A charming, gentle novel about reclaiming independence at the final stage of life, for readers of Amanda Hampson and Joanna Nell.
When 72-year-old Elizabeth sees a dead body - her own - on a park bench, she knows it's a sign that it's time for her to make some big changes in her life.
She has recently moved into the heavily regimented nursing home The Cloisters and, after becoming a widow, has lost all sense of herself and her life. Jolted suddenly out of the greyness of her life, she performs a daring abscondence from the suffocating Cloisters and sets off in search of a better future - and a reconnection with her past.
Elizabeth's sudden disappearance throws her daughter Ellen's life into disarray - she has to frantically search for her mother while trying to hold her fracturing family together. Overwhelmed and feeling isolated, the two eventually come together to make a series of audacious escapes to better futures. They each discover how easy it is to get lost, and how important it is to be found again.
Simply Beside Herself is a warm, charming novel about reclaiming independence at every stage of life.
