Kurai Mizu Kuresui / Gentaitoru TbuHtsuEkusu DCARKEST FBLOODK RISES (CREST)

[Machine Translation] Fran, who has not retired even though she is over seventy, drives all over England to do research on nursing homes. Although she is in good health, she cannot help but be conscious of aging and death: her best friend living out the rest of her life in a luxury nursing home, her childhood friend who is seriously ill, her ex-husband bedridden at home, and the news of everyone's death that pops into her head when she opens the newspaper. She visits her friends, delivers home-cooked meals to her husband of 50 years, sends cell phone messages to her son who has lost his girlfriend, and is unsure about her relationship with her difficult daughter. The novel is a bitter and fresh novel that depicts the psychology and daily life of people in the final stages of their lives, with a touch of British humor. Drabble is alive and well!

七十をすぎても引退せず、老人施設の研究調査のためにイングランドじゅうをクルマで走るフラン。当人は元気だが、高級老人ホームで余生を送る親友、重病の幼なじみ、自宅で寝たきりの元夫、新聞を開けば飛び込んでくる誰かれの訃報と、老いと死を意識せずにはいられない。友人を見舞い、50年前に別れた夫にせっせと手料理を届け、恋人を亡くした息子を案じて携帯メールを送るが、気難しい娘との関係には自信がない。傷心の息子が身を寄せる、カナリア諸島の高名な老歴史家と長年連れ添ったゲイの恋人の姿をあわせて描きながら、人生の終盤を送る人びとの心理と日常を、英国的ユーモアを随所にちりばめながら描きだしたビターでみずみずしい長篇小説。ドラブル健在!