REVIEW: When Lemons Give You Life by Anna Johnston
Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt, and the beige slop they call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he resides. Six decades of life have handed him all the lemons he can handle, so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake one last tart as his final meal. But the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy, and soon he’s sneaking in after dark to serve up flavor and comfort to fellow residents, who come alive with each bite—all while hiding a lie big enough to destroy the one thing he has left to protect.
Lisa, Griff’s younger sister and sole visitor, is navigating a midlife ADHD diagnosis, a new romance, and unexpected news that could change everything. Despite their fractured relationship, she keeps showing up, even with hope for reconciliation long buried in the silence between them. But the truth has a way of boiling over, and when secrets, soufflés, and second chances collide, Griff and Lisa may discover a recipe for forgiveness.
Heartfelt and inspiring, When Lemons Give You Life is a deeply human novel about love, forgiveness, redemption, and rediscovering joy when life has lost its flavor.
CW/TW – homophobia, domestic violence, Alzheimer’s, suicidal ideation, life threatening disease
Dear Ms. Johnston,
I read the blurb and got myself ready for a mix of funny and tragic. For family drama and redemption. All of that is here but I wish the steps along the way hadn’t felt so “on the nose” and like emotional beats had to be timed just so. There is also a lot of suspension of belief that just has to be done for the plot to work.
Griff had a horrible childhood. His father died and Griff feels responsible. His mother married an abuser and they had a child but Lisa must be shielded from any hint that her father was an asshole. Lisa has ADHD and lives in a cluttered world with bills not paid, appointments not made, and house not cleaned. All men have either not wanted to understand her or have felt she was broken. Lisa is also terrified that she will develop the kidney disease that killed their mother. But then she meets someone and of course this guy understands and says the right thing at the right time and is altogether wonderful.
Griff lives with the ghosts of his past and refuses to tell Lisa the truth about their family because “he promised mom.” So he shuts Lisa out and won’t tell her why he lets her think he doesn’t love her. This has been going on for fifty years. Griff’s true love was first Lisa’s gay best friend so when Beau chooses to love Griff, Lisa of course sees it as another person thinking she’s not good enough to love.
Then back at Sunny Glen, the awful senior facility where Griff now lives, he fakes dementia for a Reason – which means he’s also shutting Lisa out again. The “you just have to go with it” moments mainly happen as Griff pulls the wool over everyone’s eyes, That is until he discovers a way to feel meaningful again. Cue more belief suspension. Griff can be devious in protecting his secret. Close calls follow until Griff finds himself telling a young man all about the past drama and trauma in his life and of course the young man replies with, “Gosh, that’s so awful” rather than turning Griff in. Just when Griff is emotionally ready, he overhears a conversation that shows him his own past behavior in a new light which he immediately takes to heart.
Though the story doesn’t feel rushed, it is packed. We have suicidal ideation, various degrees of dementia, queer acceptance – or not – and bereavement, senior neglect, sibling estrangement, ADHD, dialysis, organ donation, childhood abuse, professional disgrace, and romance. And cooking as Griff earnestly, and a bit preachily, expounds to two other kitchen workers at the senior facility how food should be a revelation for taste buds instead of the gray garbage that usually comes out of that kitchen. Of course the chefs immediately agree despite having worked there for a while.
I like that some old wounds aren’t immediately healed. Ditto that characters have to face the past and come to terms with it. As I said above, much of the coming to terms with it happens very quickly. Griff has a few more secrets beyond faking dementia and we all know these will eventually come to light. The short chapters zigzag unchronologically between several past years and the present and the story felt a bit too long.
The book is well written. The characters are mostly engaging. I want to cheer for them to get, if not a HEA, then at least a resolution or redemption. The relationship between Griff and his (deceased) husband Beau is wonderful. Griff is a chef and to be honest, reading this book felt like following a recipe. I knew the ingredients, I knew the cooking techniques, I knew exactly what was coming next, and how the final dish should look and taste. It’s not that the final product is slop. No, it’s heartfelt. But I could see everything coming with no surprises at the end. C+
~Jayne
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Sometimes, when life feels hard, “no surprises at the end” is what’s called for.
@LML: And I’ve read a lot of reviews for the book which mention this feeling. Sometimes we do need feel good. I just wouldn’t mind that along with things that nicely surprise me.