Elizabeth, a member of the “sandwich generation,” people caught in the middle of simultaneously caring for their children and for their aging parents, is the mother of Ava and the daughter of Daddy and responsible for both. Hers is the story of a woman’s struggle to keep her family whole, to raise her child in a house of laughter and love, and to keep her father from hiding the house keys in his slippers.
In this story full of everyday triumphs, first steps, and elderly confusion, Ava, a baby, finds each new picture, each new word, each new song something to learn greedily, joyfully. Daddy is a man in his twilight years for whom time moves slowly and lessons are not learned but quietly, frustratingly forgotten. Elizabeth, a suddenly single mother with a career and a mortgage and a hamper of laundry, finds her world spiraling out of control yet full of beauty. Faced with mounting disasters, she chooses to confront life head on.
“The adventure and peril of everyday living captured in language that’s light, beautiful, and razor-sharp.” —Kirkus Reviews
When Elizabeth Cohen finds herself single and raising her toddler alone in upstate New York while at the same time caring for her father who has been stricken with Alzheimer's disease, she does what any former reporter would do. She writes about it. Bernadette Dunne's voice is pleasant and articulate, but it doesn't match the despair in this memoir of loss. Surprisingly, the voice Dunne performs the best is that of Cohen's father. She captures his confusion and gruffness, convincingly portraying his age and infirmity. In contrast, the way she performs the baby talk of toddler Ava is mostly annoying. What's most unsettling about this performance is the even, placid tone Dunne maintains throughout Cohen's depiction of her grief and rage at being left by her husband just as her gentle father's mind is abandoning her as well. R.F. 2005 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
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