Three Things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon

THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE by Joanna Cannon is truly a puzzling look inside the mind of an aging resident of Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly.  Flo and her good friend Elsie seem almost inseparable and Flo relies on Elsie to be that friend, to help maintain calm in times of stress and … what is that third thing? Yes, Flo is often forgetful, but she is convinced that a new resident is actually a sinister figure from the past. Readers will be uncertain as to how reliable a narrator Flo really is – just look at the beautiful cover where an older woman almost blends into the background. The story in THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE is disturbing at times due to a strong atmosphere of suspense, threat and danger where a surprising, manipulative character appears and where items (elephant statue, binoculars, etc.) move or go missing. It may not seem so unusual, but here’s the weird coincidence …  I went to the public library to borrow a print copy and while the catalog said it should be on shelf, no one could find it.  Kirkus gave THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE a starred review (“rich portrait of old age and friendship”) and it was longlisted for the British Women's Prize for Fiction. Cannon writes extremely well about people of all ages; her previous work is The Trouble with Goats and Sheep.    

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM by debut author Anne Youngson is one of my favorite books of the year so far. That is mostly because of how beautifully written it is and how it surprised me that readers would be able to envision so much through the correspondence that is the heart of this novel. The first letter is from Tina Hopgood, now a farmer’s wife and grandmother in East Anglia, who refers to an archeological finding (the Tollund Man) which was an avid interest of her younger self.  She writes to Professor Glob, a scholar involved with the find.  He, however, is no longer alive and Anders Larsen, a widowed curator at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark, responds to her. 

From there, the letters gradually become less formal, more self-reflective and increasingly personal as each shares life events and musings. One of my most favorite passages is “Whenever I pick raspberries, I go as carefully as possible down the row, looking for every ripe fruit. But however careful I am, when I turn round to go back the other way, I find fruit I had not seen approaching the plants from the opposite direction. Another life, I thought, might be like a second pass down the row of raspberry canes; there would be good things I had not come across in my first life, but I suspect I would find much of the fruit was already in my basket.” 

There is an online reading group guide, but MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM is so unique you may want to savor it with just a few special friends. This title is an Amazon Best Book for August 2018, as well as being both a LibraryReads and Indie Next selection.

The Story Of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg

THE STORY OF ARTHUR TRULUV by Elizabeth Berg is a sentimental, gentle read, reminiscent in some ways of A Man Called Ove. The title character is an older man who has recently been widowed and he makes a vow to visit his wife, Nola’s grave every day.  It’s at the cemetery that he meets a troubled seventeen year-old, Maddy, offering her some cookies baked by his retired neighbor, Louise.

Arthur, Maddy and Louise each suffer a loss and their coping mechanisms (or lack thereof), as well as the affection they gradually develop for each other is the heart of this book. Berg is an excellent writer and she deftly explores themes of loneliness, kindness and friendship across generations as, over time, these three characters form a caring family of sorts. 

AUTHOR APPEARANCE:  For those who are interested, Elizabeth Berg will be at the Highland Park Library on Monday, December 4th at 7:00pm.