This one was a bit sleepy for me. It's a sweet, sad story, but you kind of know how it's going to end right from the beginning. I also felt like this could have been called, "A few of the people Doris met in her life, who are now probably dead." The address book was a minor character, and didn't really add much for me. But the stories of her life were very entertaining, really interesting, and fairly sad, right up until the end. I think some people will love this, I thought it was just OK.
Doris is really starting to feel her age, but is so fiercely independent, she thinks she can just continue on her own. It's pretty hard to do much of anything these days, at 96, even just standing up takes its toll on her. She's got a series of nurses who breeze in and out during the day, many whom barely interact with her - just do their job, and go on with their own lives.
Until one day Doris has a fall in her Sweden home, and ends up in the hospital. The only family member left is a niece, Jenny who lives in America, who she writes and Skypes with often. We learn that Doris has been writing about her life, going through each name in her address book and reminiscing. And what a remarkable life it has been.
From being sent away by her mother to be a maid, to Paris as a "live mannequin" (a model), to falling in love, living with famous artists, trips across the world in a time of war, and a very rough family life - it's incredible what Doris has been through. And having no kids of her own, she's desperate to get her story down for Jenny before she dies.
It's a sweet story of tragedies and triumphs, loves and losses. I liked it. I didn't love it. But, it warmed the heart for sure.
Doris is really starting to feel her age, but is so fiercely independent, she thinks she can just continue on her own. It's pretty hard to do much of anything these days, at 96, even just standing up takes its toll on her. She's got a series of nurses who breeze in and out during the day, many whom barely interact with her - just do their job, and go on with their own lives.
Until one day Doris has a fall in her Sweden home, and ends up in the hospital. The only family member left is a niece, Jenny who lives in America, who she writes and Skypes with often. We learn that Doris has been writing about her life, going through each name in her address book and reminiscing. And what a remarkable life it has been.
From being sent away by her mother to be a maid, to Paris as a "live mannequin" (a model), to falling in love, living with famous artists, trips across the world in a time of war, and a very rough family life - it's incredible what Doris has been through. And having no kids of her own, she's desperate to get her story down for Jenny before she dies.
It's a sweet story of tragedies and triumphs, loves and losses. I liked it. I didn't love it. But, it warmed the heart for sure.