Book Review: "Perfect Little Worlds"
- marthaengber
- Feb 25
- 2 min read
A story that touches on anything Alzheimer’s might seem too heavy from the get-go, but PERFECT LITTLE WORLDS by Clifford Mae Henderson injects so much humor and humanity that I found myself alternately smiling and tearing up.
In 1989, Lucy Mustin, a middle-aged lesbian cake baker from Portland, gets a call from her possibly autistic, and definitely neurodiverse sister, Alice, who says she needs help with their dementia-affected mother. Lucy reluctantly makes the long drive down to Santa Cruz, CA.
From there the story unfolds into one of challenging, yet tender, sisterhood as the two women try to care for a woman lost in memories, both real and false. By happenstance, Lucy meets and falls in love with a woman who works at the family bakery Lucy hopes to resurrect. That surprising happiness, juxtaposed against a catastrophic event—the Loma Prieta earthquake—cements Lucy’s future in the beachside town and her commitment to Alice as they face a promise they made to their mother long ago.
The story is told as a flashback by Lucy as an old lady, who, faced with Alice’s recent death, feels obligated to explain what happened, a mystery situation that slowly unfolds in the telling of their younger life.
The characters are really fantastic. Fully flawed and fleshed out in dress, dialogue, and mindset, their interactions—against the backdrop of the quirky Surf Capital of the World—make each vivid scene real.
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SCATTERED LIGHT, a novel, sequel to WINTER LIGHT
THE FALCON, THE WOLF AND THE HUMMINGBIRD a historical novel
BLISS ROAD, a memoir
WINTER LIGHT, a novel, in paperback and audiobook
THE WIND THIEF, a novel
GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS, a resource for writers
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