Assisted Living / A Novel

What goes on in a Senior Care Center might surprise you.

In the tradition of John Updike's "The Poorhouse Fair" with Kervorkian and Dickensian elements thrown into the mix, thirty-two year old Darren Tierney fights through his depression with a lot of help from the staff and residents at what we used to call an 'old folks home.' Meanwhile his nurse, Venita Henderson is called on to rescue her eleven year old niece and the 'entry sentries,' Frank and Effa engage in their engaging repartee as Frank tries to convince Effa that they're not too old for romance.Dare becomes an ambivalent heir after performing a kindly murder and being courted by the victim's widow.The cast is multi-generational and multi-racial.

By the end of the novel, dense philosophical questions have been provocatively, if lightly, explored.

Does love demand full disclosure? Can the camel fit through the eye of the needle? Will we continue to treat women less-than? Are we kinder to our pets than to our parents when it comes to literal deadlines?

Can prejudice be unlearned? Can we re-enter the world of awe that we experienced as children?

Can we explore these notions during visiting hours and have a ball while doing it?

Yes!