The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon

MacKillop’s touching debut follows an elderly woman as she struggles to maintain her independence and make peace with the past. Seventy-five-year-old Eva Gordon reluctantly moved in with her granddaughter Breezy in Boston after Eva’s memory began to fail her, but she dreams of returning to her home in Cape Cod. The hardships of Eva’s childhood made her doubtful of God, but listening to ministers while crashing funerals convinces her to make amends for her uneven parenting and to get right in the eyes of God. Breezy and her fiancé, Ian, meanwhile, decide to live on a farm with Ian’s elderly uncle George, thrusting Eva into another lifestyle change she doesn’t want. Then, while Breezy and Ian are away on their honeymoon, Isabella, a troubled young woman from Breezy’s church, comes to stay on the farm to help Eva and George. Isabella resembles Eva’s daughter Sarah, who died young, and when Isabella’s alcoholic father arrives at the farm, Eva must become the mother she never was to her children. MacKillop takes the pain of aging and regret and infuses it with soul and a touch of humor. This auspicious first outing tugs at the heartstrings. (May)