Böcker av Joyce Hicks

"Escape from Assisted Living is a wonderful read, extremely funny yet perceptive and moving about families and aging."--Deidre Donahue, Contributing Book Editor, AARP"Coming-of-age fiction for the older crowd, in which debut novelist Hicks explores the burdens of secrets and guilt."-- Kirkus Reviews From the landmarks of Chicago to the wrong side of the law, Betty Miles' escape from assisted living and her daughter's quest to bring her home will test everyone's assumptions about old age, family, and the kindness of secrets.Sharon D'Angelo thought it was a solid plan to move her mother into a senior care facility, but after just three weeks, the octogenarian is already planning her exit.Bored with craft projects and the kitchen utensil band, Betty buys a train ticket to Chicago. But having spent her life as a model mother and housewife, she worries about misbehaving; a good mother wouldn't disappear like this. Then Betty learns that her late husband-a respectable man-did a little misbehaving himself: there's a safe deposit box stashed away in Chicago, filled with who knows what. Betty has to find the truth, no matter the consequences.Sharon is devastated to find Betty gone; a good daughter wouldn't lose her mother like this. She and her husband Vince trail after Betty, discovering along the way that their struggling marriage has its own secrets to confront and that a journey can change a family just as much as it can change an individual.In the sequel One More Foxtrot the women encounter second chances at independence and love. New characters like Vince's mother Mary and surprising old acquaintances and new ones bring new challenges in Elkhart Indiana and Chicago.

How had things become so complicated?Charlotte Adamsley thought that booking a writing workshop at their charming Adirondack lodge was perfect for shoring up sagging finances. What's more, the creative vibes might remind her she could be more than bookkeeper, wife, and mother, inspiring her to finish her novel. But only weeks ahead, she discovers the author leading the workshop is a man from her youth. When another figure from the past appears at the workshop, along with aspiring writers, two anxious to pen a who-done-it...will Charlotte be able to salvage her manuscript or marriage by the time the week is over? Will she want to?Peopled with intriguing characters, Blackbird Lodge buzzes with romance, old loves reappearing, betrayals, cruelties, accidents, and surprising insight into the complexity of human relationships and love within and beyond the writing life. Hicks' novel vividly and unflinchingly explores the writing life and the disconnect between expectations and the reality of a life first assessed as a disappointment but actually one that was well-lived.-Nancy Avery Dafoe, recently published memoir Unstuck in Time, A Memoir and Mystery on Loss and Love and contemporary fable/novella Naimah and Ajmal on Newton's Mountain.

Finalist Indie Book Awards, 1st Place National Federation of Press Women, fictionSequel to Escape from Assisted LivingWhat does it take to forgive, move on, or rekindle romance? The year after 80-year-old Betty Miles' exit from senior living (Escape from Assisted Living), she's happy staying in Chicago with friend Eleanor. She's dating, making new friends, and reconnecting with an old one. Her daughter Sharon D'Angelo is busy with her new dessert shop in Elkhart, Indiana, funded by a legacy from her father Charlie. Good feelings between Betty and Sharon may be short-lived after a stranger makes an astonishing claim. Will mother and daughter work through this mystery together? Of course not. They have kept upsetting truths secret their entire lives.With her hands full--clients making moves on her husband Vince, her mother-in-law meddling in the desserts, and a visitor sleeping over--Sharon keeps her mother away. Timing isn't right for revelations of the goings-on in Elkhart. Meanwhile, Betty's sleuthing family history, keeping her suspicions secret like a good wife and mother. But when past transgressions come to light, Betty finds out whether truth will enhance or destroy her family.