Silver Alert by Lee Smith

Silver Alert by Lee Smith

Published by Algonquin Books ISBN 9781643752419

Hardcover, $27, 224 pages

When I began reading Lee Smith's Silver Alert, I thought it would be a little bit sunnier and lighter (judging from the cover art) than it ended up being.

Herb is 86 and his health is beginning to fail. He cares for his beloved younger third wife Susan, who is suffering from dementia, in their beautiful Key West home with the help of a rotating group of caregivers. Susan is slipping away, and it breaks Herb's heart to see it.

One day, a young woman named Renee comes in to give Susan a manicure and pedicure, and Susan seems to respond to Renee. Renee gets Susan to sing, and brings in an easel and art supplies for Susan. Susan owned an art gallery, and this is seems to reawaken some light in her.

Herb is thrilled with Renee's progress with Susan, but when he tries to give Renee a ride home, Renee demurs saying that the bus is fine. Renee lives with her friend in a rundown trailer in a not-so-nice part of town- and her name isn't Renee, it's Dee Dee.

We slowly get Dee Dee's backstory, which isn't pretty. As a child she is surrounded by a mom who used drugs and lived with a succession of men who victimize and traumatize a young Dee Dee, even through her young adulthood.

Herb's family- including his children, stepchildren, an ex-wife and Susan's children- have decided that it is time for Susan to be in a nursing home and for Herb to sell the house and move into an assisted living facility right near Susan. And they don't trust Renee.

Wanting nothing to do with that, Herb decides to take his Porsche out for a final spin, and when Renee shows up at the house after being ditched by a man she thought she had a future with, he invites her to join him on a tour of Florida. 

This is where the road trip portion of the story comes into play, towards the last section of the book. As Herb and Renee travel the state, they get to know each other better. Eventually they discover a Silver Alert has been put out for them by Herb's family, hence the title of the book.

I found Renee and Herb's stories interesting, although I would have liked to know more about Herb and Susan's story. There are some really triggering aspects to Renee's story, something that may take readers by surprise if they expect this to be more of a lighthearted road trip story between two people of different generations.

Renee is a resilient young woman, and with Herb's encouragement, she makes good decisions that will lead her on a path that would make him proud.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Lee Smith's tour.