Penguin Books, Australia 2026
Cover design Debra Billson
Cover illustrations Marta Lebek/Stocksy and Shutterstock
With her characteristic compassion and humour, in this second novel, Anna Johnston takes us once again into the world of aged care.
The action centres on retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow and his life both before and during entering an aged care facility diagnosed with dementia. When we first meet him, he is deeply miserable, not only grieving his beloved husband Beau and a fall from public grace, but also coping with the worst aspects of confinement in a facility which runs on systems rather than the needs of the people in its care.
Grif’s sister Lisa is our other main focus. Despite having fallen out with Griff some time ago, she continues to visit him in the care home. She’s had a late life diagnosis of ADHD, which in some ways helps her make sense of the person she is.
A burgeoning relationship with musician Frank further helps her understand that she is more than this label. Her congenital health condition becomes a crisis for her just as things seem to be on the up and up.
And it is here that the overarching theme of love and its capacity to lead us to forgiveness and wholeness comes into play. We are persistently reminded not to judge any of the books in this story by their covers. Not much is as it first seems.
There is a great deal of wisdom in this work, delightfully mixed with a lot of slapstick. Griff’s epiphany is that he still has something to offer and that the food he provides is a form of love, an evocation of happy memory and a way into lost parts of a person’s mind and heart. Lisa’s epiphany is that she is indeed lovable and that a way back to family can be forged.
The author seamlessly weaves her dark issues into a story of great charm, tackling the need for more flexible aged care facilities to cater for various circumstances and relationships; organ donation; terminal illness; critical congenital health conditions; food in aged care; the power of media and public opinion to adversely affect lives; the issue of profit over people.
It is important that I do not reveal too much in my comments as surprise is important for the plot here. However, not to allude to the major themes would be a disservice to a book which draws our attention to so much of significance. Writing about such matters without casting doom and despair is difficult and it is this facility that marks Anna Johnston as both a clever story teller and a gentle sage urging us all to do better.
Her insistence is that we remember the importance of dignity, connection, family and love throughout our lives, and this story takes us there with the lightest of hands.
Thank you to Penguin Books for my review copy and to Anna for speaking with me about this cleverly crafted story which points us to so much that matters.