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    Time To Let Go
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    Time To Let Go
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    Time To Let Go
    Ebook372 pages4 hours

    Time To Let Go

    By Christoph Fischer

    5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Time to Let Go is a contemporary family drama set in Britain.

    Following a traumatic incident at work Stewardess Hanna Korhonen decides to take time off work and leaves her home in London to spend quality time with her elderly parents in rural England. There she finds that neither can she run away from her problems, nor does her family provide the easy getaway place that she has hoped for. Her mother suffers from Alzheimer's disease and, while being confronted with the consequences of her issues at work, she and her entire family are forced to reassess their lives.

    The book takes a close look at family dynamics and at human nature in a time of a crisis. Their challenges, individual and shared, take the Korhonens on a journey of self-discovery and redemption.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristoph Fischer
    Release dateMar 21, 2015
    ISBN9781311894045
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Time To Let Go

    5/5

    10 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book may be Fischer's best yet. I read it in one afternoon and literally could not put it down.

      Buddy is a sweet woman dealing with the effects of Alzheimer's disease. We get a sense of her views of her plight through the memories of her husband, Walter.

      Walter is simply devastated by his wife's illness and deals with it any way he can- even when his children don't approve.

      When his daughter, Hannah, comes to visit after a problem at work, his life is turned upside down, and as a result, is forced to face the reality of Buddy's illness in a way he hadn't before.

      I loved this book for its heart. It is a must read for anyone looking for something a little different.
    • 5/5
      ** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **

      First off, let me just say that I knew I was going to love this book, before I even started reading it. I've read 2 of the 3 books in Christoph's Three Nations Trilogy and have the third to read. I've loved every one. This one, didn't disappoint, even though it's of a completely different format.

      This is a contemporary fiction story, rather than historical.

      I really like how Biddy's Alzheimer's has been portrayed honestly, both from the pessimistic/dismissive attitude (at times) of Walter, and the hopeful but misguided attitude of Hanna.

      Saying that, I have to admit that I don't like Hanna and I felt this very quickly into the story. I don't know if I'm supposed to like her or not, but I don't. I find her very literal, close minded (despite her belief in open-minded ideas) and so stuck in her own life that she doesn't, or maybe doesn't want to, see the bigger picture. I also don't think she wants to accept the thoughts and varying perceptions of the same situation, from another person's point of view. I see this especially with Walter, her brother Henrik and the paramedic Karim. She often fails to see their perspective and doesn't seem to care that they have a different view of things, dismissing them entirely.

      "You should call one of your friends to go along with you. You can't go to a pub alone. That is sad." <- This is the type of thing that annoys me about Hanna the most; her close-minded attitude. I don't agree with this statement and was very happy that Walter didn't either. I think it shows a strength of mind, character and a strong sense of self to go out alone, in a social environment, in a time when it is still considered socially unacceptable.

      "He missed the partner he had lost to the disease, but was able to console himself that the loveable woman he married was still around." <- This is exactly why I love this book. Although Walter really struggles, especially with frustration and a desperation to have the Biddy he married back, there are moments of clarity for him, where he can see past the hardships and see what he still has. I think his part of the story is the best and he shows a real inner strength, insisting that he take care of Biddy, even though he struggles daily. This is also where I think Hanna is too consumed with her own life - she fails to see how he struggles and how bad Biddy really is.

      I love Tom, as a character. He stepped in, for two minutes, and really shined a light for Walter. I would have loved to see more of him and Walter becoming friends and taking care of Biddy, as Walter realised that he wasn't alone. This quote, in particular, just about had me in tears:
      "It was days like today where he realised how helpless they all were. He felt powerless in the face of a disease that kept changing its ugly face. What had been clear as day had quickly turned into mist."
      I think it really shows the adaptable and heartbreaking truth of Alzheimer's disease, all in that one quote.

      Again, Hanna. *sigh* Here is one quote, in particular, that I think really shows how judgemental and single-minded she is, even in front of someone had chosen this restaurant to take her to. Yet, she thinks nothing of degrading it and his choice. She never looks beyond the surface and misses everything that is important (like Karim!)
      ""I should have known," she said. "When a restaurant has that many statues and pictures and fake plants the food must also be tacky."
      "You'll be surprised at the standard of the food here then," Karim promised.
      "I have been to Thailand and the reputable restaurants there have simple designs, wood and bamboo, none of this fancy stuff."
      "Well, get ready to be impressed," Karim said."

      She's also very snobbish, which crops up quite a lot, and always seems to be when she's with Karim.
      "He turned many rather prestigious job offers down and instead worked in idealistic and lowly paid counselling institutions."
      "Do you mean charities, or the NHS?" Karim asked.
      "Both.""
      I mean, you can't get much more snobbish than that. How are charities and the NHS idealistic? Also, she's saying this in front of Karim, who is a paramedic. Way to go insulting your dinner date.

      I have to admit, that I expected Walter's frustration and anger to possibly lead to a sickness that killed him before Biddy, so I saw a glimmer of the ending coming. Unfortunately, it's all too often that when the burden of care (though they don't see it a burden) is removed, the carer often succumbs to the stress, strain and the loss of the situation.

      As always, with this author, this was an incredibly well written story, with a great plot. There were a variety of interesting and relateable characters. I loved Walter and Karim the best. The story was touching and made my heart ache.
    • 5/5
      Christoph Fischer I am at awe!!! “TIME TO LET GO” is another remarkable book!!!
      It is the 4th book I have read by Christoph Fisher and I am rendered speechless. In this novel, the author has elegantly and brilliantly guided me through the difficult moments in the life of a British family that is trying to cope with the complexity of the heartwrenching disease Alzheimer’s.

      Walter Korhonen is a man full of principals. He fell in love and married Biddy, a capable, energetic and warm person and together they raised 3 children, Hannah, a flight attendant, Henrik and Patrick. Walter is now retired and taking care of Biddy who is battling Alzheimer’s.

      Hannah is going through a crisis of her own due to an incident that took place on one of her flights. Hannah tried hard to revive a woman who was not breathing but the woman died. Her husband decided to sue the airlines for letting his wife die on their watch. Hannah is now on a leave of absence until the issue is resolved. She decided to spend time with her parents trying to get away from the phone calls and the intruding reporters.

      The disease has now made her mother lose focus and slowly has turned her to a confused and helpless individual. Hannah knew that her mother did not recognize her any longer, but against her fathers protests, she tried to get her mother involved in doing ordinary things with her such as cooking, taking walks, and going to the grocery store.

      Walter on the other hand, at the beginning of Biddy’s decline, he refused to accept the fact that her disease was progressing and something like that would definitely threaten their future together. Gradually he did consent that his wife had a clinical disease that would change their lives forever. Biddy’s decline was slowly taking pieces of Walter’s heart away, leaving him utterly heartbroken, but unwilling to let go and fighting to cope each and every day. I fell in love with each and every character in the story.

      I found myself clinging to the book with tears running down my face. I had been on the exact crossroad with a member of my own family. Walter’s love and commitment to his beloved Biddy was heartwarming. Against his children’s advise to put Biddy into a home where they could take care of her, he decided to stand by her for better or worse, and try to enjoy every moment while sitting on the sofa in their own home holding her hand, until he couldn’t do it any longer.

      The book is fantastic…There was a hint of romance between Hannah and a young paramedic Karim but it never came to flourish for various reasons. I could go on and on about this awesome book, but I don’t want to ruin it for the other readers. All I can say is that if you don’t read this book it will be a big mistake. I will highly recommend it to every person I know as an excellent written book with a lot of substance. Books like this one, keep my love for reading alive. Thank you Christoph Fischer for another outstanding novel.
    • 5/5
      Before I talk about the quality of the writing, let me outline the story in Time To Let Go. Having witnessed an incident on a plane, Hanna Korhonen, a flight attendant, comes to realize how quickly life can be over. Which brings to mind her parents, who are almost 80 years old. She come home to them, with the hope of running away from her own difficulties at work—only to find herself facing a much more daunting problem. Her mother, Biddy, who used to be such an energetic woman, is now in the grip of a terrible disease that destroys the mind and that will eventually leave just an outer shell of her. The entire family is affected: her father Walter, who is courageously taking care of his wife, and her brothers Henrik and Patrick. With admirable sensitivity to the graveness of Alzheimer’s and to its ravages on the family, Christoph Fischer tells a deeply moving story. It is a complex yarn to weave, because it is underpinned by profound, hard questions. How would each one of them deal with this new, painful reality? Would they deny it or accept it? Would the progress of the disease strain them to the point of bringing about their own decline? Given their different approaches to treating Biddy, how do they negotiate a common strategy? Along the way, will the familial bond be weakened or strengthened? How do they deal with each tumble down, every time Biddy loses ground to the disease? Having put in place a rigid frame of rules, meant to brace her from further deterioration, how will they react when her mind continues to crumble? Can they hope to control her destiny? How do they let go, when it is time to do so? Trying to find herself ensconced in the warmth of Home as she remembers it, the new reality become a test of maturity for Hanna. Will she find the inner strength needed to withstand it? In the words of her brother, Henrik, “Can you really see her as the Samaritan who gives up her career to clothe the poor and nurse the wounded, for the rest of her life? She is in shock right now and she is making a hurried, rash and stupid long term decision she will never be able to reverse.” Finally, a few words about the cover design, which I love. Here is swan just starting to rise from the water and spread its wings, its feathers delineated diagonally across the cover. It is a dynamic, elegant icon, a symbol of the aspiration we all have to rise into purity, into our better selves. With its subtle shades of white, the design has some of the feel of The Three Nation Trilogy (the author’s historical fiction series.) However, with the cool greenish hues which infuses the entire image and the title font, this image extends in a different direction, a more contemporary one. And so does this book.Five stars.
    • 5/5
      Although Alzheimer’s disease plays a major role in this wonderful novel, this is not a book about Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes it takes a crisis to reunite a family and when air stewardess Hanna suffers a traumatic experience at work, this is exactly what happens, although not for the reasons she had initially anticipated. As one of Hanna's brothers explains, people react differently to stress and trauma in their lives and how each of the characters in this story react to the stresses in their lives and how they impact others in their social circle is precisely what's going on here. As a response to her stressful situation, Hanna reacts by retreating to what she thinks is a family that will comfort and support her in the rural countryside. However, her father Walter is dealing with the stress of his wife's mental retreat from him and the world into a seemingly no-man's land of confusion and forgetfulness, characteristic of Alzheimer's. Interestingly, whereas his wife is bereft of memories from the past, Walter immerses himself more fully into his as he chronicles his family history as if fearing that if events from his past are not recorded, they may be lost for good, almost as if they had never happened to begin with. As they are pulled back into a family dynamic, Hanna's brothers must also face the stressful memories of their past, both actual and imagined and are each given perhaps a final opportunity for family reconciliation, secrets to be finally revealed, etc., which they both respond to differently and tellingly for their very disparate personalities. A very interesting scene recounts a situation where under hypnosis, a war veteran patient suffering memory loss was able to remember events prior to the trauma that in his normal consciousness, he had no recollection. This suggests that the mind, in the role of shielding us from painful memories may be also preventing the recall of the happy memories, as well. Luckily for Hanna, however, this is not her plight and she faces her traumatic past and her stressful present/future with courage and fortitude, allowing for all possibilities both wished for and feared. In so doing, the universe opens doors before her where she herself could only see brick walls.