The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses): A Novel

Cecibel is an orderly at the Bar Harbor Home for the Elderly, an exclusive home for aging literati. Each resident is a former star in the world of writing and publishing, and now they’ve come to “the Pen” to live out their final days. The orderlies are a colorful cast themselves. Cecibel has a dark secret in her past that robbed her of half her face. Sal is a drag queen by night. Fin has come from a brutal past. When award-winning novelist Alfonse Carducci is admitted into the home, he and Cecibel embark on an unlikely friendship that changes both of them dramatically.

This book is a delicious and powerful read. The characters are unique and well written. Not only does DeFino skillfully tell the story of Cecibel and the other residents of the home, but there’s a bonus story that unfolds throughout as Alfonse and his old friends try their hand at collaborating on one final story. Both stories compliment each other and move along in an achingly passionate arc that will keep readers turning pages well into the night to see how everything is resolved. This book has become an instant favorite. Highly recommended.