Slow Dancing With A Stranger by Meryl Comer. ***

This is a memoir of the author's 20 years of caring for her husband, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in his early 50s. A successful medical doctor, Harvey denied the reality of his problem, aided by his colleagues, who refused to accept there could be anything seriously wrong. Only Meryl knew, and there were several years of frustration while she tried to get a diagnosis.

Harvey also became quite violent, and full- time aides had to be hired, as she could not handle him on her own. He was basically asked to leave one residential facility, because he could not be controlled, and Meryl eventually decided she could do better at home with him.  In the middle of all this, her mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, so she moves in as well.

Harvey eventually became worse, losing his speech, and Meryl never knew if he recognized her. She became involved with a foundation established for Alzheimer's research, and she found that this involvement saved her sanity. 

As the book ends, she is taking part in a study to see if she will develop the same disease.

Some of the phrases she used struck a chord with me:

His internal navigational compass has shut down. His disease is my crossword puzzle.

No disease should have as its victim both the patient and the caregiver.But that is exactly what is happening every minute of every day.

The most challenging point in his illness was when he was on the border between who he had always been and what would characterize the rest of his life.

Old Filth by Jane Gardam ***

Sylvia asked at Book Club if anyone had heard of this book, and lo and behold the very next night as I tucked myself into bed at Mildred's in Ottawa, there it was on her shelf! So I started to read it, found out it's the first book in a trilogy.

The title refers to a former judge in England who earned himself the nickname " Failed in London, Try Hong Kong", although we don't learn too much about this is this first novel. Filth, or Sir Edward Feathers, was a Raj Orphan, born in Malay to a woman who died two days after his birth, and a father who refused to acknowledge him, sent to England at a very young age, accompanied by a missionary, to be educated. 

This was an author whose name I had never heard before, and she's written some 17 novels!

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson ****

I read and studied this book for our Book Club theme of Language in May, 2015. The book is a history of the English language and is a wealth of interesting information, for example: why we can talk and animals can't, the dominance of Englishnin the world, how it was developed, the fact that there are no definitive rules of grammar, a chapter on names and how they developed, another on swearing. It was an interesting and informative read.

Dearie: The Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz****

Vickie, Mildred's friend from Ottawa, told me about this book a few years ago and I was finally able to find it in Books A Million in Panama City this past winter.

I was aware of Julia Child, and I certainly remember the spoofs on her, and I'm sad to say I thought that's how JC actually was, but I discovered an extremely personable, intelligent woman, despite her warbly voice and imperious manner. It was Julia who completely transformed American cooks by showing them how wonderful food could be prepared easily and deliciously. She never even discovered cooking till she and her husband Paul moved to France in the 50s, when she was 35!

And she worked hard, doing recipes time and time again until she knew every inch of the dish she was preparing. Since it was French food she focussed on, there were a lot of butter and cream sauces, rich meats, highly sweet desserts, but she always kept a slim figure, by following the dictum of moderation, small portions, exercising and weight- watching.

This was a very long, but very interesting book. A fascinating person and an American treasure.

Ru by Kim Thuy ****

Winner of Canada Reads 2015, a short read but very poetic, very intense. 

The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart ***

I was excited to purchase this and read it, because the setting was both Ireland and Newfoundland, and it was a family saga. It went a lot deeper than that, and I ended up somewhat bored by it all, but not enough to not continue until the whole novel was read.

There are two brothers, Naill and Kieran, Tam, who flew planes to various locations for the military during the war and who is Naill's mistress, Gerry- Anne, the Irish woman who raises Kieran after his mother dies and she is the only one who can calm down his rages of anger, Susan, Naill's wife. Tam is sitting inGander airport, having left Naill, and there she spends three days looking at a mural painted by the Canadian artist Kenneth Lochhead. We are taken into his preparation for this mural, too, although I'm not entirely convinced of its necessity in the plot.

So it gets three stars. She is a good writer, though, so maybe another half star for that!

The Love Story of Miss Queenie Hennessey: A Novel by Rachel Joyce *****

What a beautiful novel! This is the Queenie from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, the woman who Harold was walking to see after twenty years. Queenie fills  in a lot of the background to the first novel, as we learn all about her, how she met Harold, her relationship with Harold's troubled son, her illness, her fellow patients at the hospice where she now resides. And there is a lovely surprise at the end, too. I just loved this!