Faith Ann Bass Darling lives on Old Waco Road in Bass, Texas, the town that her great-grandfather, James Tyler Bass, founded. She lives shut up tight in the beautiful mansion that James Tyler Bass built for his bride, Belle, where she is surrounded by a plethora of family heirlooms, collectibles, and fine antiques that she cherishes. That is until she opens the front doors and has the neighborhood boys lug all the fine antiques, collectibles, and heirlooms out onto the front lawn for her (very first!) and last garage sale. This story tells what can happen when you have everything, then lose everything, and are left with only your memories ... and then you start to lose your memories too. What is left of you when all you had left is gone? What value do valuables have when you don't recall why you hold them dear? What do you do when someone you loved, then were afraid to love, and then lost comes back into your life, and you aren't even sure if they're real. What a tale of love, despair, anger, depression, and faith, or, in this case, Faith. A very good read well worth five stars. ( )

Self-realization

I liked the premise of the book and I appreciated how Faith had such difficulty keeping things straight. I imagine that Alzheimer's Disease may present just as it did for Faith. For the entire book to span one day was interesting with all the characters' flashbacks and memories. Unfortunately the characters were not developed enough to really gain empathy with any of them. And I still can't figure out what Father George truly had to do with Faith's story - that could have been developed a lot more. Unless, of course the author was trying to reveal how people throughout the small town only knew Faith from one's own superficial perspective.
Growing up with a reference for antiques, I almost did not make it through the first part of the book where people were buying the Tiffany lamps for $1. I was almost panicky! And of course, the practical side of me came through in which I was concerned that by giving her possessions away, that Faith would not have enough money to maintain herself as she aged even more. I doubted that she was really going to die that day and I thought she would outlive her resources.
The idea of a book with the structure of the story to cover one day and then fleshed in with flashbacks was very creative. However, I could not give the book 4 stars due to shallow character development and choppy narrative. It's a strong 3-star book. ( )

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the author had edited out some of the stuff about the garage sale. I found the details of Faith's possessions and the long passages about her confusion distracting and unnecessary. OK, I got that in the first few pages -- it needed a lighter touch throughout the book so that it didn't overshadow the real stories of the people in Faith's life. The book did make me think about all the THINGS I'm hanging onto, not that any of it has any real value. Maybe I'll load up the car and make a couple of trips to the thrift store next week. ( )

On 12/31/1999, wealthy Faith Ann Bass, who is suffering with Alzheimer’s, decides to have a garage sale. She believes that God has told her to sell all of her possessions and thinks this will be her last day alive. She and some neighborhood kids drag all of her priceless possessions outside and she sells them for pennies. A friend of Faith‘s daughter, hears about the sale, and contacts Claudia Jean to advise that Faith is selling all of the antiques. Claudia and Faith had a falling out years earlier when Faith believed that Claudia had taken an antique ring belonging to Faith’s grandmother.
People take advantage of the bargains, while others try to stop the sale, believing Faith isn’t thinking clearly.
The author kept referring to December 31, 1999 as the last day of the millennium. This is incorrect. The last day of the millennium was December 31, 2000. This error, easily checked, dropped the book one entire star for me. ( )