My Review of #ThreethingsaboutElsie by @JoannaCannon

My Review:

Firstly I must confess I’ve been having a bit of a struggle recently to concentrate on my reading and find books which grab and hold my attention well enough to ensure I can’t put them down. 

Three things about Elsie has been the exception to the rule and has renewed my faith in my ability to devour and drown in and adore a book.

It also quite broke my heart – Joanna Cannon how could you put me through this?  By the end I was sobbing those great big ugly gut wrenching Waah’s that you just can’t do quietly – Thank goodness I was reading it in bed and not on the bus!

Like her debut novel “The Trouble with goats and sheep” which I also read and loved, this author peoples her writing with wonderful characters to believe in and peppers it with wry observations and astoundingly astute and beautiful prose.

We are introduced to the narrator Florence as she lies prone on the floor of her sheltered accommodation waiting for someone to find her following a fall.

She spends her time reminiscing, interspersed with detailed imaginings of how different folk will to react if they are the ones to discover and rescue her.

In her mid 80s Florence has a lively mind which treats us to some colourful and detailed observations, yet people assume she is losing her memory because she is old – how can they, she never forgets a thing, well  not when her best friend Elsie is around to help jog her memory. Her BFF is her constant companion and the 2 old ladies have been together since they were friends as teenagers, so what one may have forgotten the other will be sure to remember.

But when a sinister face from the past shows up in the very place Florence feels safe, she takes it upon herself to unravel the mystery of why a man who was supposed to have died donkeys years ago is still very much alive and seems to be posing a threat to Florence.  Not many people believe Florence except of course her loyal pal Elsie, and sprightly pensioner the wonderful Jack, who also becomes her staunch champion.

There are a few mysteries to be solved and dear Florence is determined to solve them all, if only she didn’t have so many little gaps in her ageing memory.

This is a simply stunning book, read it, love it and please take my advice and read it with a hanky tucked up your sleeve.

The Blurb

There are three things you should know about Elsie.

The first thing is that she’s my best friend.

The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better.

And the third thing… might take a little bit more explaining.

84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. 

As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly a man who died sixty years ago?