“Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things.” — Cicero
Lake Erie author Brenda Haas sorted through the “lost and found of childhood memories” to gain inspiration for her award-winning debut novel, Finding Sutton’s Choice, a coming-home story about failing mental health, family secrets, fractured relationships and second chances.
Ultimately, how Alzheimer’s disease impacts memory became one of the most important threads holding the plot together. “When the book came out, I wanted my story to spread a bit of Alzheimer’s awareness just by hitting the shelves,” Haas said, noting that May is designated Mental Health Awareness Month, and June is Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month. “I also wanted to spotlight the Shores & Islands Ohio area. Readers will recognize so many regional references in the book.”
The novel centers around the Sutton Family—specifically Charlotte Sutton, a 28-year-old writer who unwillingly finds herself back in her hometown of Lakeside, Ohio, after a decade gone. Her estranged father, Chuck Sutton, doesn’t recognize her, and a surprise half-sibling has taken her place. A newspaper editor, retired Cleveland baseball player, and the town’s most beloved celebrity, Chuck is thought to have Alzheimer’s disease, an illness that leads Charlotte to revisit memories of her complicated past and reevaluate her own misconceptions about growing up in the small Ohio town that still holds her heart.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association website, 55 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, worldwide. About one in nine people, aged 65+, have Alzheimer’s. Early onset Alzheimer’s, affecting people under 65, is becoming more common.
“Even on the best of days, family relationships can be complicated,” Haas said. “In Finding Sutton’s Choice, Alzheimer’s actually has the rare opportunity to bring a fractured family closer… through memories. Despite the solemn content, there is so much humor and hope in my small-town story about second chances with the ones we love. That’s really what is at its heart.”
In its first year, it has proven popular locally and beyond, receiving a 2025 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, two International Impact Book Awards (Aging and Women’s Fiction categories, 2025), and a PenCraft Best Book Award for Fiction (2026). Available @ ten16press.com, Amazon or B&N.
