Families who would want to honour a parent’s request to not die in hospital, encounter obstacles that can defeat even accomplished health professionals. Autumns’ Grace is a story that spans a ten-month period as the Campbell family comes to terms with the father’s diagnosis of cancer. The diagnosis seems a particularly unfair blow to a veterinarian who has lived a very healthy lifestyle. In addition he has treated his animal patients and their owners with more respect and compassion than many of the human health professionals are willing or able to provide. The adult children (two nurses, veterinarian, and teacher) confront a health care system they thought they knew, and familial relationships that they had avoided for decades. Generational pulls and career conflicts challenge the siblings as they support their parents, conduct their own family and professional lives, and are forced to face critical situations and the decisions that they must make. They muddle through with varying doses of tenacity, courage, humour and hope. An important criticism of the health care system, this novel is a gift to people dealing with a dying parent and fulfilling their final wishes.

Bonnie Lendrum is a wife, mother, nurse, gardener, volunteer, and ballet student living in Carlisle, Ontario. The latter activity is an attempt to defy the age-associated effects of gravity. A former community nurse, she has cared for patients and families in the ICU and in their homes, directed large departments, and participated in research and teaching. Her writing is informed by the experiences that worry her, like palliative care and its delivery in rural communities. Her first published work was a chapter in Nursing Management in Canada. Autumn’s Grace is her first work of fiction.

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