A charming, gentle novel about reclaiming independence at the final stage of life, for readers of Amanda Hampson and Joanna Nell. When 76-year-old Elizabeth sees a dead body – her own – on a park bench, she knows it’s a sign that it’s time for her to make some big changes in her life. She has recently moved into the heavily regimented nursing home The Cloisters, and, after becoming a widow, has lost all sense of herself and her life. Jolted suddenly out of the greyness of her life, she performs a daring abscondence from the suffocating Cloisters and sets off in search of a better future – and a reconnection with her past. Elizabeth’s sudden disappearance throws her daughter Ellen’s life into disarray – she has to frantically search for her mother while trying to hold her fracturing family together. Overwhelmed and feeling isolated, the two eventually come together to make a series of audacious escapes to better futures. They each discover how easy it is to get lost, and how important it is to be found again. Simply Beside Herself is a warm, charming novel about reclaiming independence at every stage of life.