I’m really delighted today to be helping launch the blog tour for Judy Leigh’s latest book, The Silver Ladies Do Lunch, and sharing my publication day review: published by Boldwood Books today (2nd June), it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. As always, my thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Just this once, I’m not going to run through every book I’ve loved from Judy – the loveliest well-told stories, those wonderful older characters, lots of laughter and the moments of real poignancy too. Every single one I’ve read has been better than the one before, and you’ll find my many reviews if you pop her name in the search bar (right hand side of the page). Ok, maybe my personal favourite is still The Highland Hens (you’ll find my review of that one here), but really only by a whisker! But I’ve loved her historical novels written as Elena Collins too – The Witch’s Tree (review here), and The Lady of the Loch (review here) – and I know we have a treat to come when she turns her hand to cosy crime with Foul Play at Seal Bay, out in August (and available for pre-order). But let me focus now, and tell you about her latest…
When Lin, Josie and Minnie left Miss Hamilton’s class at Middleton Ferris County Primary School, sixty years ago, they could only dream about what the future had in store for them. The one thing they knew for certain was that their friendship would thrive.
Years later and life hasn’t always been kind. Josie is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband Harry a year after his sudden demise. Lin is hoping to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary with husband Neil, but he’s suddenly keeping secrets and telling her lies, so she’s suspecting the worst And as for Minnie, well she loves her life in Oxford academia, but with no family to call her own, she sometimes wonders if the sacrifices were all worthwhile.
So, when the ninety-year-old Miss Hamilton – or Cecily as she lets them call her now – glides gracefully back into their lives on her glamorous purple mobility scooter, the ladies are in need of inspiration and fun. And over their regular lunches, the friends start to dream of leaving the past in the past and embracing the future, because there’s nothing you can’t achieve with good friends at your side.
I’m not sure there are many of us these days with friendships that have endured since childhood, but Lin, Minnie and Josie are the exception. We meet them first at Middleton Ferris primary school, delighted to meet their inspirational and thoroughly lovely new teacher, Miss Hamilton – and now, although Minnie has moved to Oxford, they meet up regularly sixty years later for regular lunch dates, and are as close as they ever were. Josie, recently widowed after a long and happy marriage, has just returned from a solo cruise – missing her husband being there to share all the new experiences, but making new friends. Lin has been married to Neil for almost fifty years – but she’s beginning to wonder whether he might be getting fed up with her not having a more exciting life. Minnie has stayed single, but very much enjoys playing the field – until she comes across a man who might just have potential to become someone special. And Miss Hamilton – they can now call her Cecily – is back in the village too, full of life in her nineties, joining them for their lunch dates.
It’s a fairly uncomplicated story, following their friendship as they join forces to support young Florence at a difficult time in her life and help Lin keep things together as she increasingly fears the imminent end of her marriage. But the whole book also paints a lovely picture of village life, with an established community that certainly has its share of the quirky, eccentric and different (every individual beautifully drawn) but can most definitely pull together when they need to.
And I must say I found the whole book totally delightful – although I will admit that the large cast of characters did make it a touch more of a challenge to keep track and differentiate between them until I was a little way into the story. I really felt for Josie, beginning to find her feet, but still waking to Harry’s smile from the photo on her bedside table – and really enjoyed her relationship with Fergal, a friendship frowned upon by some but that has also endured since their schooldays (even if his attendance was a touch sporadic, until Miss Hamilton’s intervention). Lin, it has to be said, did need rather a lot of support and reassurance – although I enjoyed the way her storyline developed, my sympathy was just a little strained at times – but I entirely loved Minnie and her plans for a romantic adventure (and her thoroughly lovely target too).
As always, there’s a great deal of humour – the running story of Nadine, the farmer’s much-loved pig, was just magic – beautifully balanced by the moments of seriousness and sadness, and with the next smile never too far away. And if the three schoolfriends have storylines that prove it’s never too late to live a little and look forward to a happy future, Cecily provides even more proof of that – she might be on a mobility scooter, but it’s certainly no barrier to living life to the full. The focus on family and friendship is simply perfect – and although life in Middleton Ferris might have its downsides along with its positives, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there. This was yet another really lovely read from an author who unfailingly writes books that I enjoy – and one I’d certainly very much recommend to others.
About the author
Judy Leigh is the USA Today bestselling author of The Old Girls’ Network and Five French Hens, and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.
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Thanks for your lovely words, as ever, Anne. I’m always so delighted to read them. Sending warmest wishes, J x
I really must read one of Judy Leigh’s books. I’m sure I’d enjoy them!