Welcome friend! I enjoyed a lovely August weekend reading Cattail Lane and it was the best thing to connect with the author, Fran Kimmel, and chat with her candidly about this book. If you love heartfelt stories that centre around family, you have to pick this up! Here is what it is about:
Fran Kimmel | Goodreads
Nick Ackerman’s life is an aimless circuit between his uninspiring job and the local bar until a note from a stranger changes everything. He learns he has a 14-year-old son, Billy, whose grandmother can no longer look after him. Railroaded into fatherhood, Nick takes in the resentful Billy and shuffles Grandma Evie off to the nearby dementia ward at Prairie View Manor. Things get off to a rocky start: father and son are little more than strangers, and Nick struggles with his new caretaking role while Billy can’t seem to let go of his. Luckily, there is Sarah, a housekeeper in the dementia ward and the single mother of an energetic and offbeat five-year-old. It is Sarah who Nick turns to as a parental role model and maybe something more.
Nick, Sarah, and Billy all carry their own betrayals and disappointments and are used to keeping others at a distance, but during the dog days of summer, they are given a chance to leave past hurts behind and find a new kind of family.
Compassionate and closely observed, Cattail Lane is a moving exploration of forgiveness, second chances, and the everyday moments where we might find our way to one another.
Cattail Lane – Review
This is another book that I could not put down once I started. Cattail Lane is a literary fiction set in a small town in Alberta. The protagonist, Nick, is a middle-aged man. He has recently learned that he has a 14 years old son, Billy, who has lived with his grandmother all these years. Evie is now in a dementia ward. Cattail Lane is the story of Nick and Billy connecting as a family. In its short length, it beautifully shows not just the challenges of getting to know an older child and settling into a new way of life but also the heartbreak of an aging grandparent who often forgets her dear ones.
I loved Billy and Evie from the very start. They have a very tender relationship that Billy continues to honour when Evie moves into the dementia ward. It’s summer and he has nowhere to be except with his grandmother. With encouragement from a staff at the ward, he decides to embark on a project to paint the walls of the old age home and bring more life to the community. Evie is a painter and Billy is quite talented himself. He throws his heart and mind into creating a beautiful space for his grandmother and other old folks there. This project not only ends up being an important way for him to stay close to his grandmother and become a staff favourite at the facility but it also brings him and Nick closer.
Nick has his doubts when he first hears about the wall murals but he quickly learns to support his son in whatever capacity he can. He himself has a knack of taking beautiful photos that end up inspiring Billy’s murals. I loved watching the father-son connection develop, particularly the awe in Nick’s eyes when he saw his son’s art transforming the walls.
Nick had been living an aimless life, weighed down by childhood guilt and when Billy enters his life, he gains new perspective and strength to be better. He lets go of relationships that don’t serve him. He slowly starts to reconnect with his parents. I am a new parent and I have gone through the wonderful ways in which a child connects us to our parents and I loved seeing how this happened for Nick too, even though Billy is no longer a newborn.
Nick and Evie’s relationship was also an interesting one. Though Evie no longer knows Nick, she trusted him enough to take care of his son when time came. Nick ponders why he deserved his second chance. I loved this perspective and liked how a chance to connect with his son gave Nick the courage to forgive himself for the mistakes he made in his youth.
One of the highlights of Cattail Lane is Sarah. She is a cleaner at the facility. She is understanding and encouraging to all people. She’s sunshine. I loved her and felt for her struggles as a single mom. She is relatively new to town and finding childcare for her son while managing long hours at the facility is a challenge for her. I related to this hunt for the best for her son.
Cattail Lane is thoughtful and hopeful, confronting the hard realities of life with tenderness. I recommend this book to fans of literary fiction, readers who enjoy stories about intergenerational bonds, or those who want a heartfelt but not heavy read.
See you tomorrow! Join me in the chat with Fran. 🙂
A book I was reminded of: The Theory of Crows by David A. Robertson
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