Skip to main content

One Puzzling Afternoon - Emily Critchley

Description

A mystery she can't remember. A friend she can't forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother - who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community - she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

Review

I read this book with Pigeonhole. Being close to someone who has dementia meant at times this book hit home a little too hard for me. It is probably the best writing I have read regarding someone with dementia, as it was very true to life. It was also told from the perspective of Edie who has dementia and that has actually helped me a lot in real life. 

I could have stopped reading but the mystery that Edie recounts kept me going, as I was so intrigued as to what had happened in 1951.

A book that will stay with me for a long time.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done - Sophie Hannah

  Description The twistiest murder mystery you are ever likely to read? A story about a family that does the unthinkable in order to save the life of one of its beloved members? Both? Or something else altogether? You'll have to read until the very last word in order to find out… You think it will never happen to you: the ring of the bell, the policeman on the doorstep. What he says traps you in a nightmare that starts with the words, 'I'm afraid…' Sally Lambert is also afraid, and desperate enough to consider the unthinkable. Is it really, definitely, impossible to escape from this horror? Maybe not. There's always something you can do, right? Of course, no one would ever do this particular something – except the Lamberts, who might have to. No one has ever gone this far. Until Sally decides that the Lamberts will… 'An incident involving a dog in a small village escalates to an all-out conflict, turning neighbour against neighbour, and culminating in murder. Bu...

The Dilemmas of Work Women - Fumio Yamamoto

  Description The classic Japanese bestseller published in English for the very first time -  a darkly funny and relatable book portraying the lives of five women 'Witty, wise and thought-provoking' Cecelia Ahern 'Crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence' Lisa Owens, author of  Not Working 'So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later' Roxy Dunn, author of  As Young as This Izumi  needs to get a job. Haruka  needs to stop talking about how she once had cancer. Katō  needs to get through a shift at the convenience store without being harassed. Mito  needs to break up with her boyfriend - or marry him. Sumie  just needs somewhere to live. In this classic Japanese bestseller, published in English twenty-five years after it took Japan by storm, the lives of five ordinary women are depicted with irresistible humour and searing emotional insight. Review A collection of short ...

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Description THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. YOU DON'T KNOW HER. BUT SHE KNOWS YOU. Rear Window  meets  Gone Girl , in this exceptional and startling psychological thriller Review I must be one of the last people to read this book. I did apply for a review copy but unfortunately wasn't successful. I then waited for the book to come down in price which it didn't - so I decided I would buy it and read it straight away! I'm sure it will be a film and before anyone gives away what happens I felt I really needed to get it read, so it jumped the TBR queue. There is not much plot outline from the publisher as you can see in the description above, so there wasn't a lot to go on when I began to read the book. First of all the book jumps around date wise - past and present and also between the main characters. I did have a little trouble remembering who was who and which time frame we were in - but that soon settled down. I also had to re-read the beginning because I th...