BLOG TOUR: A Grand Old Time by Judy Leigh

An uplifting, feelgood comedy that proves it’s never too late to have the time of your life.

‘Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting’ Miranda Dickinson

A funny and heart-warming debut for fans of Celia Imrie and Dawn French.

Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a care home. She may be seventy-five and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet. And so, one morning, Evie walks out of Sheldon Lodge and sets off on a Great Adventure across Europe.

But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son Brendan and his wife Maura, who follow a trail of puzzling text messages to bring her home.

When they finally catch up with her, there are shocks in store . . . because while Brendan may have given up on life and love, Evie certainly has not.

'Lovely . . . a book that assures that life is far from over at seventy' Cathy Hopkins, bestselling author of The Kicking the Bucket List

Excerpt

   She bounced up and down on the edge of her bed, still in her nightie. When the creaking stopped, the silence closed in around her. Everyone was asleep in Sheldon Lodge. The room was dim and cramped, so she went over to the window and looked outside at the path that led to the road into Dublin. A bird flitted up and away. A single cloud moved across a square of sky. Evie made a puffing noise through her lips and pulled herself away.

   She went back to the bed and picked up the thin paperback lying on the duvet. Season of the Heart. Recommended reading for the ladies at Sheldon Lodge. Evie had never been much of a reader. There was a picture of a milkmaid in russet petticoats on the front cover, sitting in a cornfield. Her hair was the same bleached yellow as the corn and her face was sad. Evie flipped the novel over and read the blurb. Dulcie Jones is thrust into the life of a country maid when her gambling father sells her to pay his debts. But Marcus, the mysterious son of her new master Lord Diamant, has other plans for Dulcie …

   Evie threw the book away from her onto the duvet. It was six thirty am.

   ‘What a lot of shite,’ she muttered to herself, and then she raised her voice: ‘It’s all complete shite.’

   Sheldon Lodge offered its usual deaf ear, although she expected Mrs Lofthouse to run in, all wobbling bosoms and waving hands, to tell her to go back to bed and not disturb the other residents. Evie shuffled into her slippers and dressing gown, and snorted through her nostrils. Most of the other residents were disturbed already, well into their eighties and nineties – even the youngest of them at least ten years older than her.

Claire's Review⭐⭐⭐⭐

At 75 Evie is bored. Living in the care home, her life has become dull and predictable, and so one day Evie decides to change all that and set out on a journey that will not only change her own life but also that of son's life as well.

This was a lovely read with lots of funny moments thrown in. I loved all the characters and felt as if I knew them all, they were that well written.

A fantastic, quirky, funny read that I really enjoyed. A perfect, feel good story for a summer holiday read on the beach!