Imagine waking up in the hospital in pain, not knowing how you got there or even what your name is. That is what happens to sixty-something Jean-Pierre Fabre (although it takes a week or so for anyone to figure out his name) after he gets fished out of the Seine. As weeks go by and he slowly gets better, he starts to remember who he is and where he came from.

Jean-Pierre is told that he was on the bridge when a car ran into him, forcing him over and into the river. There was a young man under the bridge who managed to grab a hook and drag Jean-Pierre to the side of the Seine, where the emergency services could take over. That was how he came to be in the hospital. But how he came to be a lonely curmudgeon will take more digging through his past. Going back through his life from his childhood on, he tries to write his own memoir, to remember his family, his wife, his friends, his joys, and his disappointments.

However, through the time in the hospital, and due in part to the kindness of the nurses and the spirit of the younger visitors who make their way to his room, Jean-Pierre's grumpiness starts to fade. Although nothing will bring his wife back, and he has no children to depend on, he is learning that maybe he's not as anti-social as he used to think, and he starts to open himself back up to life.

Get Well Soon is a charming story of finding out who you are in your 60s and getting a second chance to become your best self. Written in French by Marie-Sabine Roger and translated into English by Frank Wynne, this heart-warming novel is a perfect reminder of how it's never too late to make friends.

Galleys for Get Well Soon were provided by Pushkin Press through Edelweiss, with many thanks.