The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife

DEBUT Johnston’s first novel is a heartwarming story about growing old, grief, and learning to navigate life’s many challenges. Eighty-two-year-old Frederick Fife is at rock-bottom. Still grieving the loss of his beloved wife and without any family to lean on for support, he is on the brink of homelessness and starvation. One day in the park, while he tries to help a nursing home patient named Bernard Greer, things go awry. Bernard is washed away in a nearby river, and Frederick is mistaken for Bernard at the nursing home. At first Frederick tries to set the staff straight, but he soon takes Bernard’s place—and life—at the nursing home. Frederick begins to enjoy his new residence and the people who surround him. Always a kindhearted and considerate person, Frederick makes friends immediately—he’s Bernard’s complete opposite, personality-wise—which soon raises suspicions from one of the nurses.