Exit Lines

by Joan Barfoot

You might think life in a retirement home would be a trifle boring, but in the Idyll Inn of Joan Barfoot’s latest marvellous novel, not everyone feels ready for the quiet life. But wait, maybe one resident does! Oh dear.

Seniors begin to settle into the latest retirement facility in their small city. Four of them become their own little group dedicated to small acts of pleasurable rebellion, not least the consumption of decent wines. In their pasts they’ve had a few connections, both faint and bold, with each other. Even kindly Ruth? Well, yes, and she hopes to make use of them soon, for a challenging act that needs undertaking in the dead of night.

Joan Barfoot is the award-winning author of 9 previous novels, including, most recently, Critical Injuries, which was longlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize. Her work has been compared internationally with that of Anne Tyler, Carol Shields, Margaret Drabble, Fay Weldon and Margaret Atwood. Luck was a Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist. She lives in London, Ontario.