Autumn

by Marc MacDonald

Overview

For Alex Chambers, the burden of past mistakes hinders his ability to move forward in life, stifling his readiness to embrace the present. His journey to Silver Springs Health and Rehabilitation Centre was meant to be a path to redemption, a chance to make amends for youthful errors. Little did he know that fate had a different plan in store.

From the moment he steps into the facility's weathered corridors, Alex is greeted not by the easy path he envisioned but by a series of challenges that test his resolve in ways he never anticipated. His hopes of finding forgiveness from the woman he wronged are dashed, replaced by a new, unexpected purpose: caring for Mae Seasons, a plucky, foul-mouthed, unapologetic senior resident of Silver Springs.

With her sharp wit and disregard for social niceties, Mae becomes Alex's unlikely companion on a journey of self-discovery. As he struggles to unearth Mae's secrets while guarding his own, Alex finds himself gradually unravelling the knots of his past, reevaluating his present, and tentatively embracing a future filled with newfound hope.

Through laughter and tears, trials and triumphs, Alex and Mae form a bond that transcends age and circumstance, forged through a series of comically bizarre, heart-warming, and enlightening adventures that prove one can find friendship and love when least expected, in the strangest of places, and with the most unlikely people.
Autumn is a poignant tale of forgiveness, redemption, and the transformative power of human connection. It reminds us that, no matter our past mistakes or present struggles, love and friendship can bloom in the unlikeliest of places, bringing light to even the darkest corners of our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781038311887
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	09/16/2024
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Marc MacDonald is an award-winning communications professional with a passion for storytelling. He has a background in journalism and minored in professional writing at Brock University. He has been recognized for his writing-appearing in print and online publications across Canada-by the Hermes Creative Awards and MarCom Awards. Outside of writing, Marc enjoys reading, coaching his kids, and being active outdoors with activities like camping and hiking. He lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife and two sons.
*marcmacdonald.ca
*@marcmacwrites

Editorial Reviews

2024-11-04
A lovelorn man’s life takes an unexpected turn when he becomes a caregiver for a crass nonagenarian in MacDonald’s novel.

Alex Chambers begins his story in a parking lot during a rainstorm in front of Silver Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center, where he intends to work as a live-in volunteer. His motives are unclear, and the staff greets him with trepidation; the center’s administrator, Susanne Rogers, informs him that their promised space for him is no longer available. However, she offers him another, less desirable assignment, and he soon begins his tenure as a caregiver for a notorious resident of the facility’s geriatric unit: Mae Seasons, a crass 91-year-old who’s been there for more than a decade, terrorizing any staff members assigned to her. Her crude gestures, foul language, and no-bullshit policy soon put her at odds with Alex, who’s oddly tight-lipped about his reasons for volunteering at Silver Springs. The pair become an unlikely match: a reticent young man and an elderly woman who becomes determined to bring him out of his shell. Eventually, Mae coerces Alex into giving her a straight answer, and the pair becomes bonded by shared regret and misery. Some readers are likely to recognize similar stories from literature and film, such asHarold and Maude(1971), but this book is equally as heart-wrenching as any that have come before it. However, MacDonald’s witty prose and original characters imbue the story with an optimistic liveliness: “I was a few hours away from meeting the most exquisitely unique, infuriating, charming, and heartbreaking woman of my life.” The clever title, in addition to describing the story’s setting, refers to Alex’s reason for coming to Silver Springs. Overall, the story leads readers on a journey of redemption that comes to a hopeful, cinematic conclusion.

A cozy, if somewhat familiar, tale of love and grief that will nonetheless leave readers satisfied.

Kirkus Reviews