Once More with Feeling by Ceridwen Dovey

Once More with Feeling by Ceridwen Dovey
A Book Review

The Amazon blurb touted Once more with Feeling as a romance novel and together with the title, I thought I was about to learn about an aged character falling in love for the second time in his mid-eighties. It is not exactly a book I would choose to read but since it was a freebie on my Audible subscription, I went for the ride. At the end I thought that the romance was overshadowed by other more serious issues that relates to ageing.

Arthur MacDonald, at 85 years old, cares lovingly for his wife, Ethel, who is locked into her own dementia-enclosed world. He successfully manages to keep his middle-aged daughter’s pleas at bay to become residents in the local Silvermine aged home. The familiar routine of his placid life is interrupted when he fails his obligatory driving test which he must take as a resident of the state he lives in which is New South Wales, Australia. This is how he meets the colourful and energetic Robbie, an octogenarian herself, who gives driving lessons for seniors who have failed and who is a resident of the Silvermine Aged Home.

The narration by Jason Chong was a pleasure to listen to as he details the relationships that the protagonist, Arthur, has with the correct doses of irritation, compassion, love and humour: the idolisation of his more flamboyant, older brother, the mutually loving one with his grandson, the admiring but oft tense one with his daughter, Meg, and the distant and confusing one with his daughter’s boyfriend.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book because I felt the characters were so well-developed (in large part by the superb dramatisation of the narrator) and the messages of accepting yourself, foibles and all, and that you are never too old to love again. Another aspect of this book which touched me was when Meg was reading a Letters to Daughters anthology - it reminded me of the letters that my father and I used to exchange.

For those of us on the cusp of the senior phase, Once more with Feeling, is a gentle introduction to the themes associated with ageing. As a reader you are taken through a whole gamut of feelings as themes of family, frail mental and physical health, attitudes towards the ageing population, discovering love in old age and thoughts on how to leave this mortal world are laid open by the extremely versatile narrator. Although these topics may lean towards the morose and macabre, it is a beautifully, heart-warming story as the author navigates the serious undertones with a good sprinkling of humour, love and compassion.

So all in all a refreshingly touching and sweet story about a subject which is not often written about - old age and the issues that geriatrics are faced with and also how they are seen by the younger generations ( in a less flattering sense!). Much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book with its excellent narration, larger than life characters and the subject of old age handled with such sensitivity.