Review By: Tami Rigling
Published: 2024
Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary, Humor
Audience: Grades 11–12, Adult
Content Warnings: Death, grief, pregnancy loss, terminal illness, addiction, mental illness, emotional abuse, child abuse, elder abuse
GoodReads Link: The Borrowed Life of Federick Fife
Publisher’s Summary: Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he would return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there is nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he is desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.
Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard’s facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter’s health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again.
As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise’s suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.
Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family.
Review: “Anna Johnston’s The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a truly special and uplifting novel. It does an amazing job balancing profound grief with genuine laugh out loud humor. The story centers on a man drowning in sorrow who finds a peculiar second chance at life and family by assuming a deceased man’s identity in an aged care facility. The major themes are beautifully explored, focusing on grief, redemption, forgiveness, and the idea of found family. I would highly recommend this book to any adult or older teen who enjoys character driven fiction, especially fans of Fredrik Backman or Gail Honeyman.”
