What if the person who knew you best and loved you most forgot your face, and couldn’t remember your name?
A nursing facility is everyone’s solution for what to do about Sara, but her husband Jack can’t bear to live without her. He is committed to saving his marriage, his wife, and their life together from the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease. He and Sara retired years ago to the house of their dreams, and operated it as a Cape Cod bed and breakfast named Blue Hydrangeas. Jack has made an impossible promise: He and Sara will stay together in their beautiful home no matter what the disease brings. However, after nine years of selfless caregiving complicated by her progressing Alzheimer’s and his own failing heart, he finally admits he can no longer care for her at home. With reluctance, he arranges to admit her to an assisted living facility. But on the day of admission, Sara is having one of her few good days and he is unable to follow through. Instead, he takes them on an impulsive journey to confront their past and reclaim their future. In the end, he realizes that staying together at any cost is what truly matters.
Targeted Age Group:: 40+
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I didn’t plan to write a book about Alzheimer’s, it just happened. During my work as a hospital nurse case manager I met many families struggling with this and other dementias and felt their stories needed to be told, especially from the male caregiver’s point of view because they are in the minority. One couple in particular inspired me, although Jack and Sara and their plight are a composite of the many people I helped navigate through the dilemmas inherent in this disease. I have no personal caregiving experience with Alzheimer’s other than through my work as nurse and nursing assistant in the hospital and in nursing homes. I did have three aunts who succumbed to the disease, all beautiful and brilliant women. My book is dedicated to them, and to my husband’s grandmother, who also had Alzheimer’s and whom I never met.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I was working as a hospital nurse case manager when I met the couple who would become Jack and Sara. What captivated me about them is that while she was definitely middle to beginning of late stage Alzheimer’s and quite confused, he appeared to be physically frail, and the two of them had just driven up from Florida to New York by themselves. I found it amazing they were able to complete this journey without any mishap. Unfortunately, when they got home she somehow fell and fractured her pelvis and was about to go to a nursing home/rehab. My job was to make sure these plans went smoothly, and I discussed this with them in the presence of their son, who said, “Please do not let my parents leave here without me. I plan to assist them in the admission process.” When I left for home later that day, I could not stop thinking about them and wondering: What would happen if somehow they left the hospital without their son? Where would they go? What would they do? My wild imagination took off, and “Blue Hydrangeas” resulted.
About the Author:
Marianne Sciucco is not a nurse who writes but a writer who happens to be a nurse. A lover of words and books, she dreamed of becoming an author when she grew up, but became a nurse to avoid poverty. She later brought her two passions together and writes about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. Her debut novel, “Blue Hydrangeas,” an Alzheimer’s love story, is a Kindle bestseller, IndieReader Approved, a BookWorks Book of the Week, a Reader’s Favorite, and winner of IndieReCon’s Best Indie Novel Award. A native Bostonian, she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and, when not writing, works as a campus nurse at a community college. She loves books, the beach, and craft beer, and especially enjoys the three of them together.
Links to Purchase Print Books
Link to Buy Blue Hydrangeas Print Edition at Amazon
Link to Blue Hydrangeas Print book for sale via at CreateSpace
Links to Purchase eBooks
Link To Buy Blue Hydrangeas On Amazon
Link to Blue Hydrangeas on Barnes and Noble
Link to Blue Hydrangeas for sale on iBooks
Link to Blue Hydrangeas eBook for sale via other sites
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Book Sample:
