Renewal

By: Joseph Falank

Thank you NetGalley and BHC Press for the ARC of this book!

Malcolm Aton hasn’t been in contact with his family for 2 years.  His divorce angered his parents, and since his mother’s death from cancer, he and his father had a contentious relationship.  While teaching his 7^th grade English class, he gets an urgent text from his brother, Randy, that his father’s Alzheimer’s is progressively worse.  Malcolm agrees to come home to act as caregiver for one weekend and decide about the care his father needs.  What he wasn’t ready for, was the state of his father’s mental state.

Falank writes an honest, raw, gut wrenching, heartbreaking novel about the reality of Alzheimer’s disease.  These characters, though fictional, could be anyone; it could be your mom, your dad, brother, sister, grandparent etc…  That’s why this book touches your heart.  But there is so much more about this book than the debilitating disease – this book is also about forgiveness, about relationships, heartbreak, and the renewal of life after all of that.  Falank also threw a bit of humor into the book with the joking around between the brothers, and there was one joke that made me laugh out loud, so hard.  I appreciated that since the topic of the book was very heavy.

This isn’t a long book; it is a short read, and it does read fast.  It is heavy, and it will stay with you.  I highly suggest everyone read this one.  It’s a book that you don’t want to miss.

Pre-order your copy here, it’ll be out on September 13, 2022.