The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules - Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg - Guest Book Review

Translated from the Swedish by Rod Bradbury

Published by Pan Macmillan

Guest book review by Tracy Terry

At last an 'international best seller' that I've actually enjoyed. 

A story about a pensioner (and her friends), The League Of Pensioners, behaving badly. Whilst I can understand comparisons being made between this novel and The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson I'm personally loathe to do so except to say that in my opinion this is a far superior read.

Far-fetched? Without a doubt and yet unlike the afore mentioned One hundred Year Old Man the author never strays into the absurd. But more than anything else The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules is a wonderfully quirky alternative crime novel that takes many of the stereotypes about elderly people and turns them upside down.

A more or less constantly funny novel (I did think certain bits fell slightly flat) full of memorable characters that I readily took to heart. Whilst written by a Swedish author (The English translation is extremely well done by Rod Bradbury) the almost farcical nature of some of the scrapes Martha and her fellow conspirators (also known as the League of Pensioners) found themselves in put me in mind of one of those old Ealing Comedies.

And yet very much up to date. The social commentary on topics such as the potential vulnerability of the elderly in residential institutes more concerned with their profit margins is exemplary.

Many thanks to Tracy for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library! Tracy blogs at Pen and Paper - do pay a visit there and read her brilliant book blog!

Rory's Boys - Alan Clark

‘My story was more complex than I had known it to be...'

Rory Blaine is a very successful advertising executive in London who discovers the grandmother he has been estranged from for many years is now close to death. He reluctantly visits her and whilst there meets Vic d'Orsay, a popular singer now in his seventies but still going strong. When his grandmother passes away, Rory is surprised to inherit his grand familial home, Mount Royal in Hampstead, a place that holds many memories for him, but which he has also not seen for many years. When he takes possession, Vic appears again and suggests an idea for the future role of the place, and a brilliant plan is born; 'Mount Royal was about to become Britain’s first residential home for gay men.’

Rory has turned 45 and when he experiences unexpected rejection in his personal life he begins to think about his life, what happened in the past, where he is now and what might lay ahead. Openly gay, he wonders if there will ever be a man who he can spend his life with, whether he can move beyond promiscuity and brief affairs and short-lived (albeit very pleasurable) gratification, on to finding something lasting.

This novel has a first person narrative from Rory throughout, in the form of a record of thoughts and events as suggested by his therapist. This allows the reader a very intimate look at his life, his innermost thoughts and fears, and his relationships, throughout the story, and has the feel of a very personal tale. 

I enjoyed this novel a lot; I thought the writing was very honest and moving at times, and also funny, entertaining and witty; some bits really made me laugh and reading other parts I felt very sad. It is frank and open about sex, casual encounters and gay relationships.

This story felt so real, at times Rory's pain was strong, the loneliness after being disowned at a young age by his grandmother, the only family he really had left, and his difficulties in coming to terms with himself, as well as with getting older, finding his place in the world, and accepting his past if he is to move onwards. Vic offers him valuable advice about forgiveness that was based on his own very difficult experiences, which are revealed in the novel through a very well written encounter that exposes the awful bigotry and ignorance of some in society.

                                  

Vic is a charismatic, affable and layered character. Rory observes of him that ‘he certainly wasn’t like elderly men were supposed to be. It had obviously never occurred to him to disengage with the world, to step back and leave life to the younger generation. He never stood on his dignity either so somehow, however he behaved, he kept it.’

There are some very touching friendships that grow and evolve over the course of the novel, with some characters, especially Elspeth, coming into their own as the story progressed. In fact, when I had finished reading the book, I realised I really would miss some of these characters, so vividly had they been drawn by the author.

Some of the elderly gay characters have evidently had to hide their sexuality from most of those around them for much of their lives, indeed, as mentioned in the novel, for some of them, they could remember when their love was considered a crime. I had never thought about the lack of places for older gay people to be able to live where they would be accepted and cherished rather than judged and questioned, and I thought it was brilliant to see this idea being discussed in fiction. 

The wealthy older men who come to reside at Mount Royal in its new life as a residential home are the 'Rory's Boys' of the novel's title. There are some fascinating, entertaining and endearing characters amongst them. One of the larger-than-life residents remarks that ‘we are each of us surprising and fascinating till our last breath', a line that I loved.

There are plenty of twists and turns within the plot too, some that I guessed at and some that certainly took me by surprise.

This is a really good first novel; the author imbues his prose with honesty, compassion, poignancy and humour, and has crafted an entertaining plot and some great characters.

Source - I was kindly sent a copy of this novel to read and review.

Publisher - Bliss, an imprint of Arcadia Books
Visit the author's website here

The Senior Moment - Eva Hudson

Degrees of Separation Book 2

'What's a woman got to do to get some attention around here?'

What an opening to this crime story! Jean Henderson has no sooner arrived on her first visit to New York City from London, suitcase still in hand, than she is witness to a fatality at a grocery store robbery, and what's more, she catches sight of the face of one of the two criminals as they remove their mask when they are about to speed away on their motorbike. Jean tries to inform the police of what she has just witnessed moments before, but those on the scene pay little heed to her; she feels like she is invisible to them all, so she ventures to the nearest police station, where she meets a fellow senior, Stanley Rozello, who is on the cusp of retirement from the force.

'Less than four hours in New York and it seemed she had become transparent, dissolving into the background wherever she went. Could it be her age? Surely sixty-five was no age at all. Ever since her last birthday she'd told everyone who'd listen it was the new fifty.'

Jean is there in NYC to visit her son and his partner who is due to give birth. But when she reaches their home, she finds neither of them there and a strange message left for her from her son. It becomes clear that he is in deep financial trouble.

This is a compelling read by Eva Hudson, an enjoyable and entertaining crime story that turns accepted notions about ageing on their head and has something to say about the financial crisis to boot. She has created a strong, determined and unconventional heroine in Jean; a mature, older lady who certainly won't stand for being ignored and being made to feel like she is invisible because others may consider her as less significant in society now, somehow, just because of her age. 

'Getting older had never bothered her, she actually quite enjoyed the licence it gave her to behave badly and get more of her own way, but this new invisibility thing was becoming tiresome.'

She embarks upon a plan with others who feel the same to make their voices heard, using the very thing that has irked her - the way she has been treated as if she is invisible and unimportant - to her advantage, whilst at the same time aiming to help her son out of the deep trouble he has found himself in. 

The story skips along at a good pace throughout, with drama, tension and humour, and the lead characters are engaging; as well as Jean, I particularly liked the dogged Detective Luisa Rodriguez and her former partner in the NYPD, the aforementioned Rozello. Both find themselves involved in Jean's activities as she sets about righting the wrongs she encounters in NYC. There's a point made here about alienating a section of society at our peril - if they were to rally around like Jean, who knows what might happen. I haven't read the first novel by Eva Hudson yet but it is on my kindle and after reading this one I am looking forward to it.

This is an independently published novel.

Thanks to the author for kindly sending me an ebook copy of this novel to read and give an honest review.

You can follow the author on twitter @Eva_Hudson and visit her website here.