DO THE HARD THINGS: The Key to a Fulfilling Life
Garnet Morris’s Do the Hard Things is a personal and practical guide to building a life you can feel good about living. Its central idea is easy to grasp: the choices that help us grow often involve discomfort, and learning to make those choices deliberately can change how we work, love, and care for ourselves. Morris brings decades of business experience and personal reflection to that argument, moving through subjects such as discipline, honesty, resilience, parenting, and aging. What holds everything together is his emphasis on values. He asks readers to get clear about what matters to them, then consider whether their everyday behavior supports it. That gives the book a useful focus and makes its advice feel connected to actual decisions.
I think the strongest parts are where Morris lets his own experience carry the discussion. He writes candidly about mistakes, difficult emotions, and the work of understanding himself, which gives his voice the familiarity of a mentor speaking across a table. There’s confidence in his delivery, but there’s also a willingness to acknowledge how much he’s learned from other people. His attention to coaching, counseling, and honest conversation adds warmth to a book with a demanding title. I especially appreciated the space he gives to recovery and respecting limits. Within his philosophy, strength includes knowing when to rest, ask for help, or change course. The chapters on relationships bring that same care to listening, boundaries, and presence, showing how personal growth affects the people closest to us.
The structure makes the book easy to use. Short sections, clear headings, and questions at the end of every chapter give readers plenty of places to pause and examine their own habits. You could spend a few days with a single chapter and have something concrete to work on. Morris draws from psychology, business writing, philosophy, and several spiritual traditions, giving his ideas a broad range of reference points. Those discussions are brief and accessible, though some would benefit from more detail. The prose also relies heavily on repeated phrases, emphatic statements, and lists. That repetition reinforces the message, but it can make consecutive chapters feel familiar, especially when the same personal examples return. I found the book most engaging when a specific experience or thoughtful question gave its larger claims more texture.
I recommend Do the Hard Things to entrepreneurs, leaders, and readers in midlife who are reconsidering what success should look like. People who’ve achieved professional goals and still feel restless will likely recognize the questions Morris keeps asking about health, relationships, integrity, and contribution. Readers navigating a transition may also appreciate his view that reinvention is something we can keep practicing as we age. His voice will suit anyone who enjoys direct encouragement and is willing to stop reading long enough to write an honest answer to an uncomfortable question. The book’s appeal comes from that combination of personal candor and practical reflection. It leaves you with useful ways to examine the choices you’re making now and the kind of person those choices are helping you become.
Pages: 293 | ASIN : B0H3WPM4JH
The Hedgehog and the Worm – An Unlikely Fable about creating the quiet courage to live without regret
Christopher Ancona’s The Hedgehog and the Worm is a thoughtful blend of inspirational fiction, philosophical storytelling, and personal development. At the center of this uplifting animal fable is Herb, a hardworking hedgehog who spends his days worrying about survival, providing for his family, and dealing with a world that rarely seems to cooperate. He’s convinced that his circumstances are responsible for his unhappiness, and he has plenty of reasons to believe it. Between finding enough food, navigating family responsibilities, and contending with an especially unpleasant fellow hedgehog named Frank, Herb has little energy left to enjoy his life. Everything begins to shift when he encounters Patrick, an elderly worm with an unusual outlook and an impressive collection of wisdom. Their unlikely friendship becomes the foundation for a story about discovering what it means to live with intention.
One of the most engaging aspects of The Hedgehog and the Worm is the relationship between Herb and Patrick. Herb is stubborn, quick-tempered, and wonderfully skeptical of the idea that a worm could teach him anything worthwhile. Patrick, meanwhile, approaches Herb’s frustrations with patience, humor, and questions that challenge the hedgehog’s assumptions. Their conversations give this self-help fable much of its personality, especially when Herb struggles to understand ideas that sound simple but prove surprisingly difficult to practice. Ancona uses their exchanges to explore the difference between allowing circumstances to determine who we become and consciously choosing how we want to show up in life. The book’s Have-Do-Be and Be-Do-Have concepts provide a particularly memorable framework for examining that distinction. There’s something genuinely entertaining about watching a creature who normally considers worms a convenient lunch gradually recognize the value of listening to one.
Beyond its philosophical lessons, this motivational fiction explores recognizable struggles involving marriage, parenting, resentment, disappointment, and the desire to feel that our efforts matter. Herb’s relationships with Mara, his children, and the other forest animals give the story an emotional grounding that makes its larger ideas relatable. His experiences reveal how easily good intentions can become tangled in fear, frustration, and expectations. Ancona also introduces practical concepts involving emotional triggers, personal responsibility, and the search for purpose, eventually developing a framework called SPICY for thinking about a meaningful life. The lessons are presented through extended conversations, giving the book a deliberate, teaching-oriented rhythm. The black-and-white illustrations add charm to the woodland setting and help establish the characters as more than simple vehicles for life advice.
I think what makes The Hedgehog and the Worm especially appealing as inspirational fiction is its attention to the everyday choices that shape a person’s experience of life. Ancona connects personal growth with relationships, community, and the kind of legacy someone hopes to leave behind. The story recognizes that knowing what matters and consistently living according to those values are two different challenges. Herb’s journey gives readers opportunities to examine their own reactions, priorities, and definitions of success without requiring them to share every conclusion he reaches. There’s warmth in the book’s humor, sincerity in its treatment of emotional pain, and an inviting sense of possibility in its exploration of change. Readers who enjoy philosophical fables, personal growth fiction, and character-driven stories with practical life lessons will find plenty to reflect on here. The Hedgehog and the Worm leaves readers with a worthwhile question to carry into their own lives: What kind of person do you want to be, and what are you doing today to become that person?
Pages: 262 | ASIN : B0HK8N3P22
New Days
Roy Klabin’s New Days is a moving and imaginative collection of ten interconnected-by-theme stories that capture the restless spirit of New York City across more than a thousand years. Beginning in 1036, long before Manhattan became the crowded metropolis we recognize today, and reaching into an imagined future in 2056, Klabin takes readers on a journey through a city that’s constantly reinventing itself. Each story introduces new characters facing moments of uncertainty, ambition, loss, or discovery, with New York serving as the enduring presence that connects their experiences. It’s an inspired approach to storytelling, giving the city a personality shaped by the countless people who’ve called it home. From untouched forests and colonial settlements to revolutionary battlefields, immigrant neighborhoods, and modern streets, New Days explores how a place can change almost beyond recognition while retaining something unmistakable about its character.
One of the collection’s greatest strengths is its ability to make sweeping historical transformations feel deeply personal. Klabin brings readers close to people whose private struggles reflect the larger forces reshaping their world. An ambitious young man searching for belonging in nineteenth-century Five Points, an inventor confronting the harsh realities of industrial progress, and two unlikely confidants navigating the political tensions of the Cold War all offer distinct windows into the human experience. Their circumstances differ enormously, yet their hopes and fears feel familiar. Klabin understands that history is experienced through individual lives, through friendships, difficult decisions, family obligations, and the longing to make something meaningful of the time we’re given. His characters are often caught between the comfort of what they know and the possibilities of what lies ahead, making their stories engaging even when the historical setting is far removed from our own.
There’s also a wonderful visual quality to Klabin’s writing. Forests breathe, rivers carry memories, and city streets pulse with the energy of generations. His descriptions are rich with sensory details, allowing readers to experience New York through its changing sounds, smells, architecture, and atmosphere. The atmospheric black-and-white illustrations accompanying the stories add another dimension, reinforcing the sense of moving through a living historical album. Klabin’s writing frequently turns philosophical, especially when his characters grapple with identity, loyalty, progress, and the meaning of home. Some passages linger deliberately over these ideas, inviting readers to consider how personal convictions are tested by changing circumstances. There’s a compassionate curiosity running throughout the collection, particularly in the way Klabin explores opposing perspectives. People act from competing beliefs, imperfect understanding, and deeply human desires, and their encounters reveal how much can change when someone makes the effort to truly see another person’s world.
What makes New Days especially resonant is its understanding of New York as both a physical place and an emotional inheritance. The city offers opportunities, demands sacrifices, creates unlikely connections, and leaves its imprint on people long after they’ve moved on. Klabin’s affection for New York is unmistakable, but it’s an affection that embraces the city’s contradictions, its extraordinary beauty, its painful history, its chaos, and its endless appetite for reinvention. The collection’s movement from the distant past into a speculative future gives its central questions added significance: What do we carry forward? What deserves to be preserved? And how do we find hope when the world around us changes? These questions give the stories a shared emotional foundation and make the book feel especially relevant to anyone who’s ever watched a familiar place evolve or wondered where they truly belong. Thoughtful, evocative, and filled with affection for the people who give a city its soul, New Days is a memorable meditation on change, resilience, and human connection. In New Days, Roy Klabin reminds us that New York’s greatest landmarks aren’t its buildings, but the lives, dreams, and memories of the people who make it home.
Pages: 115 | ASIN : B0HHTF3S2M
The Reckoning Wind
Gregory De Sylva’s The Reckoning Wind is an ambitious and unusual novel that brings together extreme weather, Native American history, spiritual mystery, and political intrigue. Set in 2047, the story opens in Oklahoma, where a team of storm chasers encounters a terrifying tornado during an unprecedented outbreak of destructive storms across the United States. Atmospheric scientist Janis Jansen, graduate student Shane Cheney, and their rough-edged driver Mort Taylor are trying to understand what’s causing the increasingly violent weather. When Shane discovers a mysterious Native American amulet in the aftermath of a tornado, their scientific investigation takes an unexpected turn. The artifact leads them into the rugged canyon country of Utah, where they meet Takoda Parsons, an Arapaho spiritual practitioner whose understanding of nature challenges everything Janis believes about the physical world. What begins as a weather mystery gradually becomes a much larger story about historical injustice, the consequences of broken promises, and the possibility of healing wounds that have remained open for generations.
I liked the way De Sylva makes the natural world feel both magnificent and dangerous. His descriptions of tornadoes, desert canyons, flash floods, and mountain wilderness are remarkably detailed, often giving readers the sensation of standing alongside the characters. There’s genuine tension in the storm-chasing sequences, particularly when scientific knowledge and sophisticated equipment prove insufficient against nature’s power. De Sylva clearly enjoys the technical side of his subject, and that enthusiasm comes through in his explanations of meteorology, geography, and survival. The novel also has a strong sense of adventure, with remote landscapes, hidden places, unexpected discoveries, and encounters that test the characters’ courage. Janis is especially interesting because her scientific skepticism gives the story an important counterpoint to Takoda’s spiritual convictions. Their evolving relationship adds an emotional dimension to a narrative filled with physical danger and larger social questions.
Readers familiar with Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park will recognize something appealing in De Sylva’s approach. Both authors build suspense around scientific investigation while exploring what happens when human beings encounter forces beyond their ability to predict or control. Like Crichton, De Sylva enjoys explaining how things work, and he uses technical detail to make extraordinary situations feel plausible. But The Reckoning Wind takes that scientific-adventure framework in a distinctly spiritual and historical direction. Its central mystery connects contemporary catastrophe with the treatment of Native Americans, especially the massacres, dispossession, and broken treaties that remain part of the nation’s legacy. De Sylva weaves these concerns into conversations, political debates, supernatural experiences, and personal relationships. At times, the extensive historical explanations and technical discussions slow the pace, and some exchanges feel designed to communicate information more than reveal character. Still, the book’s combination of scientific curiosity, moral conviction, and supernatural suspense gives it a distinctive personality.
De Sylva approaches Native American history with evident compassion and a desire to bring greater attention to suffering that deserves continued recognition. The novel’s spiritual elements, especially its portrayal of the relationship between human actions and the natural world, encourage readers to consider how different traditions understand justice, balance, and accountability. There’s also considerable warmth in the story’s portrayal of loyalty, sacrifice, and the bonds that develop between people facing extraordinary circumstances. Some readers will be drawn primarily to the dangerous weather and outdoor adventure, while others will connect more deeply with its historical themes and philosophical questions. The book rewards readers who enjoy a substantial, idea-driven narrative and don’t mind spending time with its scientific and historical detail. With its mixture of thriller, speculative fiction, romance, and social commentary, The Reckoning Wind offers an imaginative story that invites readers to think about the past, our relationship with nature, and the responsibilities we carry into the future.
Pages 334 | ASIN : B0HH1RD1KH
My Heritage, My Pride
My Heritage, My Pride by Manmohan Sadana is a thoughtful and personal collection of spiritual poetry, cultural essays, historical reflections, and short fiction celebrating India’s extraordinary religious and literary heritage. Drawing from Hindu mythology, Sikh history, Sufi mysticism, and centuries of philosophical thought, Sadana explores the beliefs and traditions that have shaped generations. The book moves comfortably between ancient scriptures and contemporary life, examining how timeless teachings can still guide our understanding of leadership, relationships, compassion, and personal responsibility. Its combination of Indian spiritual literature, mythology, and cultural heritage makes for an engaging exploration of faith and identity. Throughout the collection, Sadana’s admiration for his cultural roots is unmistakable, and his enthusiasm encourages readers to consider how inherited wisdom continues to influence everyday decisions. There’s a genuine sense of affection running through these pages, giving the book the warmth of someone sharing stories and ideas that have held special meaning throughout his life.
Essays about Guru Nanak’s companion Bhai Mardana, the mystical poetry of Bulleh Shah, and the spiritual traditions of Kashmir offer fascinating perspectives on devotion, equality, and religious harmony. His discussion of Christian carols, Sikh Shabad Kirtan, and Sufi ghazals is particularly interesting, showing how music creates emotional connections across different faiths. Hindu mythology also occupies a central place, with explorations of Lord Rama, Lord Jagannath, Goddess Siddhidatri, and the philosophical significance of Shiva’s Tandav. Sadana often connects these traditions to modern concerns, including ethical leadership, environmental responsibility, and social justice. His reflections on lessons from the Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita in corporate settings are an especially distinctive touch. These connections give the book a practical dimension, inviting readers to recognize the continuing relevance of ancient Indian philosophy in today’s world.
Sadana’s spiritual poetry frequently uses vivid natural imagery, rhythmic language, and an almost prayerful sense of wonder. Pieces such as “Baba Buddha,” “The 13th Spiral,” and “When the Preserver Walked Through Time” revisit familiar spiritual and mythological figures through questions of courage, duty, mortality, and moral choice. His portrayals of characters from the Mahabharata, including Duryodhan, Yuyutsu, Urvi, and Hidimbi, encourage readers to consider different emotional and ethical perspectives within these enduring narratives. The collection also includes intimate writing about family, love, and belonging. “Welcome Rachel Bani” is especially tender, celebrating a newborn child while reflecting on the inheritance of traditions across generations and continents. Meanwhile, the story “Sargi” brings cultural customs into the intimate world of marriage and companionship. Sadana’s style is expressive and earnest, sometimes richly embellished, with recurring images of light, rivers, flowers, and sacred music creating a recognizable poetic voice.
What makes My Heritage, My Pride memorable is its consistent belief that cultural heritage becomes meaningful through the values people carry into their lives. Across its spiritual essays, historical discussions, mythology-inspired poetry, and contemporary storytelling, Sadana returns to compassion, humility, integrity, and the importance of respecting different religious traditions. His treatment of Sikhism, Hindu philosophy, and Sufi spirituality reveals a sincere interest in the common human desire for understanding and connection. Readers interested in Indian mythology books, South Asian cultural history, spiritual poetry collections, and religious philosophy will find plenty to appreciate here. The book’s wide-ranging structure also makes it suitable for reading a chapter at a time, allowing individual subjects and reflections to settle before moving to the next. Above all, Sadana’s collection feels like an invitation to celebrate where we come from, reflect on what our traditions teach us, and discover how the wisdom of earlier generations can remain a living part of the present.
Pages: 256 | ASIN : B0HJJL9YKT
He Was a Gentleman
Hunting the Red Fox is part historical adventure, part crime caper, and part love story about a man who eventually discovers that growing up may require something harder than escaping danger. Did Perry begin as a single idea, or did his many identities as a soldier, golfer, thief, and storyteller develop gradually?
I decided early on that I wanted the story to revolve around a fictional character during the 1950’s who was first and foremost a gentleman in the traditional, grandest manner in which that term used to exist. I also wanted him at his core to be one of the “strong, silent types” as they used to be called. I wanted a guy who was recognized by others as a “man’s man” and “ladies’ man,” in a non-piggish sort of way, without a hint of ego or self-promotion. Above all, Perry had to be likeable.
Also, I wanted in the character of Perry someone who was very good or above average at virtually everything he did without being the best at anything. At the same time, I didn’t want everything he did to necessarily be good. I wanted him fundamentally to be principled and seek to do the good and right thing even if that was not technically the legal course of action. In other words, I wanted the internal struggle between the moral or right thing to do and the legal thing to do. The last thing I wanted Perry to be was someone who was flawless. Quite the contrary as it turns out.
Lastly, I wanted a character who seemed by circumstances mostly out of his control to plausibly meet the most bewildering array of real folks or pop up in the oddest of places throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s.
That is the broad concept I had of Perry Barnes the man in my mind before I wrote a word. The rest of what Perry was to become was a mystery to me at the onset and yet to be determined. It was my feeling that if I just started to type my imagination would take over my fingers and Perry was going to naturally develop, change and morph as he aged and matured, just like the rest of us.
There was never a grand storyline sketched out in advance before I began writing. My brain doesn’t really work that way. The characters, story, relationships, timeline, etc. just pop into my head as I type. It’s not really a conscious thing with me. The process is really quite simple. I sit down at a computer and merely attempt to type as fast as I can in an attempt to describe the movie that is playing in my mind. My fingers often have a difficult time keeping up with what I see in my head in picture form.
Perry often tries to justify his thefts by telling himself he is helping people. What does that reveal about his moral compass?
I would proffer that his moral compass is not any different than most of us. It’s just a matter of degrees as to how far each of us is willing to go before we cross a line too far. For example, I would posit that virtually all of us have, at one time or more in our lives lied to someone (which occurs on a daily basis even if it’s only “a little white lie”), took something of value that wasn’t ours, drank when we were underage, exceeded the speed limit (frequently for some), taken an illicit drug, moved a resting golf ball against the rules, participated in the illegal sex trade, beat, bludgeon, shoot, knife or worse someone who is attacking a loved one, watched pornography, committed adultery or worst of all, became a politician.
I would further say that some seemingly good folks are guilty of doing more than one of the things listed above at the same time. In the case of the politician the numbers can get a little staggering.
I’m not condoning Perry robbing a few folks’ ala Robinhood style of jewelry so he could justifiably (as he saw it) provide compensation to someone else’s employees who he reasoned had been very wronged. I leave it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions based on their own moral compass.
What attracted you to setting Perry’s adventures across so many different periods of twentieth-century history?
Perspective is an interesting phenomenon. Your question suggests that there are a lot of different time periods in Hunting the Red Fox and I would suggest there were just enough, as there would be for any 82 year who has led an eventful life.
Aside from that I think the answer is fairly simple. The story demanded it. The four relevant time periods in the novel and the reasons for each are as follows:
- Current day – 82-year-old Perry is recalling his life with would be writer Roger Mace.
- 1930’s and early 1940’s mostly – This was entirely to disclose information about Perry’s childhood and to provide background information and explain how Perry was forced to grow up so fast
- The 1940’s and World War II – I wanted Perry to be a minor jewel thief for the reasons already stated. The only place I could think of where someone could be taught a variety of unusual, disagreeable and downright illegal skills in abundance such as sabotage, espionage, silent killing, safe cracking, lock picking and, because it was useful, how to steal anything was to put Perry back into a WWII Special Operations Unit.
- The 1950’s – Most of the story takes place in this decade. The reason for the 1950’s was simple and threefold. First, the 1950’s is generally thought by many to this day as a “Golden Age” of post-war economic boom, family values, simpler times, great cars and the birth of rock and roll.
Second, Perry needed to acquire a vast number of high level and diverse skills mentioned above in order to become a uniquely capable jewel thief. The best place I could think of to place him in order to obtain those skills was as a trained World War II clandestine saboteur. The 1950’s was close enough to WWII to be a plausible training ground.
Perry became a touring golf professional during the 50’s which still has a nostalgic patina associated with it. This is not a book about golf, per se. Golf, touring professional golf in this case, is the vehicle which makes most of the events and chance meetings between Perry and all the other characters, real and/or fictional, plausible. Most of the people Perry meets and exotic parties and places he attends happen because he is a touring professional. There is only a smattering of detail with respect to the actual golf played by Perry.
After all the war stories, diamonds, famous names, and close calls, what do you see as the real heart of Hunting the Red Fox?
At the core, Hunting the Red Fox is a feel-good novel that the book reviewers have noted for its masterful storytelling along with vibrant dialogue, clever, witty, often irreverent humor, and pacing of the narrative, which provide marvelous vignettes of redemption, situational intrigue, steamy romance, and honest decency throughout.
After conversations with many people who have read the novel, I have come to find that once someone sits down with a copy it not long before the reader is put in a frame of mind to grab a cocktail, sit a spell in a favorite over-sized armchair and eagerly anticipate turning the next page with a hopeful delight as to what may be coming while slightly regretting the page they just left behind.
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All the while he is befriended by the most bewildering array of characters, some real, some not, who add marvelous vignettes of clever humor, situational intrigue, and steamy romance as he earnestly pursues the one goal he covets most: finding true love, martial companionship and family.
Enjoying the Process
Staring at a Blank Page: 30 Days of Poetry and Other Musings transforms teaching, family, faith, failure, friendship, and ordinary moments into a reflective collection that invites readers to discover their own reasons to write. How did committing to daily writing change your relationship with creativity?
My relationship with creativity changed in that I realized I didn’t have to wait on that period when I was in the flow to begin writing.
When I wrote my first poetry book, I would usually write when I ‘got the inspiration’. Having a full – time job and many commitments, I needed a more sustainable way to nurture my creativity. I found it in this thirty-day challenge.
The challenge gave me the discipline, and within the discipline, I would consciously schedule writing time. Having a system I could fall back on made me comfortable enough to start experimenting with themes, form, and style.
Many of the pieces begin with seemingly ordinary experiences. What helps you recognize when an everyday moment contains the seed of a poem?
Throughout the challenge, I made sure to keep a mental record of any interesting thing that happened during the day. I also wanted to enjoy the process, so I thought of fun, quirky, or animated moments, something someone said, or how I felt during a particular situation. At the end of the day, when I sat down to write, I tried to capture those feelings and emotions.
Your work frequently considers how people see themselves and how others see them. Why is identity an important theme for you?
Living and working in another culture brings identity to the fore. My identity is questioned or is in question daily. I am always amazed at how quickly we form an opinion of someone’s identity based on a few outward features. As a writer, it is a dynamic topic that lends itself to deeper exploration. It’s like peeling the layers off an onion one layer at a time.
How would you recommend readers experience the collection: straight through, one entry each day, or simply opening it when they need reflection or inspiration?
It can be experienced in both ways.
If the reader is interested in developing a daily creative and journaling practice, then making the commitment to reading and answering the daily prompts will inspire more writing/Journaling. It is a cathartic process that deserves becoming a daily habit.
The second way of just opening it when they need reflection or inspiration also works, especially for busy moms, teachers, entrepreneurs, or anyone needing a new perspective or energy boost on the go.
It is suitable for both morning and night meditation. Great insights can be gained if the reader is looking to engage with life’s simple moments and garner an even deeper connection within themselves.
Author Links: Instagram | Facebook – Author | Facebook – Poetry | Substack | Linkt.ree | Linkedin | Website
Through evocative poetry and insightful musings, Thompson explores the rich tapestry of daily life and the deeper truths it reveals. From the challenge of overcoming procrastination to the wisdom found in a simple smile, the collection invites readers to explore themes of change, identity, connection, and resilience. This book is a testament to the fertile ground of the human mind and the transformative power of daily reflection and creative expression.
Ada, Old and New: A Brother-Sister Tale
Madeleine Van Hecke’s Ada, Old and New gets much of its energy from a familiar family problem: knowing someone so well that you stop being curious about them. Ada, a widowed, retired math teacher in her seventies, has spent decades working for social justice and looking out for her younger brother, Tim. He’s charming, hopeful, financially strapped, and convinced there’s still a great romance waiting for him. She’s quick to spot danger and quicker to offer advice. Set during the first months of 2020, the novel brings their long-established habits into a world changing by the day. It’s an absorbing portrait of how love, worry, and resentment can occupy the same room.
Van Hecke is especially good at showing how those feelings live in ordinary things. An unfinished chess game, a familiar television comedy, a scarf chosen by someone you love: these details carry the history that the characters struggle to put into words. Ada’s grief for her husband, Luc, has a physical presence, expressed through clothing, touch, and the garden they tended together. Her conversations with her daughter, Sonja, have the uncomfortable accuracy of family arguments in which everyone remembers a different version of the same afternoon. Tim brings humor and tenderness, along with an exhausting talent for making his problems someone else’s responsibility. You can feel Ada’s frustration and still wince at what she says. That shifting sympathy is one of the book’s strongest qualities.
Ada brought to mind the central character in Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, another retired teacher whose sharp judgments coexist with vulnerability and a hunger for connection. Both writers understand how a person can be perceptive about other people and painfully confused about herself. Van Hecke gives that tension a particularly public dimension through Ada’s activism and her relationships with Black friends and colleagues. Her friendship with Nora is especially interesting because it involves affection, unequal experiences, and the hard work of listening. Ada’s confidence in her good intentions repeatedly meets other people’s need to speak for themselves. Those encounters make the novel’s questions about dignity and respect feel immediate. They also connect her political convictions with the way she behaves at home.
The book’s style is direct and conversational, with dialogue doing much of the emotional work. Some arguments circle back over familiar ground, and a few exchanges explain their ideas so fully that you can feel the scene slowing down. The repetition also captures something recognizable about families: people keep pressing the same sore spot because they’re still hoping for a different response. The pandemic setting intensifies that pattern, bringing fears about health, dependence, and isolation into everyday decisions. I found the novel most compelling when a small gesture exposed the need underneath someone’s certainty. Its attention to older adults’ desire, pride, and longing gives the characters lives that feel full and ongoing. Ada, Old and New offers plenty for readers who enjoy discussing difficult characters, especially the question of how we care for someone while allowing them a life of their own.
Pages: 258
