Book ~ "The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife" (2024) Anna Johnston

From Goodreads ~ Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s 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.

Fred Fife is a widower in his 80s who would do anything for anyone. Over the years, his money had gone to taking care of Dawn, his beloved wife, who eventually passed away from cancer. He's being evicted from his apartment and has nowhere to do. He finds a deceased Bernard in a wheelchair and wants to alert someone ... the next thing he knows, he's being whisked away to a retirement home with everyone thinking he's the Bernard. When he tries to tell everyone he's not Bernard, they attribute it to Bernard's dementia. No one will listen to him, so feeling a bit of guilt, he settles into Bernard's life, appreciating having a place to live, a full belly and newfound friends.  Denise works at the retirement home and suspects something is off as "Bernard" now seems to not be deaf or incontinent or have dementia and is actually friendly, helpful and nice.

I really liked this story. I liked the writing style ... it was humourous and touching at times. As I was reading it, I was thinking it would make a good movie. It's written in third person perspective. I liked the characters, even Denise who was mean to the residents at times but had a lot going on at home. It highlights how sad it can be when the elderly grow older and are alone.