[A Figure of Speech is] a tragic novel about the continuing deterioration of a "senior citizen" and the family's plan to move him into an "old folks" home. Living in a basement apartment in his son's house, the old grandfather refuses to submit to the arrangements that are being made for his life. His confidante and dear friend is his granddaughter Jenny, and the very thought of her dispels his self pity. "Of course he had a reason to get out of bed every morning. Jenny. She was his reason."

The language interchanges in the book are exciting. The old man always fights for what is real in language and life, rejecting the euphemisms applied to him. He refuses, for example, to be categorized as a "senior citizen" and as he writes in one note, he will not be "passing away" but will die. Nevertheless, day by day, individual members of the family grow impatient with grandpa's habits and routines. Furthermore, his apartment, though in the basement, would provide the necessary accommodations for Jenny's older brother and his new wife. The handwriting is on the wall and even grandpa's son says, "The day I get too old or too lazy to hold my own toothbrush and swish it back and forth on my teeth a few times you can take me to the old people's home and leave me there. Amelia, you got that: The old folks' home."… And that is indeed where the family plans to send the old man. Apprised of this by his granddaughter Jenny, grandpa plans to run away. (pp. 68-9)

[The] nursing home in this story has nothing to recommend it. More important than the lack of basic comforts which are carefully described is the clear implication that the old man will continue to receive the same insensitive treatment that he has received at home. Jenny reacts violently when she visits Castle Haven. "The back of Jenny's neck went cold. She felt sick, sick. She hated this place and pitied every old person here…. She didn't want to … hear Mrs. Burr McCarthy going on in her calm, sensible way about the 'lovely' residents."…

Despite his acerbity, grandfather comes through as a real character—brave, stubborn, independent to the end, determining his own fate even to the point of succeeding in taking his life. Professionals and parents before recommending this book will have to decide whether the emotional resilience of this courageous "old codger" justified the grim, detailed representation of this very real situation. (p. 69)