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A Grand Old Time

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A Grand Old Time

By: Judy Leigh
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
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About this listen

A funny and heartwarming debut for fans of Celia Imrie and Dawn French.

Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a care home. She may be 75 and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet. And so, one morning, Evie walks out of Sheldon Lodge and sets off on a Great Adventure across Europe. But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son Brendan and his wife Maura, who follow a trail of puzzling text messages to bring her home.

When they finally catch up with her, there are shocks in store...because while Brendan may have given up on life and love, Evie certainly has not.

©2018 Judy Leigh (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Anthologies & Short Stories Dark Humour Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Romantic Comedy Short Stories Comedy Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

"Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting." (Miranda Dickinson)

"Lovely...a book that assures that life is far from over at seventy." (Cathy Hopkins, best-selling author of The Kicking the Bucket List)

"Brimming with warmth, humour and a love of life…a wonderful escapade." (Fiona Gibson, best-selling author of The Woman Who Upped and Left)

All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed this story about an older lady who ‘escaped’ from a care home in Ireland where she had a boring and lonely existence, to travel through France and experience new friends and a new wonderful exciting and loving life. The story was not only a fun adventure for the main character Evie, who was escaping her old life, but also insightfully touched on a few other issues that people can face in life, including what I thought of as the sub plot concerning her son’s marriage.
A grand example of... ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ and have a party🎉.
Sadly though, I became frustrated at some of the pauses in the narration and between the chapters. I have not noticed such long pauses in other books I have listened to. But apart from that I loved it and I loved Evie.

When life gives you lemons.....

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