Still Time

Starred review from August 1, 2015
A man extols the virtues of Shakespeare to uplift humanity, yet he is estranged from his three ex-wives and daughter. John Hubbard Wilson, PhD, should not be a likable character, but his compelling inner monologue as he battles dementia does elicit sympathy. He willingly enters a nursing home to please his stressed, beloved fourth wife, Sally, but later does not remember what he is doing in, as he calls it, his cell. As he watches the green world out his window, he mentally continues his scholarship on Shakespeare's last plays, the romances, with fantastical happy endings where everything is forgiven and forgotten. He has never quite forgiven his daughter, Miranda, for a rebellious teenage indiscretion, although he can no longer remember the details. Sally convinces Miranda to try for reconciliation before it's too late. As his disease progresses, and some of the walls of the ivory tower he has built begin to crumble, his memory comes in bits and snatches of tender storytelling with the child Miranda. The subject will engender comparison with Lisa Genova's Still Alice (2007), but this book is for anyone who appreciates a beautifully written, character-driven story or anyone who has ever enjoyed Shakespeare. Heartbreaking in the best possible way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)