You Should Have Known by Rebecca Keller 

What is going on between the covers

After a fall that worried her family, Frances reluctantly agrees to move into Ridgewood Assisted Living Center. She is slow to make friends, and when she does, she is shocked to see someone she recognizes bring up a trauma that has devastated her family. Themes of aging, entitlement, accountability, revenge/justice, accountability, forgiveness, grief, and corruption while blurring the lines of morality.

My Two Cents

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator’s voice, who narrated from Fannie’s pov. It was easy to listen to while walking and doing chores around the house. The plot is carefully plotted, with the compelling inner battle that consumes Frannie drives the story forward, and I enjoyed the moral questions she provokes us to think about. I found myself lost in Frannie’s head as she battled with her grief, thoughts, motivation, and actions, and at times I wanted the story to move forward faster. The story comes together well with a rewarding payoff.

It was refreshing to see an immensely thought-provoking story set in an assisted-living home with well-developed older characters while weaving in themes of aging with common themes, adding more layers to the story. It made me think about the invisible elder’s secrets and stories that will go with them to their graves because we dismiss them.

I received an audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley