Review of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston

At times this debut novel about an octogenarian and mistaken identity was too cloyingly sweet for me, but Fred's stumbling through life after grief and loss is poignant, and the story of mistakes and redemption is undoubtedly heartwarming.

Frederick Fife is a widowed octogenarian living in Australia whose spark for life has dwindled significantly since the death of his beloved wife.

He's a day away from being kicked out of his apartment (his wife's long cancer treatment bankrupted him). He has no idea of where to go or what to do, and he's worrying over it all when he takes a forlorn walk along the river. The coincidental sudden death of Bernard, a man who's Fred's doppelgänger, right in front of him, along with a series of outlandish events, together lead to Fred's being accidentally folded into the life of a nearby retirement community. All of his protests and his escape attempts are ignored as evidence of dementia, although unlike Bernard's, Fred's mind is as sharp as ever.

Before he knows it, Fred is fully entrenched in living the lie that he is actually another man. Fred is faced with the awkward realities of Bernard's intimate clothing (it all fits, even the shoes!), Bernard's previously burned bridges due to his grumpy demeanor, Bernard's liaisons with a racy, aggressive fellow resident, Bernard's supposedly worsening dementia, Bernard's documented incontinence, and Bernard's daily medications. Fred enjoys the shelter, three meals a day, and especially the company and new friendships, and he knows that Bernard was without any family and destitute, so he doesn't feel he's abusing the deceased man's money.

But a revelation about Bernard's past very much affects Fred's present, and Fred's situation becomes far more complicated, emotionally rich, and full of guilt when he meets Bernard's grown and newly pregnant (and single, and financially struggling) daughter, who was estranged from her father for decades due to his disruptive gambling addiction (which is said to explain why she doesn't recognize that Fred is not who he says he is)--an unfortunate life-ruiner of a habit that luckily happened to pay off in the form of an enormous, previously secret, windfall that should rightfully be hers.

This is very sweet--at times it felt too cloyingly sweet for me. The story is heavily reliant upon the suspension of disbelief so that all of the coincidences work. I was nervous while reading about Fred's growing deceit, but as he blunders his way through various sticky situations, he undoubtedly improves the lives of all he encounters, and the heartwarming circumstances made me sure we were headed for the somewhat clean resolution Johnston ultimately delivers.

I listened to this title as an audiobook courtesy of Libby and my local library for my book club.

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The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is Anna Johnston's debut novel.

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