Karen Andrus

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No matter how old we get, we’re always coming of age.

Nina and her mother Lillian navigate a bumpy road as two elders—a daughter starting her sixth decade, a mother starting her ninth—a path complicated by Lillian’s deteriorating cognition.

After Nina retires to care for her father Cal in his final year, she struggles with the often tense and impersonal relationship she has with her mother Lillian, a social activist who has always put the cause above all else—even her own daughters.

Set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, Nina and Lillian must navigate grief, isolation, and their strained mother-daughter relationship as Nina steps into Lillian’s life more each day to help keep her safe from herself, often to Lillian’s disapproval.

With Lillian’s dementia increasingly evident, Nina protectively conceals her mother’s condition from her activist friends, unaware of the potential consequences.

KAREN ANDRUS appreciates the richness that comes with her own coming of old age. Unknowns are less daunting while witnessing others who live with life’s shadows and are still buoyed by the loveliness in the world. She lives in Northern California with her husband. They enjoy hiking, live music, dogs, and reminding each other that their response to the world’s vicissitudes makes all the difference. That, and an occasional straight-up martini.