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Time To Let Go (2014)

by Christoph Fischer(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1499130591 (ISBN13: 978149930591)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

ChristophFischerBooks

review 1: This is a complex family drama centering around Hanna, an airline stewardess, her mother, Biddy, and her father, Walter. Biddy is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and Walter is committed to taking care of her. Hanna has two brothers, Henrik and Patrick, but they are absent from their parents' lives the majority of the time. Hanna hasn't been around to help her mother as much as she would like to due to her hectic and busy work schedule, but she takes time off after a terrible incident happens on a plane. As she spends more time with her family and sees how the illness has progressed in her mother, she re-evaluates her life and tries to decide what to do next. I used to work in a retirement home, so I remember what it was like to take care of Alzheimer's patients. Howeve... morer, I know it is much different to take care of a loved one and to have to be there for that person 24/7. I always felt so terribly for the afflicted but often even more so for their relatives who had to see the person they love decline. It was the saddest thing to see pictures on their bureau of them in their youth, when they were healthy and vibrant, and then to see how dementia had changed them into someone incapable of caring for themselves or remembering who their loved ones were. This book does a great job depicting how awful this disease is and how hard it is for the caregivers of the person affected by it. I admired Walter for not wanting to put her in a home. Since her disease was not yet in the later stages, he was still able to take care of her. He was very stubborn, often to his own detriment, but the love he had for her felt very real. And Hanna came across as a sweet and caring person who wanted what was best for her mother. She often argued with Walter over that; she wanted Biddy to experience new things and to enjoy life as much as possible, while he thought a strict routine was best. I didn't care for Henrik as he came across as selfish and arrogant. He seemed to love to dish out advice, but it was rarely ever compassionate. He kept telling Walter that Biddy should be in a home, not seeming to care how difficult that would be for him. It was heartbreaking enough that his own wife didn't know who he was, let alone having to make her leave the home they had shared together for so many years. And Patrick was primarily absent, but we find out why closer to the end of the book. I'm a little torn on what to think of him...As Hanna struggles to deal with the aftermath of what happened on the plane, she meets a paramedic named Karim. They start to develop an interesting friendship, and while I did find Karim to be a warm and caring person, he seemed too rigid at times. His mother was an intriguing character, and her role was more pivotal than what I would have originally thought. This story was very realistic, especially with the family dynamics and all the arguments among the characters. Even the incident on the plane was plausible. While the book was anti-climatic, I believe that's what made the story feel so real. For anyone who likes more character driven novels, this sad, yet enlightening tale, is one worth reading.
review 2: This book had an extremely relevant topic, which will touch many people who read the novel. I have very little first hand knowledge of Alzheimers but the difficulties and frustrations of dealing with a sufferer came across loud and clear in the storyline. Biddy’s family are divided about the kind of care that she should receive and each deals with her condition in very different ways. Some are hands-on, some challenge poor Walter, Biddy’s husband about the style of care he has opted for and some just stay away. It’s a very sad novel and probably a real reflection of what it’s like to watch a loved one slip away at the hands of such a disease. Of all the characters, I felt that Biddy herself was the most well drawn. I wanted to like Hanna but for that, she needed much more depth. There was an unrealism about the airline thread and I think much more could have been made of that, to stop it just being a book about the disease with more action played out on the journalist issue. It felt as though there were threads in the novel which weren’t grasped hold of, as though the characters wanted to have a mind of their own and were denied it. Without giving spoilers, there were possible relationships that could have been exploited to add another angle and a bit more interest. I felt like the epilogue was a bit of a slap in the face. It was a diary of events that told me more than I got throughout the whole novel. One thing I really struggled with was the lack of contractions in speech. It felt really wooden because real people don’t speak like that.It has the potential to be a great story, but needs a tidy up with stronger plot lines outside of what Biddy does each day and how Walter does or doesn’t cope with it. The research about Alzheimers is faultless. The reader is left in no doubt how cruel the disease is or the conflicts which rage for carers, not to mention the outside pressures and physical realities for them. With a bit more umph, this novel can be something a carer picks up and finds light relief in, whilst understanding that the author knew exactly how they were feeling. less

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