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 bit more explaining.
When I read The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, I wanted to read more books by this author. In addition to this one, she has a non-fiction book called Breaking and Mending: A Doctor’s Story of Burnout and Recovery. Joanna Cannon is British and worked as a hospital doctor before specialising in psychiatry.
Eighty-four 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 the past is about to come to light. If the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly like a man who died sixty years ago? Solving a mystery is extra challenging when memory loss is an issue, but Florence (and Elsie) and Jack are up to the task and fearlessly begin to figure out the strange and unexplained events at Cherry Tree after Gabriel Price moved in.
Compassionate, funny, and beautifully written, this is a rich portrait of friendship and growing old. It reminded me a lot of Elizabeth is Missing and Olive, Again.
Cannon captures, with respect and sensitivity, the struggle of dealing with losses of freedom and memory that often accompany old age. But she also demonstrates the difference that small acts of kindness can make. Cannon’s sense of humour keeps this poignant and wise novel feeling lighthearted, and there are plenty of intriguing twists and turns.
On the flyleaf it says: This book will teach you many things, but here are three of them:
1. The fine threads of humanity will connect us all forever.
2. There is so very much more to anyone than the worst thing they have ever done.
3. Even the smallest life can leave the loudest echo.
Joanne's Reading Blog 