NetGalley audio
Macmillan Audio
Narrators: Alison Steadman; Daisy Edgar-Jones
Arc, audio, women’s fiction, romance
Quercus, Kindle/Apr 16, 2020
7/28-8/1
I received a complimentary arc of this audiobook from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an unbiased review.
This was an extremely humorous and witty story which I found wonderfully narrated. The voice and inflection of the grandmother Eileen Cotton sounds authentic for a 79 years young woman! I enjoyed this audio version of the book.
Leena Cotton is tired workaholic who hasn’t taken a vacation or day off work in years. When she totally bombs a presentation she fears she’ll be fired. She never expected her boss Rebecca to mandate that she take a 2 month paid leave from work! Leena is flummoxed and overwhelmed as to how she will manage without work.
We learn that she is most likely using work as a coping mechanism for the other personal stressors in her life. Her sister Carla died a year ago from cancer and she had been angry and estranged from her mother since that time. She believes more could’ve been done to save her sister. Fortunately, she does has a close work colleague with whom she had been discussing starting their own consulting firm. Bea is her sounding board and voice of reason while struggling herself to make sense of life as a single mother.
Leena lives in the fast paced city of London with her flat mate: Martha who is very pregnant waiting for her parent to return from her business trip and Fitz who always seems to be between jobs. They encourage her to use the time off to relax and regroup. Her boyfriend Ethan is just as much of a workaholic for the same company. They rarely spend time together mostly on weekends when he isn’t busy on a work project.
Leena calls her grandmother Eileen who lives in the quaint Clearwater cottage in Hendley where she grew up. She decides it’s been long overdue for a visit to her grandmothers house. She is hesitant being close to her mother who her grandmother has been helping out since they lost Carla. While there her grandmother who is recently reinventing her own life since her husband Wade decided to leave to be with a woman half his age. She confesses to a Leena how he had held her back from some dreams she had of experiencing London.
Leena suggests that they switch living arrangements for the 2 months of her leave from work. To keep her busy, Eileen provides Leena with a notebook of all her responsibilities and daily routine which involve helping her neighbors. Leena learns to discover that her grandmother is an extremely active and staunch advocate in her community. It takes her some time and many follies as she maneuvers her way around.
In London, Eileen is thriller and then overwhelmed with the stress and impersonal nature of living in the city. She is initially disheartened to discover mostly young neighbors with no time or fear of interacting. Having 2 cats back at home, Eileen becomes concerned when she finds a cat wondering around the flat. She immediately approached the neighbor with whom she believes the cat belongs.
Eileen is pleasantly surprised when Leticia invites her in for a chat. Her flat is filled with magnificent antiques although the woman looks dreadful. Eileen discovers that Leticia has lived there over 30 years and had never had a neighbor visit. She lives alone and both she and Eileen enjoy some laughs together and agree to visit again.
While Leena is discovering that the older people in her grandmother’s community may be opinionated she develops a soft spot for them. She actually enjoys taking over for her grandmother and her many responsibilities. Such as participating in the neighborhood watch meetings which is mostly a social time for the community.
There are many laugh out loud moments as both Eileen and Leena each try to adapt to their unfamiliar surroundings. Both of them find a purpose and sense of self engrossing themselves in their new communities with desires to improve the lives and join people together.
Along the way each may dabble a bit with romantic situations which are new and unexpected. Eileen especially finds that she can feel free to engage in satisfying relationships after so many years with Wade. She loves discovering the woman within who always wanted to experience life.
Leena learns that family is an important source of support and that reconciling with her mother, Marianne, a healing experience. Learning to accept their differences in their perspective as well as find new ground. Relationships between family and friends are important and should be nurtured and valued.
This is a delightful story of love, self awareness, grieving, family and resilience.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3466207863
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