What would you do? You have a new job as a construction supervisor in Seattle and your name is Barry Martin. All the land has been purchased except one tiny plot where a very small old house sits. A great big shopping mall will be built there. A stubborn woman in her eighties refuses to accept the offer to buy her house for a million dollars. Her name is Edith Wilson Macefield. She believes in a place for everything and everything in its place. She comes outside to spread birdseed on her sidewalk. Well, you go over to introduce yourself, tell what you are doing, apologize for the noise and offer your help if she ever needs anything.

That began a very unusual relationship between the two in “Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned from a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House. Barry Marin succeeds in telling his story beautifully and you will reading about his unusual friendship and learn so much from both of them.

Miss Edith Wilson Macefield is ornery, well dressed, can swear like a lumberjack and has known so many well-known people in her life so many that it seems like fiction. In fact Barry Martin is constantly wondering are her stories true or made up. She escaped from a Nazi prison camp and she taught a dance to Mickey Rooney and that is just a tiny glimpse of her experiences... Even though her stories are startling and diverse, the true value of this book is that of friendship and learning how to treat seniors.

I hope that you will read this book, I don’t see how it is possible that you will be disappointed, and it is a gem. I recommend it to all people who have parents who are alive or are caregivers and to all who want to read a fantastic story.

I received this book as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings in this review. ( )