Retired school teacher Colette Corbyn goes kicking and screaming into assisted living, when she has planned to live out her days in the privacy of her own home. As she begrudgingly settles into Shady Meadow, she makes an unlikely friend, Margaret, who claims the Women’s Movement demeaned women. A loud, obnoxious neighbor, Dottie, seems to be off her rocker, but she’s actually addicted to opioids and has an alarming secret life. Best-selling novelist Susan Hartley, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, doesn’t recognize her latest book, and becomes violent when she mistakes Colette for her sister. Colette struggles to come to terms with her sometimes-contentious daughter Brooke and seeks a relationship with her grandson Carter, long lost down the rabbit hole of QAnon. Colette thinks she is done with romance until she meets Harry, who suffers from AMD and can only read music through a magnifying glass. As Colette and Harry share their love of piano playing, Colette discovers complications in his life which may prevent their relationship from enduring. With compassion and wit, Lynch demonstrates that old age has its perks, and, nearing the end of life, every day is worth living to its fullest.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Janet Nichols Lynch’s first published fiction appeared in The New Yorker, August 1984, and she is the author of seventeen books. Her debut novel, Chest Pains, was published in 2009, and her short fiction has been included in Seventeen, Baltimore Review, Writers’ Forum, Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California’s Great Central Valley, and other publications. Her young adult novels include Messed Up, a 2009 ALA Quick-Pick for Reluctant Readers and a VOYA (Voices of Youth Advocates) Top of the Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers; Racing California, a 2012 Society of School Librarians International Honor Book; My Beautiful Hippie; and Peace is a Four-letter Word. Janet has also written nonfiction for young readers about music, including American Music Makers: An Introduction to American Composers; Women Music Makers: An Introduction to Women Composers; Clara Schumann, Pianist and Composer; and Florence Price, American Composer. Her most recent work for young readers is the historical novel Ellen of Allensworth, about a child growing up in the early Twentieth Century in Allensworth, the only town in California founded, owned, and governed by African-Americans.
Janet was born in Sacramento, California, and graduated with a BA in Music from California State University, a Master of Music Degree in Piano from Arizona State University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Fresno State University. She has taught music and English at the community college, high school, and middle school levels, and private piano to all ages.
Janet lives in Visalia, California, with her husband composer Timothy Lynch, and they have two grown children, three grandchildren, and three cats. Janet has completed twenty marathons and numerous other races and triathlons. As an avid cyclist, her longest ride was from Phoenix, AZ, to Washington, D.C., and she is nearing the completion of her goal of cycling in all fifty states. Find Janet on Facebook at facebook.com/jnicholslynch, on Instagram at janet_nichols_lynch, and on Twitter at JanetNicLynch. Her website is JanetNicholsLynch.com.
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