Description
Time to come out of hibernation...
Sylvia Penton has been hibernating for years, it's no wonder she's a little prickly...
Sylvia lives alone, dedicating herself to her job at the local university. On weekends, she helps out at a local hedgehog sanctuary because it gives her something to talk about on Mondays - and it makes people think she's nicer than she is.
Only Sylvia has a secret: she's been in love with her boss, Professor Lomax, for over a decade now, and she's sure he's just waiting for the right time to leave his wife. Meanwhile she stores every crumb of his affection and covertly makes trouble for anyone she feels gets in his way.
But when a bright new PhD candidate catches the Professor’s eye, Sylvia’s dreams of the fairy tale ending she has craved for so long, are soon in tatters, driving her to increasingly desperate measures and an uncertain future.
Sylvia might have been sleep walking through her life but things are about to change now she’s woken up…
Review
When I first began to read this book I was unsure that I was going to like it. Narrated by Sylvia it seemed that her thoughts were just streaming onto the page and a lot of it made cringeworthy reading.
Sylvia is infatuated with her boss and at first I couldn't make out whether it was reciprocated or not, as I judged the world Sylvia inhabits at the university through her rose tinted lens. I mean he does take her out for meals and buys her a lovely bracelet for her birthday which he covertly presents to her.
I began to get annoyed with Sylvia, why couldn't she see what was happening. The gatekeeper for her "Prof" she is the epitome of many a person in a similar position I have encountered. You only get what you want on her terms and only if she decides she wants you to. But the thing about Sylvia is she is also clever and this aspect of her character hooked me in. Although at first I thought she was very mean spirited, as the pages turned and her character unfolded together with her past, I was on team Sylvia all the way.
I liked the way the author managed in the end to present the inner Sylvia. I think there are lots of her out there but she's outnumbered by the "regular" characters. People like Sylvia are usually portrayed in a one dimensional way but this time we got to see the world from her point of view.
If you liked Eleanor Oliphant, or the Rosie Project then I think you will like this too. BTW "Needlemouse" is hedgehog literally translated from the Japanese - which has a twofold meaning in the book. There are also delightful hedgehog snippets for the seasons as you go through the book.
I'm giving this book four out of five stars. My thanks to netgalley for an ARC. The book is out on 27 June 2019.
It's got stuff about hedgies in - I'm onto it! Di x
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