A gripping tale of generational conflict, corporate rapaciousness, and George Washington's musings.
For over 150 years, Rosa and her son Wyeth have blended into the shadows of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, masking their immortality behind the cluttered shelves of a junk-filled thrift store. Their secret is the Eternal Spring—a life-giving fountain hidden within a mountainside cave—but their long lives have yielded more baggage than treasure. When Richie Scowl, the ruthless heir to a corporate energy empire, discovers their secret and moves to seize the spring, the family’s quiet existence is shattered. Forced out of hiding, they must confront the modern world and the ancient ghosts that have haunted them for over a century.
As the confrontation reaches a breaking point, the past collides violently with the present. Wyeth is forced to reckon with the guilt of a friend’s death while protecting the man’s imperiled daughter, all while forming a dangerous, uncharacteristic bond with Scowl’s own granddaughter, Pawpaw. Meanwhile, Rosa grapples with her own mortality from a hospital bed, revisiting a haunted love story in a castle now owned by a man obsessed with her legend. In a heated standoff at the entrance to the springs, Wyeth’s defensive walls are put to the ultimate test, forcing him to decide if their eternal secret is worth the cost of their souls.
Hovering above it all is George Washington, who once frequented Berkeley Springs and now narrates events from beyond the grave. From his vantage point, he observes the town and communes with the living through the Roman Baths, where past and present blur.
Inspired by a wealthy nineteenth century politician and whisky distiller who constructed a castle in a West Virginia hamlet to woo a much younger woman, Grow Old and Don’t Die stress tests the durability of friendship, the desire for power, and the ability to hold a grudge when pursued over periods far beyond the average human lifespan.
