The Golden Oldies’ Book Club – Judy Leigh

Published By: Boldwood
Pages: 347
Released On: 06/12/2022

Ruth the librarian fears she’s too old to find love, but a discussion about Lady Chatterley’s Lover makes her think again.

Aurora doesn’t feel seventy-two and longs to relive the excitement of her youth, while Verity is getting increasingly tired of her husband Mark’s grumpiness and wonders if their son’s imminent flight from the nest might be just the moment for her to fly too. And Danielle is fed up with her cheating husband. Surely life has more in store for her than to settle for second best?

The glue that holds Combe Pomeroy together is Jeannie. Doyenne of the local cider farm and heartbeat of her family and community, no one has noticed that Jeannie needs some looking after too. Has the moment for her to retire finally arrived, and if so, what does her future hold?

From a book club French exchange trip, to many celebrations at the farm, this is the year that everything changes, that lifelong friendships are tested, and for some of the women, they finally get the love they deserve.

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

The last Judy Leigh book I read, The Highland Hens, made me sob. We’re talking proper ugly crying kind of sobbing. It was beautiful and gorgeous and lovely and everything positive, but man did it make me cry. Luckily, this one didn’t make me cry…I’m not sure I could have coped with that again.

Now this is only the second book of hers I’ve read so this may not be the case for the others, but for these two, I love how she puts older characters front and centre. She’s not afraid to make them the stars. Older people, particularly women, tend to be shoved to the side and made invisible. But these women are unapologetic and I love it.

I developed an apple allergy a number of years ago, and I don’t always miss them, but the description of the cider making and the apple orchard just sounds so lovely. I could smell it and remember the taste, I was so jealous of these fictional characters.

This one was a slow burner for me. It was pleasant enough, well written, well rounded characters, but it didn’t grab me quite as quickly as the last one, but it did soon win me round.

I didn’t get on with the scenes set in France – there was nothing wrong with them at all – but I definitely preferred the scenes set in Somerset. It just felt more homeley to me, probably because I’m a homebird – I’ll take rainy, snowy, foggy cold England over hot, sunny, sticky foreign climates any day.

Whilst it’s good throughout and I liked it for the most part, but by the end, I was absolutely loving it. And it has such a beautiful ending, for everyone.

I’ve always liked the idea of being part of a book club but I’m not sure I could cope with the inevitable arguments, I get very protective over books and authors that I like, but it would be a good way to discover books you wouldn’t choose otherwise….much like book Twitter has been.

I adore Judy’s work and she seems like such a lovely lady, and I can’t wait to see what she brings out next.