Synopsis:
Maggie Lewis is sixty-five years old and has just retired after a forty-year career as an elementary school librarian. She has come to Vashon Island near Seattle, accessible only by ferry, to live full-time in a rustic cabin with no window screens. Long divorced, her daughter and granddaughter live in California. Maggie has planned to spend the summer relaxing and adjusting to life sans responsibilities, contemplating how she wants to spend her retirement years before delving into new pursuits, perhaps including volunteer work.
Walter Hathaway is a renowned author of children’s books, including one that was successfully adapted for the big screen. He is a bit older than Maggie and decidedly crotchety. Although his cabin is near Maggie’s, their encounters are limited to terse, obligatory greetings. Each evening Walter loudly serenades his dog and only companion, Bill Bailey, with an off-key rendition of the song for which the dog, like several before him, is named. Maggie and Walter have a history that neither of them acknowledges.
As the story opens, Maggie notes an incessant, mournful wailing and must explore the source. She finds Bill Bailey howling outside Walter’s cabin and an injured Walter nearby. Maggie summons help and soon finds herself Bill Bailey’s caretaker as Walter is admitted to the hospital. The prospect of interacting with Walter is unappealing, but Maggie is curious about and drawn to the handsome older curmudgeon.
Review:
Maggie is content. She is settling into the new chapter of her life on the tranquil island among good friends like Martha Jean, a fiercely independent woman of ninety plus who still lives alone while acknowledging that she is becoming quite forgetful, and Mark and Howie who have been a couple for nearly thirty years but still haven’t entirely been accepted by narrow-minded family members. Maggie is happy to trudge through the woods, take her kayak out each day, read good books, and keep in touch with her beloved ten-year-old granddaughter, Ashley, via Skype. Maggie plans to spend the summer resting and evaluating before launching into new ventures, romance the furthest thing from her mind. Always considered a “sturdy” woman, Maggie loves to curl up under blanket with a good book and read. Whatever happened with Walter is in the past. Or is it?
Walter is handsome and virile, but perpetually out of sorts and, perhaps, bitter. His is a solitary existence. An author of children’s books, he has come to live permanently on the island to maintain his sobriety and focus on writing, working with his long-time agent to get his next book published. But when he injures his arm and cannot type, he needs assistance. The teenage boy he initially hires does not work out and when he asks Maggie to step in, she finds it impossible to decline. After all, she loves children’s literature and the opportunity to watch a great author at work dictating and editing his next masterpiece is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And so the two form a tenuous working partnership that unfolds in a charmingly entertaining fashion. Maggie and Walter are not youngsters — both bring plenty of life experiences, including some devastating disappointments, to the relationship. Both are at a point in their lives when they thought love and romance were far behind them. Both find it difficult to open up and express their emotions after guarding them for so many years, and both are anxious about the challenges of finding love at their ages. For instance, Maggie candidly ponders whether she wants to end up being a nursemaid to an older man as Walter struggles with health issues.
Okimoto also explores the troubled relationship between Maggie and her younger sister, Leslie, who, at fifty-five, suddenly decides to leave Los Angeles and take up residence on Vashon Island. Maggie resents a lifetime as Leslie’s caregiver and doormat, but, as with Walter, seems incapable of saying “no” to Leslie’s many demands. In the process, Maggie ends up saddled with Olivier, Leslie’s Siamese cat, with leaves her wondering how she managed to become the island’s designated pet-sitter.
Walter’s Muse begins frantically, but soon settles into a relaxed, enjoyable pace, in keeping with its setting. Whether Walter and Maggie’s tentative alliance will survive early challenges is the question that spurs readers to keep reading, but there are interesting supporting characters and related plot twists along the way. Walter’s Muse is a tender and satisfying homage to the idea that new beginnings are indeed possible — at any age.
18 Comments
Been hearing the buzz about this one. It sounds good!
Pingback: Jean Davies Okimoto, author of Walter’s Muse, on tour February/March 2012 | TLC Book Tours
I usually enjoy stories about people finding love later in life. It seems like they bring so much more to their relationships than younger people do.
Thanks for being on the tour!
The story idea of a contented lady making a new life for herself away from family and doing just fine thank you, interests me. I like to see strong role models for women of all ages to remind us we can do it.
Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy!
Sounds intriguing. THanks for the giveaway.
The rafflecoptor doesn’t appear for me after signing on with email. Am I doing something wrong?
Got it now. Thanks!
The cover would not have sold this book to me, nor would the sitch on the back cover…but you did an awesome job with the review. Thanks. i would love to try this author. Thank you for the opportunity to win,
Marianne
Thanks for this wonderful and special giveaway.
This wonderful story appeals to me greatly and would be a treasure.
This sounds like a lovely story and I’m looking forward to reading it. Thanks for your review and the giveaway.
This sounds like a wonderful story. Loved your review.
sounds like a great book.
This sounds like such a sweet story. 🙂
I would love to win a copy of this book.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I am at the age now that I really enjoy reading books about older characters. I would love to have this book. Thanks for having this giveaway.
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
This sounds like a good story. Thanks!
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