Book ~ "When Lemons Give You Life" (2026) Anna Johnston

From Goodreads ~ Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt and the beige slop they dare call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he now resides.

Six decades of life have given him all the lemons he can handle so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake himself one last tart. It’s supposed to be his final meal but the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy. Soon he’s regularly sneaking in after dark, serving up flavor and comfort to fellow residents, who, in turn, begin to come alive with each bite of Griff's delicious concoctions. Yet behind the apron is a lie so big it could destroy the one thing Griff has left to protect.

Lisa, the only family and visitor Griff has, is clueless to what's happening behind the closed kitchen doors. Their sibling relationship fractured long ago, plus she has her own navigating an ADHD diagnosis in middle age, the spark of a new romance, and unexpected news that might change life as she knows it. Any hope of reconciliation between the two is long gone, buried in the silence between them.

But the truth has a way of boiling over, and when secrets, soufflés and second chances collide, Griff and Lisa may discover a recipe for forgiveness.

Griff isn’t happy with life at Sunny Glen Aged Care. He’s pretending to have dementia and has reached the point where he’s considering ending his life. But when he sneaks into the nursing home kitchen one night to make himself a lemon tart, something changes. Cooking reminds him of how much he used to enjoy food and sharing it with other people. He starts secretly cooking meals for the residents, bringing some excitement into their otherwise routine days. As he gets more involved with the people around him, Griff begins to reconnect with life while continuing to hide his secret. 

Meanwhile, Lisa, his sister, is dealing with changes of her own. She’s recently been diagnosed with ADHD in middle age, has started a new relationship and is facing some unexpected developments in her life. She continues to visit Griff, who she thinks has dementia, despite the complicated and strained relationship between them. 

This is the second book I've read by this author. I really enjoyed her first one, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife ... this one was just okay. I found it was a bit too long and draggy at times and could have been tighter.  It's written in third person perspective, alternating in Griff and Lisa's voice and bounces back and forth between present day and the past (the chapters are labeled).

There was so much (too much!) going on ... being shamed at a young age for being gay, gay marriage, early onset dementia, death of a spouse, adult diagnosis of ADHD, suicide, a life threatening illness, domestic violence, keeping family secrets, a seven food man with anxiety, nursing homes being run poorly and ripping off their residents and more!

Book ~ "The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife" (2024) Anna Johnston

From Goodreads ~ Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head - as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.

Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again.

As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.

Fred Fife is a widower in his 80s who would do anything for anyone. Over the years, his money had gone to taking care of Dawn, his beloved wife, who eventually passed away from cancer. He's being evicted from his apartment and has nowhere to do. He finds a deceased Bernard in a wheelchair and wants to alert someone ... the next thing he knows, he's being whisked away to a retirement home with everyone thinking he's the Bernard. When he tries to tell everyone he's not Bernard, they attribute it to Bernard's dementia. No one will listen to him, so feeling a bit of guilt, he settles into Bernard's life, appreciating having a place to live, a full belly and newfound friends.  Denise works at the retirement home and suspects something is off as "Bernard" now seems to not be deaf or incontinent or have dementia and is actually friendly, helpful and nice.

I really liked this story. I liked the writing style ... it was humourous and touching at times. As I was reading it, I was thinking it would make a good movie. It's written in third person perspective. I liked the characters, even Denise who was mean to the residents at times but had a lot going on at home. It highlights how sad it can be when the elderly grow older and are alone.