Beautiful, heartwarming, hilarious and precious! The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is an amazing story of love and how we find it in the most unexpected ways. Laugh aloud funny, the book grabbed me from the first line, immersed me in the story and didn’t let go until the uplifting end.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this glorious ARC.

What a lovely heartwarming story! This will definitely be one of my best books read for 2024.

Eight two year old, lonely, widowed Frederick Fife is on the verge of being homeless. He gets in a situation and is mistaken for Bernard who is on a nursing home outing. As Fred borrows Bernard’s life, he starts to have a purpose in life again. The story talks about loneliness, dementia, addiction, found family and finding new family.

Get your tissues ready! This story is funny at times and tear jerking at times. The ending was just perfectly written.

Thank you to NetGalley, Anna Johnston and William Morrow for the advanced copy of this wonderful written book.

Frederick Fife, 82, is homeless and completely alone. As he wanders in a park trying to find a place where he can sleep that evening, he sees a man in a wheelchair who looks as if he needs help. Fred is a kindly man, so he asks, “Mate, are you all right?” He then realizes the man is dead. He notices a group of elderly people near a van from a nearby nursing home. Thus begins The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston. As readers of this blog know, I am truly fond of found-family stories, and this is one of the best I’ve read lately! And it all stems from a case of mistaken identity.
As Fred pushes the wheelchair toward the van, the wheelchair tips over because of the uneven, rocky ground. The dead man falls out of the chair, and Fred, too, falls, hitting his head on a rock. As he struggles to put the man back into the chair, he loses his hold, and the man falls into the river and floats away! Suddenly, Denise, one of the nurses, notices Fred and rushes to him calling him Bernard. She puts Fred into the wheelchair and finds a pair of glasses on the grass. She puts those on Fred causing his vision to be blurred.

As hard as he tries to tell her that he is Fred, not Bernard, Denise does not listen because Bernard has been diagnosed with early dementia, so she assumes he is confused from the fall. The group is hustled onto the van, and everyone returns to the nursing home. Although he wants to come clean, Fred finds that people won’t listen to him. Then he realizes he has a room, a clean bed, and food, so he thinks to himself he will at least stay the night and figure out what to do next.

It becomes more and more difficult to extricate himself from this mistaken identity. Fred says to the missing Bernard, “Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I will take good care of it.” Fred overhears that Bernard has no family and no one visits, so he thinks he is doing no harm by becoming Bernard. However, there are many differences between Fred and Bernard. Fred is a much more compassionate person, and he is not suffering from dementia or incontinence, both of which plagued Bernard.

Suddenly, a new problem arises when Bernard’s estranged daughter, Hannah, shows up at the nursing home. She is angry with Bernard because he abruptly left the family when her older sister died of cancer when they were children. That left Hannah and her mother destitute, so Hannah is angry and wants little to do with her father. Bernard/Fred tries to apologize to Hannah, but she abruptly leaves. However, a few days later, she returns and begins a tentative relationship with the man she believes is her father.

Fred and his beloved wife Dawn did not have children, so he is delighted to have Hannah in his life, and he does all he can to apologize for Bernard’s bad behavior and to make up for it by being a loving dad.

Read The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife for a feel-good story about love, redemption, caring, and kindness. You will be glad you did. Book club members will enjoy a good story that also has depth about aging, parental woes, and forgiveness along with other topics. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is Anna Johnston’s debut novel and will be available September 10th.

At the beginning of the book book, we meet Fred, an octogenarian who is practically homeless. He's taking a walk along the river when he runs into a nursing home group. One man in a wheelchair is quite far from everyone else near the riverbed. Fred realizes the man has passed away and tries to push the chair up to where the others are so they can get help. The wheelchair ends up falling over in the man falls into the river and is swept away. Fred falls down and hits his head. The nursing staff is convinced that he is Bernard, the man that was in the wheelchair. This is Fred's lovely story and how he ended up with Bernard's life. It's a heartwarming read and I recommend it!

What a charming story! While caring for my parents, a nursing home became my second home. This resonated. It made me chuckle and it made me cry. A beautiful tale of loss, with the lesson that it’s never too late for love to be found.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this delightful novel. Fred Fife is a lonely octogenarian who accidentally switches places with another elderly man who has passed away. Fred gets to teach his caregivers and fellow residents of his nursing home about the gifts of love, kindness and thoughtfulness. This book is such a delight. The author made we giggle at times and tear up at others. The writing is tender. I wish she wasn’t so fixated on “bodily functions” but those passages did make me laugh. Fred, in the guise of Bernard, touched many lives, and in turn he was touched by them. The mix up was quite plausible as the author points out ways in which the elderly can be overlooked or disregarded. I highly recommend this novel. It is nice to read a feel-good

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow books for this ARC. This was just an adorable book. Frederick Fife is desperate, lonely, and about to be homeless. and has nothing left. Then he stumbles upon Bernard Greer. They look a lot alike. It's a case of mistaken identity and Fred really does try to make things right, but all the sudden, he has a place a nice nursing home with 3 meals a day, warm clothes, and the chance to part of a family again. As Fred navigates Bernard's life, he tries to make things better in every way. This book made me tear up in the best way possible as sometimes people come into your life just when you need them the most.

A fun, heartwarming and delightful read. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publsher. Review to follow later.

Australia - Present Day

Life is getting difficult for 82-year-old widower Frederick Fife. Broke, achingly lonely, and on the verge of homelessness, with no family or friends left in the world, Fred has no idea what he's going to do next. Ten years after the death of his wife, Dawn, he still gets hit with a jolt of grief when he least expects it. And now he must somehow figure out how he will survive his last years. Wandering by the river where he finds a bit of peace, he comes across a man in a wheelchair, all alone. Fred approaches and realizes that the man has died. Always one to do the right thing, Fred covers the old man with his own jacket, and proceeds to wheel him away from the shore. But the uneven ground forces the wheelchair to tip over, and the man slides into the river, and is washed away!

As she sees one of her charges out of his wheelchair, Denise, a carer at the Wattle River Nursing Home, panics. Helping the old man back into his chair and then into the transport vehicle, she just hopes she doesn't lose her job! Grumpy old Bernard had insisted on feeding the seagulls, and now he's jeopardizing Denise's position. Settling Bernard back in his room at the nursing home, Denise just hopes nothing more comes of this incident.

Fred wakes up in a strange room, with no clue how he got there. On the table next to him is a photo of him at his 83rd birthday party. But he's sure he's 82, and he doesn't remember this cake! What is going on?

Fred and Bernard could easily have been brothers, looking so much alike that no one in the nursing home has any doubt that it's Bernard being, well, Bernard. Although today, he seems different. He's less grumpy, he seems friendlier, in fact, and that's not the Bernard the staff knows. How will Fred deal with this sudden change in his life? Well, he tries to explain to everyone that he's not Bernard, but the staff was aware of Bernard's growing dementia since his stroke, and no one believes him. What's a man to do but go with the flow? A warm bed, three delicious meals a day, and people to take care of him.

THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE is an absolutely wonderful story of a lovely man who deserved a better life, and the cockeyed way he may have got it. Fred is a kind, gentle soul who has always done what is right, and while he feels a little unsettled about being "Bernard", he is relishing the feelings of being cared for, and cared about. As Fred learns more about Bernard's past, however, he wonders what he would have done in the man's shoes. A story that also shows the plight of the elderly in our world, THE BORROWED LIFE OF FREDERICK FIFE is so worth everyone of every age reading.

Frederick Fife is an 82-year-old man, down on his luck in a small town near Sydney, having just learned he's been evicted from his apartment, when he comes across a man about his age, dead in his wheelchair while on an excursion with his care home. This man, Bernard, looks strikingly similar to Fred, and due to a comedy of errors, Fred takes over his life, and makes some new friends and has a second chance at a family in the process.
This is a quick little read, with multiple narrators, Fred, Denise, and Hannah. How their lives all tie together is the main plot of the book. Overall for me, while it was a lovely story, I don't really see it sticking with me for the long term. Yes, it was heartwarming, but it lacked something as well. The writing was well done, each narrator had a distinct voice, and it certainly seems I'm in the minority when I say that for me this book was average at best. I will round up from 3.5 stars to 4 for my rating.
Thank you to Book Club Girl, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

So precious and heartwarming! I loved this story about elderly and homeless Fred, and how he came to "borrow" the life of Barnard, another old guy with a significant case of dementia. Fred, because of mistaken identity, moves into the nursing home where Barnard has lived and assumes his identity, contributing love, help, and guidance to the staff and other residents. A special person enters his life, and he begins to have purpose and dignity. This story is sweet (maybe a little sappy!) and satisfying. Anna Johnston moves the action along at a well-paced clip so I was never bored, and I never needed to reread for details. I read the book in record time - just couldn't put it down. Highly recommend for those who love a sweet story!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife.

Frederick Fife. A flatulent octogenarian with a heart of gold. This was a story about feeling loved and seen in a world where being invisible and heart-broken is something that can happen at any age. “Wattle River Nursing Home” was a place of comfort, friendship and found family not only for the residents, but for anyone and EVERYone crossing paths with this memorable man. A friend who had a way of filling up anyone's “tank” who crossed his path, even mine.

I’m so happy to have had the chance to read the Advanced Reader’s Edition e-copy of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston; thank you NetGalley and William Morrow.

This was the heart warming story of Fred, who mistakenly takes over the life of another older gentleman after an accident. He moves into his home at the senior care facility and the reader gets to see what happens as a result.

Favorite parts:

+ Fred’s character was endearing, quirky, and easy to love.
+ I loved the found family troupe and seeing Fred find “his people”, even if it was later in life.
+ I enjoyed the commentary on the treatment of seniors and the plights that they face that are often overlooked, such as, loneliness, financial instability, loss of purpose, dementia, less than stellar care, etc.

Parts I could’ve done without:

- The pacing felt a little slow to me at times. This is a much more character driven novel; I wish a little more had happened in the plot.
- It definitely requires a suspension of disbelief.
- Lots of senior citizen “potty talk”, sometimes it was funny, sometimes it felt over the top.

Overall: This was a heart warming read with some deeper social commentary on problems that senior citizens face. I recommend it for readers who are looking for a feel good story with a slower pace and a charming protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing a digital ARC of the book to read and review.

Fred has completely warmed my heart. I was rooting for him the entire time, he was such a delight to everyone who got the pleasure of meeting him. The mishap that brought him to the nursing home was such a blessing to him and to the other residents. I absolutely adored this book, it is the same style of feel good story as those written by Phaedra Patrick. I will absolutely be looking out for the author's next book!

I'd like to that NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me access to this book. This book was so heartwarming and I really loved Fredrick's character. I would highly recommend even to people who don't typically read this type of book.

5 *****

This is an absolute gem! An antidote to the negativity of daily life. .If you need a dose of human kindness, read this book!

I assume everyone reads the provided synopsis before looking at reviews so I won’t repeat the plot outline. Major and minor characters were well drawn; I was never confused among them though there were a good number of characters involved. And, they evolved (most of them) and blossomed thanks in no small part to Fred’s good nature.

The story was well written, flowed well. I was never jarred out of the story by an awkward turn of phrase or a poor segué. The plot was well crafted, with key turning points and the inevitable challenges. The complicated pasts of various characters were revealed bit by bit, organically as scenes unfolded. It was very well structured, but more than that, it just flowed. I devoured this story!

I HIGHLY recommend this book. I enjoyed every minute of it and will impatiently await more by this author.

My appreciation to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance review copy; my opinions are my own, and freely given.

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is universally charming, heartwarming, tear-jerking, and oddly enough, healing. This book had me rolling in laughter at one point and sobbing into my kindle the next. If you read nothing else this year, this is the one.

Anna Johnston is a debut author and she will be on my list of writers to watch from here on out. What a beautiful book about second chances and the power of love and connection. By a series of unfortunate events, Frederick Fife is mistaken for Bernard Greer at a nursing home. Though trying desperately to correct the mistaken identity, he cannot find anyone who will believe him as Bernard had just been diagnosed with dementia. Eventually, as Fred was homeless and had no where else to go, he decides he may as well just live there as not; after all, he isn’t harming anyone by living out his days as Bernard, right? Until one day Fred learns something about Bernard that makes it more and more challenging to continue the ruse. When everything is at stake, how can you choose?

I adored this book. What a powerful story of love and redemption. Bring your tissues.

I’d like to thank William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Such a delightful romp with geriatric friends. Fred touched lives in many ways despite the circumstances in which he had encountered them. This is one is found family at its finest! It easily compares to “A Man Called Ove” and “All the Lonely People.”

This was an unexpected treasure of octegenarian wisdom, community, and confusion - I loved it. (And for what it’s worth, my 14 year old son read and highly recommends it too!)

Frederick Fife is 82 years old, without family, and newly homeless. He encounters an elderly man who has peacefully passed away in his wheelchair on his daily walk, and through a series of quirky events Fred accidentally assumes his identity. The man, Bernard, lives at a well-appointed elder care facility where no one believes Fred’s pleas that he is not, in fact, Bernard. As Fred finally settles into the home, making friends with carers and neighbors alike, he finds information that complicates his ruse.

This is giving "a man called ove" with the pull-at-your-heartstrings level cranked all the way up. Fred and his relentlessly positive attitude create happy little ripples at wattle river nursing home - standing in as a devoted brother for a lovely man in the memory-care facility, offering patience and gratitude for the overworked carers, and testing out his matchmaking skills for two young nurses.

This is really such a lovely book to read at times like this, when things out of our control don't have much upside. It's an endearing reminder that we can make our own circles into glens of kindness.