
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Tim Carroll
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By:
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Anna Johnston
About this listen
A zany case of mistaken identity allows a lonely old man one last chance to be part of a family in this warm, life-affirming debut novel.
“A funny, heartfelt story about found family and seeing the silver lining in life. Fans of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove and Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures will especially enjoy this new novel.”—Library Journal
“Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I’ll take excellent care of it.”
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness.
But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.
Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again.
As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.
Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family.
©2024 Anna Johnston (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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- A Novel
- By: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Willy Vlautin's award-winning novel Lean on Pete, a moving and compassionate story about a 15-year-old boy's unlikely connection to a failing racehorse as he struggles to find a place to call home - now a major motion picture from A24, the studio behind Moonlight and Lady Bird. Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home, food on the table, and a high school he can attend for more than part of a year. But as the son of a single father working in warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, Charley's been pretty much on his own.
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Great story
- By Christie Bravo on 06-18-18
By: Willy Vlautin
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My Friends
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier.
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How can he keep doing this? Another masterpiece!
- By Blue on 05-08-25
By: Fredrik Backman
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Run for the Hills
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Wilson
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it’s just been Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While she sometimes admits it’s a bit lonely and a less exciting life than she imagined for herself, it’s mostly OK. Mostly. Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister.
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Stunning!
- By Jennifer on 05-17-25
By: Kevin Wilson
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The Incredible Winston Browne
- By: Sean Dietrich
- Narrated by: Sean Dietrich
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper’s weekly gossip column. Sheriff Winston Browne has watched over Moab with a generous eye for a decade, and by now he’s used to handling the daily dramas that keep life interesting for Moab’s quirky residents. But just after Winston receives some terrible, life-altering news, a seemingly mute runaway with no clear origin arrives in Moab. The residents do what they believe is right and take her in - until two suspicious strangers arrive and begin looking for her.
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A new favorite!
- By Highlandannie on 07-16-21
By: Sean Dietrich
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The Deal of a Lifetime
- A Novella
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 47 mins
- Unabridged
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It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn't your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he's taken a life but he won't say whose - not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She's a smart kid - smart enough to know that she won't beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.
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Novellas Are Horrible!!!!!
- By 3xcharm on 12-28-17
By: Fredrik Backman
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Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
- A Novel
- By: Kirsten Miller
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
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Small town attitudes
- By Maureen Teague on 08-26-24
By: Kirsten Miller
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Faye, Faraway
- By: Helen Fisher
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Every night, as Faye puts her daughters to bed, she thinks of her own mother, Jeanie, who died when Faye was eight. The pain of that loss has never left her, and that’s why she wants her own girls to know how very much they are loved by her — and always will be, whatever happens. Then one day, Faye gets her heart’s desire when she’s whisked back into the past and is reunited not just with her mother but with her own younger self.
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Fantasy
- By Eunephron on 04-25-21
By: Helen Fisher
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How to Read a Book
- A Novel
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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From the award-winning author of The One-in-a-Million Boy comes a heartfelt, uplifting novel about a chance encounter at a bookstore, exploring redemption, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.
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This book wrecked me!
- By BlaneClark on 05-27-24
By: Monica Wood
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Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
- By: Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop.
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So far,surprisingly charming-OUTSTANDING narration
- By Christine T on 03-20-23
By: Jesse Q. Sutanto
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Sipsworth
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.
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A charming antidote for your troubles.
- By Pamela J Wollum on 07-02-24
By: Simon Van Booy
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The Taste of Ginger
- A Novel
- By: Mansi Shah
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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After her parents moved her and her brother to America, Preeti Desai never meant to tear her family apart. All she did was fall in love with a white Christian carnivore instead of a conventional Indian boy. Years later, with her parents not speaking to her and her controversial relationship in tatters, all Preeti has left is her career at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm. But when Preeti receives word of a terrible accident in the city where she was born, she returns to India, where she’ll have to face her estranged parents...and the complicated past they left behind.
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good and good
- By Thelma on 01-24-22
By: Mansi Shah
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Margo's Got Money Troubles
- A Novel
- By: Rufi Thorpe
- Narrated by: Elle Fanning
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
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I love Margo’s brain and Elle’s voice 👏🏻💕
- By Jessica Larson on 08-19-24
By: Rufi Thorpe
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Frank and Red
- By: Matt Coyne
- Narrated by: James Killeen
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Frank is a miserable old curmudgeon. An agoraphobic recluse and widower whose only company is the 'ghost' of his wife, Marcie. He is estranged from friends and family and is entirely cut off from the rest of the world. That is until he meets Red. Red is six years old. He's a funny, imaginative, and kind little boy who - following the separation of his parents - moves in next door. Red is fascinated by his new neighbour and seemingly oblivious to Frank's grumpy demeanour and strange ways.
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family
- By Brian P on 06-27-25
By: Matt Coyne
Heartwarming, humorous, and real
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The wonderful interaction of people
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book club material
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I laughed - I cried
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Amazing and heartwarming!!
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Heartwarming listen
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Comedy, a little suspense and heartwarming!!!!
Everything
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Heartwarming!
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Funny and heartfelt!
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Recommend if you need a lift 👍
Made me feel warm
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