This story felt like diving back into the world of Ove, where I fell in love with a character who was past his prime and down on his luck. Frederick finds himself swept up in a new life after a misfortunate accident involving a patient at a local nursing home.

The story follows him working out the complications of this situation and along the way, meeting some wonderful humans who help change the course of his life. While a bit unrealisitic, I love stories about the small acts of love and empathy that truly can alter the course of someone's life.

I absolutely fell in love with the characters in this book. It's heartwarming and I didn't want it to end.

ARC is provided through NetGalley, but my feedback is my own.

Are there any characters you can't get out of your head? When you read The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston - Fred will be with you for a long time.

"Frederick Fife is as low as a man can go - no home, no money, no food - nowhere to go. Frederick tries to help someone but things get jumbled up and now everyone thinks he is that man. He has a place to sleep, food to eat and people around him. (even if that cougar coming after him makes him nervous) Maybe he'll just borrow this life for a while..."

This is a wonderful debut from Johnston. This book is about grief, found family, love, kindness, the invisibility of seniors and dementia. Frederick is a character that is broken but still finds ways to show kindness, even to those who are not the nicest to others. He is not a curmudgeon or saccharine sweet. He understands that sometimes people just need someone to stand with them. So many emotional moments in this book. Meredith kept asking me if I was okay. (I was a puddle) There's one moment where I lost it but there are also moments of great joy. You can kind of see where Johnston is going with the story 'til she terrifies you with a plot twist. But I love the ending.

You will not want to put this book down down. Great debut from Johnston. Going to be one of my favorite reads for '24.

I give this book high praise. I could easily see this being made into a movie. I loved the development of the characters, and there was a side story which comes full circle within the book.

The basic synopsis- Fred is an 82 year old man, who is down on his luck. He's a widower who can't make the rent and thing look bleak. He happens upon Bernard in a wheelchair at the park, and discovers the man has unfortunately passed away. From there the story steamrolls, as Fred somewhat unwillingly 'becomes' Bernard- thanks to an uncanny resemblance- and learns about friendship, love, sacrifice and truth in the process.

I really don't want to give anything away, because it's such a warm story. I loved these characters though, and they stick with me still.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins William Morrow for gifting me both a digital and physical ARC of this amazing debut book by Anna Johnston. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 5 stars!

Frederick Fife is in his 80s, broke, lonely, and just about to be homeless. But Fred’s luck changes when he takes the place of grumpy Bernard at the local nursing home, through a bizarre case of mistaken identity. Now, he’s being sheltered, has meals and medical care and, most importantly, friends. Denise is a caregiver at the nursing home, and her life is falling apart as well. Her marriage is failing, and her daughter has health issues. Denise becomes suspicious of the change in Bernard’s personality. Will she reveal the truth?

This book was amazing. I could not put it down nor could I love Fred any more. The entire cast of characters is wonderful – full of relatable people with flaws just trying to do what’s right. This story will pull at your heartstrings in so many different ways. I felt so bad for the people in the nursing home dealing with dementia and other health issues, but the caring people made all the difference. This book is a must read – it’s laugh-out-loud hilarious, smart, and will have you thinking about grief, forgiveness, and second chances. Plus, there’s a twist that shook me! Highly recommended and just an astonishing debut novel!

Special thanks to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for sharing this advanced ecopy of Anna Johnston’s debut novel! This heartwarming book publishes TODAY! (September 10, 2024)

Frederick Fife is down on his luck when he stumbles on what seems to be a second lease on life. As he becomes more entrenched in Bernard Greer’s life though, not everything is as wonderful as it seems. Can Frederick right some wrongs before his lease runs out?

Y’all, Frederick is the person you want as your grandpa. He is kind, considerate, and funny. No matter your dreams, he would be one to cheer you on and support you to the best of his ability. While parts of this story felt a bit predictable, I absolutely loved these characters and the antics they got up to in the Wattle River Nursing Home. This debut novel is worth the read, and I can’t wait to see what Anna Johnston writes next!

I highly recommend this story if you’re looking for a way to get in your feelings, enjoy beloved characters, and strong debut novels.

CW: homelessness, miscarriage/baby loss, divorce, cancer, alcohol abuse, dementia, abandonment

Although this book has its share of heartbreak and difficult characters, it is quite uplifting. A destitute, grief-stricken octogenarian’s life is about to change in more ways than he can imagine. This is Anna Johnston’s debut novel THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE.

With no money to pay his rent, Fred is about to be evicted from the apartment he shared with his wife, the absolute love of his life, now deceased, with no family to turn to, he's emotionally exhausted. A strange turn of events leads him to switch places with a man who lived in a nursing home, which solves his housing problem. Fred soon makes new friends, eats well, and other extraordinary things happen. Yet, he worries about being found out in this unintended swap. Fred doesn’t take the care and kindness he is shown for granted, but he knows that all good things must come to an end. Or maybe not. He is living a borrowed life.
​
It's a story about grief, redemption, found family, forgiveness, and how love can show itself in mysterious ways, even from beyond.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I knew from the cover and description of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife that it was going to be the next Ove and I was right!

You get to meet Frederick Fife in a bit of a precarious position and immediately you know you are going to love him. I really don't want to give too much away with this one but just know that you are in for a heartwarming read. I also really love the theme of found family that was strongly showcased in this story.

“Grief was love with nowhere to go.”

Get ready to laugh and cry and I know this one is going to be a favorite for many!

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 336 / Genre: Fiction
🥳#HappyPubDay!🎉

Old, lonely, and about to become homeless, Fred went for a walk to clear his head when he stumbled upon Bernard, who just died in his wheelchair while out on a field trip with his nursing home. Bernard also happens to look quite a bit like Fred. So after a series of mishaps, poor Bernard ended up floating down the river when his carer Denise found Fred on the ground bonked on the head and immediately assumed it was Bernard. From then on, everyone assumed Fred was Bernard, no matter how hard he tried to tell them who he really was. This case of mistaken identity turned into amazing luck for Fred, who appreciated everything in life that Bernard never did, including his estranged daughter.

This was such a heartwarming father-daughter tale of life, relationships, forgiveness, and second chances. This book made me cherish the relationship I have with my dad.

Thank you, @NetGalley, @WilliamMorrowBooks, and @AnnaJohnstonAuthor for my gifted copy. I loved it.

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston is such an adorable read and I highly recommend! It explores themes of chosen family, grief, kindness, forgiveness, redemption. The characters are wonderful, flawed, and human. It expertly expresses the human condition.

Frederick’s situation is dire. He’s being evicted and has nowhere to go. He’s still reeling in grief from the death of his wife. Frederick is not sure what to do next when he stumbles upon an elderly man in a wheelchair next to the river. Unfortunately, he finds the man already dead. While helping his body back to the nursing home attendants an accident happens and the man’s body ends up being carried down the river, at the same time a caretaker from the nursing home comes to take him back to the room and mistakes Frederick for the man, Bernard.

It takes Frederick stepping into to the shoes of another man’s life (literally) to find everything his has been missing.

Eighty-two year-old Frederick "Fred" Fife is all alone and down on his luck. A walk by the river turns into an unexpected case of mistaken identity, and Fred finds himself surrounded by new family and friends. He has to tiptoe around the caretaker Denise, because she has everything going wrong in her life and hates to be deceived.

This was a heartwarming story bringing different age groups together and shining a light on how the senior population can be treated and forgotten. It showed how kindness can take root in the most surprising places. With laugh out loud moments and moments of sorrow, this was a surprisingly great read that would make a wonderful movie.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

What a beautiful, heartwarming story! Set in a small town in Australia, it’s about an 82-year-old widower named Fred who is mistaken for a recently deceased nursing home resident named Bernard. Due to their uncanny resemblance and Bernard’s dementia, nobody believes Fred when he tries to correct the misunderstanding, and he finally gives up trying to convince the staff because living as someone else with a comfy room, 3 meals a day, and the friendship of his fellow residents to stave off his crushing loneliness is much better than being homeless, which was his next step had fate not intervened. However, when he learns that Bernard has a daughter he was estranged from for over 30 years, Fred has to make the difficult decision of whether to come clean or try to be a father to this lovely woman who has already lost so much in her life.

Author Johnston has written a unique story that highlights the plight of the elderly which is universal. Although the message is ultimately uplifting and redemptive for Fred, it also illustrates how shamefully inadequate the social safety nets are for some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Fred is as healthy as an octogenarian can be, with no signs of dementia, but thanks to medical debt he incurred when his late wife was battling cancer, he was forced to sell his home and is eventually evicted with nowhere else to go. More fortunate seniors are able to afford decent nursing homes, but they are still at risk of shabby treatment by staff if oversight is lacking, which is portrayed in this book by a nurse who is barely coping with the dissolution of her marriage by turning to alcohol. Johnston also uses a delightful character named Albert to portray dementia and Fred’s friendship with him to demonstrate the correct way to interact so as to cause the least emotional upset and heartbreak. There is plenty of humor as it relates to the human condition, but also plenty of tears. As someone who witnessed her own mother’s long battle with dementia, this story was sometimes painful to read, but I have no regrets thanks to Johnston’s thoughtful handling of the disease.

If you’ve read and enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, you’ll want to read this book as well. Highly recommended.

I absolutely ADORED Fred and even more knowing his character was based off the author’s grandpa and makes me so jealous I never knew my grandparents!

Read if you like:
👯 Friendships
💔 Heartbreaking Plots
🏚️ Broken Families
💩 Poop/Fart Jokes
👴🏼 Senior Citizens
😘 Flirty Old Ladies

This book has a little bit of everything from immature jokes, sad moments, heartwarming moments, heartbreaking moments, found family, love, loss, and everything in between just like life.

I didn’t know what to really expect when I picked this one up, but so glad I did as I really loved it so much and so glad I took my time with it to fully enjoy everything this book delivered and loved the way Fred ‘s story was written to give all the emotions and moved effortlessly from lighthearted to sad to happy and back and forth.

I don’t want to say too much, but for those that need them, I have listed trigger warnings below as this book hits on many topics that depending on the reader and the place you may be in, may be hard to read about.

The way this story is truly encapsulated by “thank you for letting me borrow your life…” and how well Fred truly borrowed and handled his situation he finds himself in made me believe in the good of humanity and wish I had my own Fred.

Thank you to the publisher for my EARC and physical ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Trigger Warnings:
🍻 & 🎰 Addiction
😷 Cancer
☠️ Deaths of loved ones (Child/Spouse/Friend)
🤰🏼 Accidental Pregnancy
🩸 Miscarriage & infertility struggles
🏠 Homelessness/Poverty
✌🏻 Absent Parents
😘 Cheating
🧠 Dementia / Age Related Deteriorating

The Borrowed Life Of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston, every now and then you come across a book you know you’ll need Kleenex for but for this book you’ll need to buy it as if a hurricane is coming or there’s a Covid outbreak because OMG is this a tear jerker! Frederick five lives in Australia and while Al pondering is intending homelessness he sees a man dumped out of the wheelchair near a river. While trying to help the unconscious man, fleetingly he notices they’re striking resemblance. when Frederick puts him back in his wheelchair, while he’s taking off his jacket the chair rolls to the river and although the chair stops at the river Bernard Greer does not.. this is how when nurse Denise comes to get Mr. Greer she mistakes Frederick five for her patient who has dementia so when he tries to explain he is not him she blows it off as him just being quirky due to his condition. So now Frederick five lives in a nursing home and ultimately decides no harm no foul he’s eating has a safe place to sleep soon also has friends, but theirs somethings about Mr. Greer‘s life Frederick wasn’t prepared for and one of those was his angry daughter Hannah. Let me stop here and just say if you love funny, found family, heartwarming, tearjerking stories this is the book OMG… OMG oh I freaking love this book! So many times I who do not cry while reading sad stories almost cried multiple times. I absolutely 100% recommend this awesome awesome book that I hope becomes a movie. #NetGalley,#HarperCollinsAustralia, #AnnaJohnston, #TheBorrowedLifeOfFrederickFife,

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Anna Johnston for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Frederick Fife, suffering from the loss of his wife, finds comfort when he is mistaken for a dead man, and confused workers put him in the now available bed at the local nursing home. He tries to tell them, but they just don’t always pay attention to old people, so he relaxes and makes friends, the kind of friend we all need to have and to be. Everyone loves him, as well as learning valuable lessons about life from him. Life takes a few twists when Fred meets Bernard’s daughter, she wins his heart, and he has to make the choice whether to be truthful with her.

This is a life-affirming book! You will feel good and hopefully pass this feeling onto others.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: This is an uplifting book--the central protagonist is 82, homeless and alone and he inadvertently changes places with a similar appearing nursing home resident. Johnston explores the invisibility of the old and family dynamics--Fred meets the estranged daughter of Bertrand and establishes a bond and attempts to make reparations for poor parenting. Fred had been very lonely and alone and the nursing home provides him with stability and connections. While it may not be completely realistic, there are very realistic observations about how older people are treated and the lifelong wounds from inadequate parenting, Fred is a deeply decent man and his story is lovely.

This is such a wonderful heartwarming story! The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston is a book I believe everyone would love to read. There are parts that are sad, parts that might make you angry, but overall it’s a beautiful story that’s filled with love. Fred is down on his luck, his wife has passed away, he has no living friends or relatives and he’s broke and being evicted from his flat. An accident happens at the park and he is mistaken for someone he’s not. From there he takes on the life of someone else and the story unfolds. At times it was quite comical to read but I found it endearing how he interacts and befriends both the residents and the employees at the nursing home. He ends up finding friends, family and a real purpose in life. I loved reading this, perhaps it’s because I’m getting older, but I enjoyed reading a book that centered around a senior citizen who was living in a nursing home. Most authors don’t write stories about the older generation and I thought it was a pleasant change. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc that I obtained off the Read Now section. This was a very enjoyable read for me and I believe everyone who reads it will agree. I’m giving it a 5 star rating and since this was the authors debut novel, I’ll be waiting patiently to read what she writes next!

This book is definitely going to the top of my list of favorite books for 2024. It's hard to believe that it was the author's debut novel. I found it so much better than similar books I've read for book club discussions in recent years. Those would include A Man Called Ove, The Unlikely Pilrimage of Harold Fry and The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. The characters from those books were not nearly as endearing as Frederick Fife ((aka Bernard Greer). I experienced such a range of emotions from tears to laughter and could scarcely stop reading to do anything else. Thanks so much to NetGalley, William Morrow and the author for an advance copy to read.

I really enjoyed this book. On the day that Fred was being evicted, they assumed that he was Bernard. Fred kept telling him that he wasn't Bernard, but they didn't believe him since he was Bernard's spitting image. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. I love Fred and the wonderful way he treated people. His becoming 'Bernard' brought so much lightness to people's lives. I love the humorous situations he faced and the heartwarming ones. I also felt for him with his grief for his wife and the child that he lost. Fred is a man that makes the world a better place. I love the story's positive vibes.

Awe this felt like a warm hug in a book. I adored this lovely wholesome tale that put a smile on my face and brightened my day. My heart completely melted over Frederick, you couldn’t help but feel for him over the turning situation he came to be in. And I greatly appreciate Anna Johnston for so adeptly shining a light on how special it feels when someone shows caring, kindness, and compassion towards another, most especially to our elders that often feel left behind as they grow older. Oh and I loved how Johnston perfectly mastered the mistaken identity trope, hilarious! 5 stars — Pub. 9/10/24

I received an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know why, but I love rooting for a character who’s done something he shouldn’t have done and has to find a way out of that poor decision. Frederick Fife is that guy. He’s allowed a case of mistaken identity to go way too far. But, Frederick is also irresistible, the kind of guy you’d welcome into your life because he’s so kind and positive.

I love books about feisty older people, too, and it’s not just because I’m aging. When I was much younger, two of my favorite books were Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. Both featured elderly protagonists. Oh, and I’ll always celebrate reading The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson and A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman. Not to mention the fact that my debut novel is about an older woman. But, I digress.

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston is packed with humor and warmth. You’ll keep turning the pages to find out how in the world the mess Frederick has made can possibly be resolved. And you’ll be sorry to come to the end because you know you’ll miss the lovable guy and his found family.

Many thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book.