In a Nutshell: Strong mixed feelings. Loved some parts. Disliked some other parts.

Story:
Barbara, a single mom to teenaged Sally, has dedicated her life taking care of home and family. She is underconfident about her strengths but is a whiz with organising and planning. Their mother Dolly has recently been admitted in a nursing home as she is in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Here, Barbara meets Jack, an older man whose wife Helen is at an even later stage of AD. Soon a bond develops between Barbara and Jack. But will their circumstances allow them to take their relationship ahead?
The story comes to us from the first person perspective of Barbara, and third person narratives from the points of view of Jack, Sally and Jack’s grandson Scott.

Where the story clicked for me:
💖 The portrayal of AD and dementia, and the devastation they cause on a person was traumatic and brilliantly portrayed. Helen's struggles made me really emotional. I could feel her sense of helplessness as she struggled with her failing memory. This was the best part of the book. The author’s note at the end says that she based this on her own experiences with her mother. No wonder it seemed so authentic! AD is a horrid disease not just for the sufferer but also for the caregivers, and the author covers both their struggles perfectly.
💖 All the characters are portrayed with layered emotions rather than being predictably 2D. This adds to the appeal of the story, more so as it is a character-oriented book. No one is portrayed as being completely good or bad so every person comes across as realistic.
💖 A few of the subplots feel like they will go along the predictable route but they don’t. Can’t reveal more without spoilers, but I just want to acknowledge this as a strong positive for me. The story kept me hooked through its ups and downs, and even managed to throw in a couple of surprises my way.
💖 It’s a pretty quick read despite its length of almost 380 pages.
💖 It seems that this was originally a play by the same author. But nowhere would you feel that something has been lost in transition. The story feels as if it was written in novel form. Well done on the conversion between these two distinct formats!

Where the story didn’t work for me:
💔 I didn’t expect such a great part of the story to be dedicated to the romance between Barbara and Jack. It would have been great as a subplot, but it didn’t work for me as the main focus point of the second half.
💔 Barbara is 51. Jack is 72. If they want to have a relationship, I’ll keep aside my scepticism and try my best to understand and accept it despite the huge age gap. But I didn’t really like this romantic direction being taken while Jack’s wife was still alive; it went against the rest of his character portrayal, though the book does become strongly defensive about it. What I also don’t want to hear about is constant allusions to Jack’s physical appearance: his youngish looks, his springy chest hair, his firm buttocks,… Gotta confess, it was cringeworthy to read! (My shortcoming, not the book’s.) Plus, it felt like the author was trying to justify too hard why Barbara fell for Jack. (Book’s shortcoming, not mine.)
💔 Nowhere is the story connected to politics. Yet there are more than a few references to the US presidential elections, positive references to Obama and Hilary Clinton and many terse remarks about Trump’s win. I didn’t understand why these needed to be included in this story, except to promote personal political beliefs. They were unnecessary and distracting, regardless of how accurate they were.
💔 There’s a constant switching between first person and third person, and within Jack's chapters, between the past and the present. Nowhere are there clues about which character narrative or what timeframe is going on. This makes the reading experience a bit taxing.

For a debut novel, the story is still impressive and bold. The chinks in the plot are mostly minor and will get ironed out with more writing experience. If you want a genuine portrayal of Alzheimer’s and dementia, do give this a try.

3.5 stars from me, rounding up to 4 mainly for the genuine portrayal of the heartbreaks wreaked by Alzheimer’s on patients and their families.

One line from the book that will stay with me for long: "Which would be the lesser of two evils - an intact body with a failing mind or an intact mind with a failing body?" That’s such a tough one to answer. 😕


My thanks to DartFrog Books and NetGalley for the ARC of “Stage Seven”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Stage Seven is a heartbreaking book about Alzheimer’s and its devastating effects, not only on the individual, but on the the loved ones left to pick up the pieces.

In this story we meet divorced mom, Barbara Gordon. A type A personality, Barbara has always found comfort in order and predictability, resulting in the creation of a lot of organized lists. But list making is one of the few things that Barbara feels any control over after her mom’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. With her workaholic sister often out of reach, the day to day care of their mom falls squarely on Barbara’s overstressed shoulders.

As we are getting to know Barbara we are introduced to Jack, the overwhelmed husband of a different Alzheimer’s patient in the home they now both reside. Although Jack is considerably older than Barbara, the two find themselves bonding over their mutual feelings of loss. Before they know it, each finds their feelings for the other blossoming into more. But can finding love again be the answer when everything else has been lost?

Stage Seven is a term for late stage Alzheimer’s that I was not aware of before reading this book, despite knowing second hand about the diseases crippling consequences. Not an easy topic to explore, first time author, Ruth Stevens manages to do so respectfully. While parts of this story were hard to read, I just kept reminding myself how much harder they must be to live.

Despite its heavy subject matter, Stage Seven is a well rounded tale with other interesting characters to explore including Barbara’s daughter and sister as well as Jack’s grandson.

All in all, Stage Seven is a poignant debut about forgetting that readers will be likely to remember long after its last page.

Barbara is a single mother who is caring for her own mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. The latter lives in a specialised institution for people with the disease. It is here that Barbara meets Jack, a man who cares for his wife who is on stage seven of the disease, the last stage before the inevitable. A relationship quickly develops between these two people who are linked by the fact that they are caring for a sick relative.

My opinion of this book is rather mixed. At first, I liked the idea. I know from experience that caring for a sick relative is difficult and it often seems that the only people who can understand us are those who are in the same situation as you are. As a result, I was not shocked by the love affair between Barbara and Jack, even though he is still married to his wife. For me it was not a form of adultery, his wife was already ‘gone’. So, from that point of view, I found the book interesting.

However, there were also moments that made me cringe. In particular, those about weight that were completely unnecessary to the story (if such comments are necessary at all). I also found it hard to get attached to the characters. Honestly, if I could have, I would have thrown Barbara’s sister out the window (and I live on the sixth floor). I also had trouble with the constant shifting of viewpoints. You go from ‘I’ with Barbara to the third person following way too many characters. This confused me more than anything else and, as a result, this book was not a smooth read for me.

I will give it an average of 2.5/5.

Thanks to NetGalley, DartFrog Books and Ruth F. Stevens for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book, which tells the profound and moving story of Barbara, caring for her mother Dolly who is living with Alzheimer's. The relationships between the central characters are so richly portrayed that I felt like I got to know them all well (and finishing the book was difficult, because I would have read on, happily). The ethics of romantic relationships involving a person whose spouse has advanced Alzheimer's are handled sensitively, and with great compassion.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stage Seven is the final stage of Alzheimer’s and it is what Dolly Gordon is facing. She lives in the memory care unit of Tropical Gardens Assisted Living and is visited daily by Barbara, her daughter. This is Barbara’s story.

Barbara is a card carrying member of the sandwich generation. She must balance her mother’s care with the needs of her 16 year old (going on 25) daughter and gets no help from her self-centered older sister. Compulsively organized charts, spreadsheets and lists help manage her anxiety but she still worries about everyone but herself. Then she meets Jack, another constant visitor to Tropical Gardens, who visits his wife daily. Barbara and Jack move slowly forward with their friendship but Barbara has to learn to let go of her worries and fears.

Stage Seven, beautifully written, tells the story of two vibrant, life loving women as they slide slowly into Alzheimer’s. Barbara and Jack are left with their memories and the “long goodbye” but they also want and need a future. This is an informative, moving story. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, DartFrog Books and Ruth F. Stevens for this ARC.