A Funny Kind of Paradise

Jo Owens

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Paperback

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English

Prentice Hall Press
18 May 2021

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

A poignant, uplifting, brilliantly insightful story of one woman's end-of-life reckoning with her past, her lost daughter and herself, for readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Still Alice and Elizabeth Is Missing.

A poignant, uplifting, brilliantly insightful story of one woman's end-of-life reckoning with her past, her lost daughter and herself, for readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Still Alice and Elizabeth Is Missing.

When her husband left her with a baby, a toddler and a fledgling business, Francesca managed--she wasn't always gentle or patient, but the business thrived and Chris and Angelina had food to eat. At nearly 70, she feels she's earned a peaceful retirement. But when a massive stroke leaves her voiceless, partially paralyzed and wholly reliant on the staff of an extended care facility, it seems her freedom is lost.

However, Francesca is still clear-headed and sharp, and she knows one thing- she wants to live. She savours her view of a majestic chestnut tree through the hospital window, and speaks in her mind to her beloved friend Anna, dead for two years. The daily tasks and dramas of the rotating crew of care aides tether her to the world- Young Lily, eager to fall in love and regularly falling apart when things don't work out; Michiko, with her spiky hair and tattoos and wicked sense of humour; Molly, endlessly kind and skilled in her work; Blaire, cold and enigmatic.

Amidst the indignities of bed baths and a feeding tube, Francesca is surprised to experience flashes of hilarity and joy, even the blossoming of a new friendship with a fellow patient. But as she reflects to Anna on her dutiful son and her troubled and absent daughter, regrets and painful realizations rise to the surface. For the first time, there is nowhere for Francesca to hide from her own choices, and she must reckon with her past before it's too late. A Funny Kind of Paradise is a warm and insightful novel about one woman's opportunity for reinvention--for unconditional love, acceptance and closure--in the unlikeliest of places.

By: Jo Owens
Imprint: Prentice Hall Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 368g
ISBN: 9780735278820
ISBN 10: 0735278822
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 18 May 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

JO OWENS lives in Victoria and has worked as a health care aide for twenty years. A Funny Kind of Paradise is her first novel.

Reviews for A Funny Kind of Paradise

Like pulling rabbits from a hat, Jo Owens manages the magic of reaching into the most abject places of the human heart-and other parts of the anatomy-and finding joy, humour and redemption. She gifts the reader a story told with elegant wit and irreverent humour, and characters brought to life with love, often of the tough variety . . . and there is nothing more tender. I love this book. -Ann-Marie MacDonald Jo Owens' achievement is astonishing. She has created a heroine whose zest for life is as unstoppable as her curiosity about the caregivers and patients in her long-term facility, and whose capacity for change is sometimes painful and frequently funny. What a delight to be privy to Francesca's blunt, ribald, exasperated and tender reactions to a life she never planned. -Katherine Ashenburg, author of Sofie & Cecilia and Her Turn