few of the subplots feel like they will go along the predictable route but they don’t. Can’t reveal more without spoilers, but I just want to acknowledge this as a strong positive for me. The story kept me hooked through its ups and downs, and even managed to throw in a couple of surprises my way.

💖 It’s a pretty quick read despite its length of almost 380 pages.

💖 It seems that this was originally a play by the same author. But nowhere would you feel that something has been lost in transition. The story feels as if it was written in novel form. Well done on the conversion between these two distinct formats!

Where the story didn’t work for me:

💔 I didn’t expect such a great part of the story to be dedicated to the romance between Barbara and Jack. It would have been great as a subplot, but it didn’t work for me as the main focus point of the second half.

💔 Barbara is 51. Jack is 72. If they want to have a relationship, I’ll keep aside my scepticism and try my best to understand and accept it despite the huge age gap. But I didn’t really like this romantic direction being taken while Jack’s wife was still alive; it went against the rest of his character portrayal, though the book does become strongly defensive about it. What I also don’t want to hear about is constant allusions to Jack’s physical appearance: his youngish looks, his springy chest hair, his firm buttocks,… Gotta confess, it was cringeworthy to read! (My shortcoming, not the book’s.) Plus, it felt like the author was trying too hard to justify why Barbara fell for Jack. (Book’s shortcoming, not mine.)

💔 Nowhere is the story connected to politics. Yet there are more than a few references to the US presidential elections, positive references to Obama and Hilary Clinton and many terse remarks about Trump’s win. I didn’t understand why these needed to be included in this story, except to promote personal political beliefs. They were unnecessary and distracting, regardless of how accurate they were.

💔 There’s a constant switching between first person and third person, and within Jack's chapters, between the past and the present. Nowhere are there clues about which character narrative or what timeframe is going on. This makes the reading experience a bit taxing.

For a debut novel, the story is still impressive and bold. The chinks in the plot are mostly minor and will get ironed out with more writing experience. If you want a genuine portrayal of Alzheimer’s and dementia, do give this a try.

3.5 stars from me, rounding up to 4 wherever applicable mainly for the genuine portrayal of the heartbreaks wreaked by Alzheimer’s on patients and their families.

One line from the book that will stay with me for long:

"Which would be the lesser of two evils - an intact body with a failing mind or an intact mind with a failing body?"

That’s such a tough one to answer. 😕

My thanks to DartFrog Books and NetGalley for the ARC of “Stage Seven”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.