Prolific, masterful storyteller Lee Smith (Guests on Earth; Dimestore) returns to the Florida Keys in her sparkling, tender-hearted novel Silver Alert. For 12 years, Key West resident Herb Atlas--gruff, no-nonsense and married several times--has been taking "great care" of his "last wife," Susan--a passionate lover of the arts and an artist herself--who started to exhibit symptoms of early-onset dementia at age 58. With Herb now 83 and suffering health problems of his own, and Susan's condition progressing more rapidly now that she's 70, Herb hires the upbeat and free-spirited Renee to help out.
Renee, a manicurist who lives in a trailer park, is struggling to escape a dark, secret past and reinvent her life. She becomes a friend and companion to Susan, and her lively presence reinvigorates the emotional well-being of the Atlases. However, when Herb's overbearing and domineering adult children and half-children descend on Key West and stage an intervention to help the burdened couple, things take a dramatic, unexpected turn. "Everybody agrees. Susan ought to be in a facility now"--except Herb. Feeling powerless and boxed in by the limits imposed by his obstinate children, who take over and orchestrate decisions for his life and for Susan's care, Herb ultimately rebels. On a lark, he sets off in his prized Porsche sportscar with Renee. The two go on the lam--a wild, liberating road trip that will change their lives forever.
Smith has crafted a remarkably well-rounded, empathetic, serio-comic story. Silver Alert is a novel that takes readers on a deeply meaningful, unforgettable ride brimming with hope. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines