Let me tell you a story, about a man I knew, and a man I know...
Mr Baxter is ninety-four years old when he falls down his staircase and grudgingly finds himself resident at Melrose Gardens Retirement Home.
Baxter is many things - raconteur, retired music teacher, rabble-rouser, bon viveur - but 'good patient' he is not. He had every intention of living his twilight years with wine, music and revelry; not tea, telly and Tramadol. Indeed, Melrose Gardens is his worst nightmare - until he meets Gregory.
At only nineteen years of age, Greg has suffered a loss so heavy that he is in danger of giving up on life before he even gets going.
Determined to save the boy, Baxter decides to enlist his help on a mission to pay tribute to his long-lost love, Thomas: the man with whom he found true happiness; the man he waved off to fight in a senseless war; the man who never returned. The best man he ever knew.
With Gregory in tow Baxter sets out on a spirited escape from Melrose, bound for the war graves of Northern France. As Baxter shares his memories, the boy starts to see that life need not be a matter of mere endurance; that the world is huge and beautiful; that kindness is strength; and that the only way to honour the dead, is to live.
Baxter's Requiem is a glorious celebration of life, love and seizing every last second we have while we're here.
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['I'm afraid it's not good news, Mr Baxter, the doctor said as Baxter sat on the edge of his bed, polishing his glasses] ***(Corsair, 6 September 2018, ebook, 256 pages, copy from publisher via NetGalley voluntarily reviewed)
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This is my first time reading the author.
I really enjoyed Baxter's Requiem. This is a lovely story about an unexpected friendship that blossoms between an old man nearing the end of his life and a young man with his whole life ahead of him. This book reminds me of the work of Rachel Joyce. The odd companions are brought together because they have suffered the painful loss of someone who died before their time. I thought Baxter was a great character, a lovely man who just wants to help. Greg is traumatised and grieving because his younger brother committed suicide and Baxter, perhaps seeing some of himself in the young man reaches out to him. I loved the way Greg develops across the book. Baxter's Requiem is a heart-warming, touching and very moving book. The story is simple but it's much more than the sum of it's parts. I was completely invested in the characters.
