By Mac Daniel
In her debut novel, author Jo Owens brings her experiences as a nursing home aide to a story marked by empathy and humanity.
Jo Owens’ new novel, A Funny Kind of Paradise, received rave reviews from the Vancouver Sun when it was released in April 2021.
“Owens … captures the skill and tenderness of caring for someone at the end of life in direct and unvarnished prose,” wrote reviewer Michelle Cyca. “Each [care aide] … is richly drawn and complex … [and the novel] serves to illuminate a vital profession that has been rarely documented in fiction.”
Len Fishman, head of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Gerontology Institute, interviewed Owens recently about her novel and her 20-year career as a care aide in Victoria, British Columbia. The full interview can be found on the Gerontology Institute’s Blog.
The novel’s main character is Francesca, a strong, independent woman who raised two children on her own and saw aging as something to be avoided. In the novel, however, life has caught up with Franny. In her late 60s, a stroke has left her unable to move, walk, talk, or eat, but Franny’s cognition is completely intact. Her silent narration and observation drive the novel.
“She recalls a time when she accompanied her son’s class to a nursing home around Christmas time,” Fishman says in the interview. “When they leave, she tells him, ‘I’d rather be dead than have to live in a place like that.’ Later she thinks, ‘I changed my mind when I came here.’ What changed?”
Owens’ response:
“First of all, I think that the will to live is extremely strong. We think that we can’t tolerate this, but it’s amazing what humans can get used to and even learn to embrace. Partly, that’s what’s going on, but also Franny was fortunate to end up in a good facility where she has loving care and she’s still engaged in life. She enjoys watching the care aides that work around her and gossip freely in front her because Franny can’t repeat what she’s hearing. She thinks about her children and she’s still engaged with her son who comes to see her. There’s enough in her life to make her life meaningful. This is my experience at work.
“When suffering becomes acute, residents do say they’d rather die. And we do hear that. But generally speaking, I find that people want to live. And they continue to want to live. Much longer than we’d think.”
HEAR MORE FROM JO OWENS
Read Len Fishman’s full interview with Jo Owens on the Gerontology Institute Blog.
You can also listen to Jo Owens describing her novel’s rich characters and the window it provides into the world of front-line professional caregivers.
