“Silver Alert,” Lee Smith. Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2023.
Content Warning: dementia, cancer, child trafficking and death.
I love Lee Smith’s writing – it is very Southern, in that on the surface, it seems happy and lighthearted, but beneath the surface lies deep waters. Being a Southerner, her writing invokes the smell of salty breezes, the feel of humid air surrounding you, and the warmth of the sun beating down as you drive through the Keys in a convertible.
Herb Atlas is old and crotchety sometimes, but he’s mourning his third wife, who has early-onset dementia, and he’s been sick for a while, and he is tired of his kids telling him he can no longer care for his wife when they’re doing just fine, thank you very much. He just hired a young woman to give his wife Susan a manicure and pedicure, and surprisingly, she knows just what to do to keep Susan calm and happy. His family wants to send him and Susan to a retirement community with a memory care center, but Herb wants to stay at home for as long as possible. His new friend, the manicurist, might just make that possible for a little while longer.
His family is complicated, with three wives and stepchildren and their spouses. He doesn’t differentiate between those kids that are biologically his and those he got through marriage; he loves them all (but perhaps not always their spouses). He’s closest in some ways to Ricky, who belongs to his second wife, Gloria, and it’s Ricky he trusts to drive him to the doctor when he notices blood in his urine.
The manicurist, Dee Dee, is using a fake name (Renee Martin) because she is on the run. She hasn’t had an easy life; she got involved with some bad people, and committed a crime. She recently left a treatment center with her best friend Tamika, and now they’re living in a pink trailer in Key West, Florida. Dee Dee has a heart of gold, and is a little naive. She’s dating Willie, who is on a break from graduate school and lives in the Tree House. Dee Dee has started to believe in herself and wants to leave her past behind, but it’s hard to do when your roommate is falling back into the life you’re trying to leave. Tamika has fallen back into bad habits, and is dating a not-so-great man, but Dee and Tamika still dream of going to Disney World one day and meeting the princesses.
The narration of the book changes between Dee Dee and Herb, who both have really unique voices. This is a short book, but it carries great emotional weight. You can’t help but love Herb and Dee Dee, but I also commiserate with Herb’s family, who really just want the best for him. This is a book that might require a few Kleenexes, but will leave you feeling hopeful (and ready for a convertible ride in the Keys!).
Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.