The New Woman: A Staggerford Novel

In 1977, Jon Hassler sparked a decadeslong love affair with the fictional town of Staggerford. Now, in his latest Staggerford novel, The New Woman, Agatha McGee, who in the minds of her former students "occupied a place between Moses and Emily Post," faces the perplexities of old age with characteristic wit, dignity, and a bit of ill temper.
Agatha is eighty-eight years old; living in her house on River Street has become a hazard to her health. Grudgingly, she moves into the Sunset Senior Apartments on Main Street. To her surprise, she is soon caught up in the intrigues of Sunset Senior. A shoe-box filled with residents' valuables is mistakenly buried in a friend's coffin, a kidnapped girl is dropped on her doorstep, and a fellow resident has caught her eye. Coping with the deaths of two close friends and trying to cheer up her depressed nephew Frederick, Agatha inadvertently starts a support group. Within weeks, the group has swelled to include most of Staggerford's citizens, who, along with Agatha, tell their stories and face their demons together.