Review: The House on Beartown Road

The House on Beartown Road is one of the most engaging books I’ve read about the caregiving experience.  It will pull at all your heart strings at the same time it entertains you with humor, grace, and style. 

The author, Elizabeth Cohen, shows us the path of her baby Ava’s learning as it coincides with her father’s forgetting.  In the beginning, “Daddy” teaches Ava, but by the end, he loses huge chunks of knowledge while Ava devours them voraciously.  The contrast is illuminating and tragic, but Elizabeth holds onto and encourages every precious accomplishment her father makes. 

We could feel sorry for Elizabeth when her husband leaves six weeks after her father arrives, but she is so tough and resourceful that the feeling we end up with is admiration for her and the neighbors on Beartown Road who help get her through a difficult winter in an old rundown house high on a windy hill.  This book is a joy to read as well as an inspiration to any of us who face the caregiver’s role.