Old Heart

In this standout novel, Ferry (Travel Writing) depicts one man's post-WWII struggle with love, loss, and personal freedom. Widower Tom Johnson is an 85-year-old retired Midwestern schoolteacher who's secretly planning to search for his first love of 60 years ago, a Dutch translator named Sarah van Praag. Before Tom was shipped home from a post in the Netherlands, he and Sarah quarreled and never said goodbye. He returned to America, married and had three children; a disappointing marriage has always left Tom wondering about Sarah and the divergent paths they took. When his children insist on moving him to assisted living, Tom carefully plans his exit for Holland without telling anyone but his trusted granddaughter. Surprises and setbacks challenge Tom as he searches for Sarah; he is forced to fight his children in court for the freedom to remain abroad and live on his own terms. A lesser writer might muddle the myriad themes and shifting time frames, but Ferry's superb writing%E2%80%94including a deft treatment of a story within a story%E2%80%94allow them all to mesh seamlessly, resulting in a life-affirming novel about love and second chances; the rights, integrity, and freedom of the elderly; and the toll of mistakes and disappointments. Tom counsels himself near the end: "[L]ife is both tragic and beautiful... every day is a carefully wrapped present." (June)