A Bittersweet Season is an examination of the dysfunctional elderly care system in America, told through a deeply personal and honest caregiver's narrative.

Many of us will reach a point in our adult lives when familial roles are reversed; suddenly, we are the ones who must care for our parents.

A lot of us can't fathom this phase, let alone adequately prepare for it emotionally, physically, and financially.

We assume there will be a safety net to help us, but as the number of elderly people grows, the systems on which we rely on are becoming tenuous.

Journalist and author Jane Gross thought her mother was prepared with enough money and decent health into her 70s.

But as Gross witnessed, even the most well-prepared can face an inconceivable labyrinth of complications, laws, and unnecessary suffering.

In A Bittersweet Season, Gross meshes a poignant, heartfelt memoir of her mother's journey through the senior care system, and her own battle to cope with the reality of this system in the United States.