Great book. The characters are a little stereotypical and the narrator's behaviour struck me as odd but the story kept me reading on. The story explores topics that interest me in reading material: old age, what old people were like before they were old and the secrets they keep, where old peop...
Strange book. Some of it was all Bridget Jones-style wacky where you have access to the character's inner life, sex life and embarrassments. The whole first part seemed to be about terrible odours, filthy bodies and cat poop (the main character befriends a cat lady). There is then a mystery about...
'We Are All Made of Glue' tells the story of Georgie. Her marriage is crumbling and her relationship with her children is fading away. She meets Mrs Shapiro, an old Jewish woman who befriends her. Mrs Shapiro is admitted into the hospital, and Georgie is named as a relative of hers. Georgie strug...
Doro and Marcus were militant lefties who founded and lived on a Doncaster commune in the seventies. They marched, they demo-ed, they ate vegetables and engaged in free sex. Now, late middle-aged and vaguely connected to current economic reality, they have decided to get married. Meanwhile, their...
A novel about family. Lewycka has once again brought to life brilliantly detailed characters whose individual lives are informed by their shared history. Loved the intricate details Lewycka has sprinkled through the story and tied together. She also did a remarkable job at pointing out the ways i...
I was disappointed with Various Pets. I read We are all Made of Glue a few years ago, which I thought was brilliantly funny. This one is enjoyable enough to read and the characters are easy to warm to. I just never felt engaged enough to really care about the conclusions to their stories, with th...