Olive Tree Season

Arcadia House isn’t your typical senior living home. It’s equal parts chaos and comfort, a place where mismatched furniture meets found family, and grief is served alongside fresh coffee and wisecracks. For Kyle and Ash, the couple running it, Arcadia is more than a job—it’s a calling. It’s also where their residents have built a kind of unlikely, often hilarious, always heartfelt community.

When Bonnie Evermore—age 91, crossword champion, and proud troublemaker—passes away peacefully in her sleep, something in the house shifts. The loss hits harder than anyone expects. Grief settles like fog. Laughter dims. Even the daily arguments over waffles and walker parking lose their spark.

But Bonnie didn’t believe in quiet sadness. She believed in mischief. In marshmallows. In doing something wild while you still can.

So when Ash suggests a spontaneous road trip—just one week away, no itinerary, no expectations—Kyle agrees, against all logic and medical advice. Soon, Arcadia’s full cast of unforgettable characters is packed into an SUV caravan, with a reluctant cat, a bucket of pill organizers, and one manila envelope they absolutely cannot afford to lose.

What follows is part comedy, part odyssey: a journey through diners and lavender fields, carousel museums and hot springs spas, all stitched together with moments of memory, healing, and joy. But as the road stretches on, Kyle and Ash begin to wonder—what if this isn’t just a trip to shake off sadness? What if it’s the start of something more?

Tender, funny, and deeply human, Olive Tree Season is a novel about the families we choose, the grief we carry, and the beautiful mess of growing older together. If you’ve ever loved someone stubborn, if you’ve ever grieved loudly or quietly, if you believe life still holds magic—this book is for you.

For fans of A Man Called Ove, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and The Guncle, this is a celebration of life’s second chances, and the people who make it all worth it.