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Silver alert / a novel by Lee Smith.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2023Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First editionDescription: 214 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781643752419
  • 1643752413
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
House of cards -- Tree house -- First honeymoon -- Letter to Paula -- House money -- Pedicure -- Jewels -- Willie's mom -- All the pretty little horses -- Endangered -- Intervention -- Buffalo -- Stolen drugs -- Failure to thrive -- In the garden -- Something for Dee Dee -- Primary colors -- Packing up -- Last visit -- Road trip -- The right thing -- Green Turtle Inn -- Snaggletooth -- Tavernier -- Key Largo -- Rainbow Farm -- Trailer park -- Silver alert -- Fly away -- Coquina.
Summary: Herb's charmed life with his dear wife, Susan, in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan, in her seventies, now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. She sings to Susan during manicures, gets her to paint, and brings her a much-needed sense of contentment. But then Herb and Susan's adult children arrive to stage an intervention on their stubborn, independent father, and as a consequence, Renee's gig with Susan--and her grand plans for her own life--start to unravel as well. Herb isn't ready to let go of all that he has ever had, and it turns out that Renee is not the happy, uncomplicated girl she pretends to be. She is not even Renee; she is really Dee Dee, and she, too, has reasons of her own to hit the road. So, when Herb suggests one last joy ride in his Porsche with Dee Dee riding shotgun, they light out for parts north, setting off a Silver Alert. As the unlikely friendship between Herb and Dee Dee deepens, we see how one life opens up as another is closing down. The time Dee Dee has spent--with Susan, in Key West, in the Porsche with elderly Herb--reveals to her how much more truly lies ahead.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library Fiction SMITH, LEE Checked out 07/06/2024 33111011051261
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Fiction SMITH, LEE Available 33111011264898
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Smith's latest is as delicious as a slice of key lime pie - and gone just as fast." ― People



"It's very different and it's very special and it's very good! I loved it." --​Dolly Parton



A driving force in literature, Lee Smith returns with a road trip novel, a story full of hope and humor about not going away quietly--at any age.



Herb's charmed life with his dear wife Susan in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan, in her 70s, now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. She sings to Susan during manicures, gets her to paint, and brings her a much-needed sense of contentment.



Then Herb and Susan's adult children arrive to stage an intervention with their stubborn, independent father, and as a consequence, Renee's gig with Susan--and her grand plans for her own life--start to unravel as well. Herb isn't ready to let go of all that he has ever had, and it turns out that Renee is not the happy, uncomplicated girl she pretends to be. She is not even Renee; she is really Dee Dee, and she, too, has reasons of her own to hit the road. So Herb suggests one last joy ride in his Porsche with her riding shotgun; and they light out for parts north, setting off a Silver Alert.



As the unlikely friendship between Herb and Dee Dee deepens, we see how as one life is closing down, another opens up. This time that Dee Dee has spent with Susan, this time in Key West, and this time in the Porsche with the elderly Herb reveals to Dee Dee how much more truly lies ahead.



In this buoyant novel, the masterful Smith asks: What life do we deserve? And how do we make it our own? Sometimes, you just have to seize the wheel.

House of cards -- Tree house -- First honeymoon -- Letter to Paula -- House money -- Pedicure -- Jewels -- Willie's mom -- All the pretty little horses -- Endangered -- Intervention -- Buffalo -- Stolen drugs -- Failure to thrive -- In the garden -- Something for Dee Dee -- Primary colors -- Packing up -- Last visit -- Road trip -- The right thing -- Green Turtle Inn -- Snaggletooth -- Tavernier -- Key Largo -- Rainbow Farm -- Trailer park -- Silver alert -- Fly away -- Coquina.

Herb's charmed life with his dear wife, Susan, in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan, in her seventies, now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. She sings to Susan during manicures, gets her to paint, and brings her a much-needed sense of contentment. But then Herb and Susan's adult children arrive to stage an intervention on their stubborn, independent father, and as a consequence, Renee's gig with Susan--and her grand plans for her own life--start to unravel as well. Herb isn't ready to let go of all that he has ever had, and it turns out that Renee is not the happy, uncomplicated girl she pretends to be. She is not even Renee; she is really Dee Dee, and she, too, has reasons of her own to hit the road. So, when Herb suggests one last joy ride in his Porsche with Dee Dee riding shotgun, they light out for parts north, setting off a Silver Alert. As the unlikely friendship between Herb and Dee Dee deepens, we see how one life opens up as another is closing down. The time Dee Dee has spent--with Susan, in Key West, in the Porsche with elderly Herb--reveals to her how much more truly lies ahead.

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