Dear Fiona Mc Farlane,
Thank you for your tale of Ruth’s end of life and quiet demise. There is an amazing sense that you know so much about her complicated and confusing state of flux, between an imaginary world and the real one. Dementia, grief, love and dependence get explored with a delicate and controlled hand. You gives the reader a robust structure and then suddenly we are left to fill in gaps that unexpectedly appear in the narrative. Maybe this is what it is like for Ruth, as she feels herself losing control of her memory, her ideas and her sense of self. Change is sudden. Truth is distorted. Loss is real.
Dementia is difficult for everyone whose world collides with loss – of memory, of the mother they once knew, the sweetheart, the friend.
This is your debut into the world of literature. I find myself envious of the poise and power that a young female author has in this day. I wish you well as you write your way into a life that is real. May there be no tigers overshadowing your days.
Sincerely,
S x
slowlifestill 