BEFORE I FORGET

A 20-something takes over caring for her aging father and suspects he may be able to see the future.

Cricket Campbell is 26 but considers herself “essentially a larva.” She lives in New York City and works as an assistant at a company similar to Goop. Her father, Arthur, has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a lake house in the Adirondacks, where her older sister, Nina, handles his care. When Nina is offered a postdoctoral position in Stockholm, she says it’s time to sell the house and move their father into a memory care facility. But Cricket, ready for a big change, decides this is the moment to step up. She quits her job and moves into the house to take over her dad’s care, even though she’s avoided the lake since she was a teenager because of a tragedy that fractured her relationship with her father. Arthur may not remember who Cricket is, but he’s oddly prescient, predicting the future on more than one occasion. As Cricket adjusts to being a caretaker and tries to find a source of income, Arthur (somewhat accidentally) becomes famous for his clairvoyance, at first locally and then on a much larger scale. Hoen deals with the harsh realities of Alzheimer’s while still creating an atmosphere that’s cozy and welcoming. As Cricket puts it, Alzheimer’s “has the capacity to be both devastating and hilarious, and those who witness it learn to live in limbo, because there’s nowhere else to live.” Cricket’s quarter-life crisis forces her to grow up, finally come out of her shell, and realize that there’s value in community and forgiveness. The lakeside town is reminiscent of Gilmore Girls, with a cast of quirky but well-meaning characters who pitch in to help Cricket and her father. Hoen delicately handles the slow-moving grief of Alzheimer’s as Arthur’s health declines. It’s especially moving to see Cricket realize that the love her father has for her can transcend his own limitations—and their past.

At once a charming exploration of small-town life and a realistically heartbreaking depiction of Alzheimer’s disease.