Buddy and Grace
Submitted by Bonnie Toews on June 22, 2013 - 12:57
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BUDDY AND GRACE is an exceptional book about the human condition within the framework of a love story and dysfunctional family that, for those who have watched loved ones waste away, is quite real. This story about a former FBI agent, whose wife is stricken with Alzheimer’s disease, is told in the present tense and reads like a movie script except for the sections where memory takes over and the back story is told in the past tense. This treatment absorbs the reader into an immediate relationship with the characters. You feel and see what each one experiences as it happens to them. John Ciarlo both creates drama and suspense while exploring the dynamics of a proud family torn apart by their inability to communicate what they really feel for each other. Words they don’t mean spill from their lips as the daughter battles her father for her mother’s custody, believing she is doing the right thing because her father can no longer give her mother proper care as he too fights a degenerating disease. Still deeply in love with his wife and wanting to protect her from the humiliation of institutional living, Buddy kidnaps his wife and takes her to a place that embraces happier times. This action sets off a series of heart-rending events that involve the pursuit by the FBI and local law enforcement to track the couple down while at the same time forcing Buddy to struggle with the obstacles of his own failing health as well as his past as he tries to protect his wife en route to their “safe” haven. Once there, he faces what he must do for both of them in the time left to him.
This story is told with searing honesty; each character is flawed and reflects our own failings in the relationships dear to us. It captures the dilemma of aging and the resulting frustration of middle-aged children sandwiched between the responsibility of their parents and the demands of their own families and careers. This work moves readers while at the same time mirrors the aging dilemma of our own lives and provides the basis for an Oscar-winning movie script.
Reviewed by: Bonnie Toews(2013)
Author's Summary
BUDDY AND GRACE is a novel about a retired FBI agent who loses custody of his Alzheimer’s stricken wife to his estranged daughter. He kidnaps his wife and attempts to take her to a special place, a beautiful bend in a Montana river, where they used to camp as a young family in happier times. On this journey he must overcome many obstacles, including his wife’s and his separate illnesses, the FBI and local law enforcement’s pursuit, and, most importantly, issues from his past. It is only when they do reach their special place that he realizes he has a more important task to finish in the limited time left to him.
Author(s) Mentioned:
Ciarlo, John
Reviewer:
Toews, Bonnie
Work Type: