The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife - Anna Johnston - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Anna Johnston

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: September 10, 2024

RATING: 4.5 stars

In a Nutshell: A heartwarming contemporary drama with a geriatric lead character. Amazing characters, great storyline, a couple of wow twists along the way. As impactful as Ove, but not at all like Ove. Read with your heart and not with your head to enjoy it better. My heart cooperated, for once.

Plot Preview:

At eighty-two, Frederick Fife is all alone in the world. Lonely, broke, and on the verge of losing his home, Frederick has nothing to look forward to. But in an unexpected turn of luck, a case of mistaken identity leads him to be taken for Bernard Greer, a grumpy resident at the local nursing home. Now Frederick has all that he wanted: a roof over his head, food in his belly, and most importantly, companionship. But how long will this last? What will happen when Bernard is found?

The story comes to us in three third-person perspectives: that of Frederick and of two other key characters: Denise and Hannah. (Discover their identities through the book!)

First things first!

These day, it is de rigueur for any book with a geriatric male lead to be compared to Fredrik Backman's ‘A Man Called Ove’. While both books are brilliant, the comparison isn’t correct. Frederick is as similar to Ove as an apple is to red bell pepper. This isn’t the story of a grump who learns to open his heart again to love. This is the tale of a man whose heart is overflowing with love but has no one to share it with.

Bookish Yays:

🐨 Frederick. Dear sweet Frederick. The kind of man who makes the best husband and the best dad and granddad. He will warm the cockles of your heart.

🐨 The other characters at the care home. Loved so many of them, especially Kevin and Lin. A special shoutout to Patricia – never seen any senior citizen such as her in any book (and in real life too, thank heavens! 😂)

🐨 Hannah’s perspective – perfect as per her age. Loved how her emotions always come across realistically.

🐨 The themes. Quite a few but never overwhelming. For once, a debut work that does fill the kitchen sink but only up to capacity. My favourite was the found family one, but the others were great as well.

🐨 A separate yay for two of the themes - alcoholism and dementia – for being portrayed in a true-to-life manner. When you see me support alcoholism as a theme, you know the author did an awesome job.

🐨 The connection across the character perspectives. I can’t remember the last time my jaw dropped like that!

🐨 The genuine depiction of the issues faced by senior citizens inside and outside of care homes. (The author’s GR bio will tell you why her writing is so accurate.)

🐨 The myriad life lessons sprinkled throughout the plot. Lots of learnings here on friendship, responsibility, marital commitment, professionalism, and parenting.

🐨 Many emotions gets somewhat maudlin at times. But the writing is such that the sentimentality suits the plot well.

🐨 Though the book is emotional, the approach is balanced by a good dose of humour. The situation of the individuals isn't funny, but it is refreshing to see them approach challenges with a smile.

🐨 The Aussie setting comes out well.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🦘 The implausibility of the identity confusion and the multiple coincidences later in the plot. It might be better if you pack away your logical side as this book requires much suspension of disbelief. Your heart will find the book better than your head might. My heart adored it; my head liked it a lot.

🦘 The potty humour. Works decently but goes over the top many times. This might not bother many readers, but I found it a bit annoying after a point. It sullied the wholesomeness of the story.

All in all, this is a novel that delivers well on multiple factors. Some might label it ‘sweet’ and ‘sentimental’. Others will call it ‘saccharine’ and ‘schmaltzy’. The book is all of these. If the first pair of adjectives attracts you and the second pair doesn’t bother you, this can be a delightful read with some appealing twists along the otherwise straightforward path.

Much recommended to anyone looking for a *mostly* wholesome read (as long as you don’t mind potty humour.)

4.5 stars, happy to round up wherever applicable as it is a very promising debut. I’d love to read more by this author.

My thanks to William Morrow for providing the DRC of “The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

If you want another heartwarming novel that has an old man more similar to Ove, try out ‘Frank and Red’ by Matt Coyne. Frank and Ove could be long-lost twins! Frederick could be their good-natured friend.