Published By: Bantam
Pages: 448
Released On: 18/04/2024
Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way.
Then, one midsummer’s night, something terrible happens – so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer?
The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day.
And Florrie – cheerfully independent but often overlooked – is the only person determined to uncover the truth.
As she does, Florrie finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars across her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore.
*****
Thanks to Alison Barrow – PR Director – for my gifted proof of this title in return for an honest review.
This is sunshine in a book. Full of warmth and happiness and it’s just absolutely splendid.
Florence – Florrie – is a delightful creation. She is a divine, exquisite woman who I instantly adored, and that adoration didn’t wain at all. I also loved Stanhope, Florrie’s friend. He is a lovely old soul, a gorgeous man. And I could read both his and Florrie’s story forever.
There was an instant feeling of grandparents with Florrie and Stanhope. They didn’t remind me of my grandparents as such, but having lost them all some time ago, they gave me back this feeling of warmth and safety and security that you get from your grandparents and it made me really happy.
There is a cast of fantastic supporting characters – such as Renata, the assisted living complex manager; a sad sort of woman, felt a bit lost. There’s too many to get into here, but we have carers, residents, doctors, police, people frrom the community. I especially loved Magda, one of Florrie’s carers. She’s brash and unashamedly herself. Does she lack a certain level of professionalism? Perhaps, but I like that. She really stood out.
The character creation is so good that the plot, as good as it is, almost faded into the background for me. I so enjoyed getting to know these characters, particularly Florrie, that I just wanted to stay on this journey with them.
I also loved that our protagonist is disabled. As someone with a chronic illness, sometimes classified as a disability, I’ve noticed more and more that disabled characters are there almost as a novelty or a tick boxing exercise. But they’re rarely the star, so that was really lovely to see.
It is a cosy crime novel, a genre we have been seeing more and more often recently with the likes of Richard Osman, Richard Coles, and Robert Thorogood – all fabulous authors in their own right. But this felt different. And I can’t exactly say why. An elderly person investigating the death of a comrade when the officials won’t believe her? So far so familiar. But it had this soul, this heart, this love, this…otherness that I hadn’t read before and it really worked.
What I liked is that yes, we did get a crime, and it’s fairly early on, but we still get enough time to get to know the people involved, so you become more invested in the storyline.
It felt a bit like two different stories, and I mean that in the best of ways, rather than in an incoherent way. We get to meet Florrie as she is now, but we also get to travel back in time with her, and those scenes were jsut as good as the present scenes, so it was like a buy one get one free deal on stories.
It had me smiling from the start. Not because anything particularly humerous was going on, but just because of how the words made me feel. Underneath the sadness, it is a joyful story. It is moving, yes, but not just for the sadness. There is this theme of ageing, of accepting your ageing and everything that goes with it, of lost friends and lost loves, of lost lives., of illness and trauma and grief. But it’s so warming and cosy and uplifting and hopeful that one can’t help but read it with a tear in their eye.
It is my first book from the author and if I’m honest, I hadn’t heard of her prior to being sent this book. Every so often there comes an author or a book that makes me really appreciate the chances I get to read advanced copies, and Susan Fletcher is that author for me today. If her previous books hold as much skill and love as this one does, then I will most definitely have to buy the lot!
Books By Your Bedside 