The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Magot: A Novel by Marianne Cronin. New York: Harper Perennial, 2021. 322pp. About the Author, About the Book, Read on. *****

Lenni is 17 and Margot 83 years old, together they have lived 100 years. Lenni lives in the section of the Glasgow hospital for those who are terminally ill, where she meets Margot in an art class.  Margot has heart disease.  Both Lenni and Margot find it difficult to relate to people their own age and are left alone without family in the hospital. 

Told in alternating voices, Lenni and Margo forge a friendship and share their life stories in their art.

I received this book as a book club's choice, the Colony of Readers, a Facebook Book Club. 

I am so glad this book was chosen because I probably would not have picked it up myself. There are no happy endings in this bittersweet debut novel, however, the journey is worth it. Cronin doesn't try to soften the blow of being "terminal" however, comparing it to an airport terminal and suggesting "life-limiting “as an alternative label is brilliant! Lenni's interactions with Father Arthur are thought-provoking and humorous. She wants to introduce herself to God before she meets him and, in the process, discovers a friend in Father Arthur. Anyone who has spent time in a hospital with a family member who has a long-term illness knows that the experience can take on a life of its own. The nurses become confidants, the other families become friends and the doctors viewed as saviors. Many reviewers have suggested it is a sad, tear-jerker book, I found it to be touching, life affirming and hopeful. There are so many elements to this story that I highly recommend it for a Book Club. 

Marianne Cronin was born in 1990, grew up in Warwickshire, England, and began writing stories as soon as she could hold a pen. She spent seven years this novel  and now counts herself very lucky that she gets to spend her days while her rescue cat, Puffin sleeps under her desk. In her spare time, Marianne performs improv in the West Midlands, where she lives. 

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Quilt City Murders

 

Quilt City Murders (A Hadley Carroll Mystery Book 1)  by Bruce Leonard. Touch Point Press, 2022. 297 pages. ***

Hadley Carroll is rebelling against being demoted from a general-assignment reporter to placing copies of the Paducah Chronicle inside racks around town. Her solution is to sling the burlap bag of biodegradable papers into the Ohio River, never to be seen or read again. When Hadley sees a shimmer of red in the water that turns out to be the left arm and hand of her former fiancé, she is determined to find out why Matt dumped her and who hated him enough to kill him.  Was it Nick Stoddard who groped her during a Christmas party and caused her demotion? Was Matt secretly working on a news article about N&S Shipping, was that why he sought and received their financial records? Are all police officers corrupt or is Officer Williams an anomaly who likes bullying and beating up people especially Hadley? 30,000 quilters will be attending Quilt Week and Hadley is determined to expose the killer even if it causes unfavorable press about Paducah at the worst possible time. 

Quilters will be able to identify with Quilt Week and the sights and sounds of Paducah, KY. Advertised as a cozy mystery, it is an entertaining debut novel. My only drawback is that when starting the novel, the "voice" of the main character did not ring true for me. Difficult to pinpoint why, the quilting terms and descriptions were correct, however, not the way I think or talk about men or as a quilter. By the end of the book, I found Hadley to be more believable and look forward to the next Hadley Carroll Mystery. One of Leonard's strengths is his advertising campaign for this novel, he has written to Quilt Guilds promoting his book and daily I see an ad on Facebook. 

Bruce Leonard has written for newspapers, magazines and websites and this is his debut novel. He is a writer, editor, and photographer. His  novel Hard Exit, a hardboiled detective novel that takes place in Los Angeles and is narrated by depressed private investigator Jack Drake, is slated to be published in 2023. The sequel to Quilt City Murders, titled Quilt City: Panic in Paducah, is being read by beta readers now. He lives with his wife, Sedonia Sipes, in Illinois and has dedicated this book to her and to his parents, Bruce and Barbara Leonard. 

To learn more about Leonard, click here.

The Kindle version is on sale for 4.99 at Amazon 

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