Can't Get Enough

Can’t Get Enough explores the profound emotional and psychological challenges of adult children becoming caregivers for their aging parents, portraying it as a disorienting yet necessary reversal of roles. The narrative follows Hendrix Barry as she is forced to make critical decisions for the mother who once guided her. Through Hendrix’s internal conflicts and her family’s adjustments, the novel suggests that this difficult transition is a defining part of the cycle of life and love.

The sudden and stark nature of this role reversal leaves Hendrix feeling unprepared and emotionally overwhelmed. When she finds her mother, Betty, disoriented in the back of a police car, the scene is a jarring inversion of her own adolescence, prompting her to reflect, “It’s funny how the tables turn” (14). This moment, the first in which the reader is introduced to Betty, crystallizes the shift in their dynamic, as Hendrix must now assume the role of responsible protector. The sight of her once-immaculate mother looking disheveled and frightened underscores the tragic reality of Betty’s decline and solidifies Hendrix’s new, unwanted position as the parental figure. The experience leaves Hendrix feeling “completely unprepared for what’s ahead” (7), highlighting the emotional disorientation that accompanies the loss of a parent as a guiding force.