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52 Weeks
Devastating news means choices must be made. With a terminal diagnosis her life will never be the same again. Against the odds, will she make the right decisions?
From the outside Beryl has everything, a happy marriage, a loving family and loyal friends. That is until her doctor tells her she only has 52 weeks left to live. Making a decision to treat her limited time as an adventure, she decides to free herself and enjoy as many new experiences as she can fit in.
Some adventures can be small; meeting new people and making a difference to their lives, while others can be huge life affirming events. It’s all about how you tackle them and who you share them with and Beryl plans to make each day count.
Some of her family and friends don’t agree with her decision. Will she bow to pressure or will she be strong enough to meet her final day on her own terms, or will she fail to make that date?
Get your copy of 52 Weeks today and go on a journey with this feisty sixty-five year old that will make you laugh, cry and understand the importance of friends and family.
From the outside Beryl has everything, a happy marriage, a loving family and loyal friends. That is until her doctor tells her she only has 52 weeks left to live. Making a decision to treat her limited time as an adventure, she decides to free herself and enjoy as many new experiences as she can fit in.
Some adventures can be small; meeting new people and making a difference to their lives, while others can be huge life affirming events. It’s all about how you tackle them and who you share them with and Beryl plans to make each day count.
Some of her family and friends don’t agree with her decision. Will she bow to pressure or will she be strong enough to meet her final day on her own terms, or will she fail to make that date?
Get your copy of 52 Weeks today and go on a journey with this feisty sixty-five year old that will make you laugh, cry and understand the importance of friends and family.
348 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 12, 2024
15 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Barry Lillie
21 books4 followersTrained and working as a professional actor; working internationally in theatre and film, before setting up one of the UK’s most successful arts-education companies, Barry worked as a playwright. Working both on commissions and as an in-house writer for a Midlands based theatre company. In 2009 he decided to move out of theatre and concentrate on writing full time.
Barry quickly secured commissions from both magazines and the trade press before landing a job as a travel/features writer for an international, best selling magazine. The bulk of his non fiction work centred around travel and food writing with a vast majority of it being Italy related. He didn’t however restrict himself solely to travel writing and also had many commissions from magazines within the wedding and entertainment markets.
As a travel writer he’s been privileged to have experienced many diverse cultures, which include being kidnapped in the Middle East, trekking through the jungle in Borneo and surviving 79 days and nights in a camper van touring through New Zealand.
Barry feels his strengths lie in believable characters and comedy, whilst touching on subject matter that others may feel doesn’t lend itself to humour. When he’s not writing, Barry can be found dancing to classic disco music like no one is watching, tending to his allotment and sitting in cafes eavesdropping on conversations.
Barry quickly secured commissions from both magazines and the trade press before landing a job as a travel/features writer for an international, best selling magazine. The bulk of his non fiction work centred around travel and food writing with a vast majority of it being Italy related. He didn’t however restrict himself solely to travel writing and also had many commissions from magazines within the wedding and entertainment markets.
As a travel writer he’s been privileged to have experienced many diverse cultures, which include being kidnapped in the Middle East, trekking through the jungle in Borneo and surviving 79 days and nights in a camper van touring through New Zealand.
Barry feels his strengths lie in believable characters and comedy, whilst touching on subject matter that others may feel doesn’t lend itself to humour. When he’s not writing, Barry can be found dancing to classic disco music like no one is watching, tending to his allotment and sitting in cafes eavesdropping on conversations.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 9, 2024
52 Weeks is a wonderful story. Having read 4 months: An introduction to 52 Weeks, which is hilarious, I was very much looking forward to catching up with the characters again.
It’s set in Stoke-on-Trent which I love. These people, as many often did at the time, met their spouses, and formed close friendships whilst working in the pot banks and these relationships have stood the test of time.
I loved Beryl immediately and my heart went out to her when she receives her terminal diagnosis. She is so determined not to let it dominate the rest of her life though. She will live each day, maintain as much normality as possible, and maybe try a few new things along the way. I love her acceptance of her son and her tolerance of her daughter who doesn’t cope very well with the news, understandably.
It seems so weird to say that a book about one lady’s battle with cancer is funny, but it really is. I read this at bedtime, and I had to stop myself from laughing out loud SO many times because my husband was already asleep next to me. Honestly, it’s just brilliant!
I LOVE Beryl’s husband, Len. He is hilarious! My favourite line of his being the one about him having no friends in Jamaica. LOL! I love that he tries to appreciate Beryl’s need to maintain a sense of normality, whilst also looking after her the best way he knows how.
I love Vera. She cracks me up!
I love that the group of friends are summoned when one of them has a new carpet or bathroom fitted. I can just imagine that’s how groups of friends used to be back in the day, in and out of each other’s houses all the time for cups of tea, and cake, and random chat. It’s a shame it’s not generally like that these days.
There are a few hospital scenes throughout the story where Beryl visits her consultant and there are references to her pain and other symptoms, but her illness is by no means the focus of this story.
Beryl is a special character who finds joy in everything, whether it be something she has never done before or just the small things that make her happy like coffee and cake with her friend of a morning whilst catching up on the gossip or sitting in front of the telly with her husband of an evening once she’s done the washing up after tea. Her love for her family and friends is palpable and her zest for life inspirational.
** Many thanks to Barry Lillie for my review copy **
https://chataboutbooks.blog/2024/02/0...
It’s set in Stoke-on-Trent which I love. These people, as many often did at the time, met their spouses, and formed close friendships whilst working in the pot banks and these relationships have stood the test of time.
I loved Beryl immediately and my heart went out to her when she receives her terminal diagnosis. She is so determined not to let it dominate the rest of her life though. She will live each day, maintain as much normality as possible, and maybe try a few new things along the way. I love her acceptance of her son and her tolerance of her daughter who doesn’t cope very well with the news, understandably.
It seems so weird to say that a book about one lady’s battle with cancer is funny, but it really is. I read this at bedtime, and I had to stop myself from laughing out loud SO many times because my husband was already asleep next to me. Honestly, it’s just brilliant!
I LOVE Beryl’s husband, Len. He is hilarious! My favourite line of his being the one about him having no friends in Jamaica. LOL! I love that he tries to appreciate Beryl’s need to maintain a sense of normality, whilst also looking after her the best way he knows how.
I love Vera. She cracks me up!
I love that the group of friends are summoned when one of them has a new carpet or bathroom fitted. I can just imagine that’s how groups of friends used to be back in the day, in and out of each other’s houses all the time for cups of tea, and cake, and random chat. It’s a shame it’s not generally like that these days.
There are a few hospital scenes throughout the story where Beryl visits her consultant and there are references to her pain and other symptoms, but her illness is by no means the focus of this story.
Beryl is a special character who finds joy in everything, whether it be something she has never done before or just the small things that make her happy like coffee and cake with her friend of a morning whilst catching up on the gossip or sitting in front of the telly with her husband of an evening once she’s done the washing up after tea. Her love for her family and friends is palpable and her zest for life inspirational.
** Many thanks to Barry Lillie for my review copy **
https://chataboutbooks.blog/2024/02/0...
June 7, 2024
Beryl Bickerstaff, what a woman!
I loved every chapter of 52 Weeks. I wasn't expecting to laugh so much at a book about a woman battling cancer, but Beryl's journey was fabulous.
Even though Beryl is somewhat counting down her 52 weeks, she pushes herself to experience new things that she'd never dreamed of doing before.
The writing makes Beryl and all of her friends and family feel familiar, like your own friends, and their relationships are just perfect.
I loved Barry's nods to Stoke and the potteries, it feels like I know these people and their lives.
Highly recommended!
I loved every chapter of 52 Weeks. I wasn't expecting to laugh so much at a book about a woman battling cancer, but Beryl's journey was fabulous.
Even though Beryl is somewhat counting down her 52 weeks, she pushes herself to experience new things that she'd never dreamed of doing before.
The writing makes Beryl and all of her friends and family feel familiar, like your own friends, and their relationships are just perfect.
I loved Barry's nods to Stoke and the potteries, it feels like I know these people and their lives.
Highly recommended!
January 30, 2024
When Beryl Bickerstaff receives the bad news about her prognosis she is determined not to let it get her down. What time she has left, she will enjoy to the best of her ability, not in any dramatic way but by saying “Yes” to any new experience that presents itself and above all savouring the daily details of life, like shopping for a new blouse with her friend Vera, dunking biscuits in tea, or going to admire a neighbour’s new carpet.
Written in first person, all this is told with Beryl’s wry sense of humour. Her views on what is going on around her is one of the delights of this novel, as is the depiction of the other characters all of whom are totally convincing. I love Len, her stoic ever supportive husband and her scatty friend Vera who never fails whatever the occasion to come out with a completely inappropriate remark. Equally well done is the way in which Beryl’s family deal with their grief and her own acceptance of the fact that her life will be shorter than she had hoped.
All this is done with such a light hand that the book never becomes mawkish or morbid. I was especially impressed by the way in which the author managed to show the progression of Beryl’s disease without overwhelming the reader with gruesome facts.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. In spite of the subject it is a truly heart-warming and up-lifting read. Barry Lillie treads the line between comedy and tragedy in such an accomplished way that I laughed through my tears and will always think of Beryl with a smile.
Written in first person, all this is told with Beryl’s wry sense of humour. Her views on what is going on around her is one of the delights of this novel, as is the depiction of the other characters all of whom are totally convincing. I love Len, her stoic ever supportive husband and her scatty friend Vera who never fails whatever the occasion to come out with a completely inappropriate remark. Equally well done is the way in which Beryl’s family deal with their grief and her own acceptance of the fact that her life will be shorter than she had hoped.
All this is done with such a light hand that the book never becomes mawkish or morbid. I was especially impressed by the way in which the author managed to show the progression of Beryl’s disease without overwhelming the reader with gruesome facts.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. In spite of the subject it is a truly heart-warming and up-lifting read. Barry Lillie treads the line between comedy and tragedy in such an accomplished way that I laughed through my tears and will always think of Beryl with a smile.
February 1, 2024
52 Weeks by Barry Lillie
What would you do if you were suddenly a twelve month life expectancy? Probably curl up in a darkened room with a bottle of red wine.
Beryl, however, refuses to surrender to cancer’s ticking clock. She is determined to embrace each day as well as leaving a record for those she’ll leave behind.
She has the support of a loving family, although her daughter finds it difficult to understand some of her choices.
She also has the support of her best friend Vera, whose eccentric personality provides a warm comedic touch.
While not entirely sure about a bucket list Beryl does try new things within her local environment. Life goes on, though, as a thread throughout this inspirational tale. The dog needs to be walked, the jumble sale has tables that need manning and family issues have to be dealt with.
This is a tale of events that could happen to anyone and everyone should read it. Yes, it’s sad but it is very readable, humorous and downright inspiring.
What would you do if you were suddenly a twelve month life expectancy? Probably curl up in a darkened room with a bottle of red wine.
Beryl, however, refuses to surrender to cancer’s ticking clock. She is determined to embrace each day as well as leaving a record for those she’ll leave behind.
She has the support of a loving family, although her daughter finds it difficult to understand some of her choices.
She also has the support of her best friend Vera, whose eccentric personality provides a warm comedic touch.
While not entirely sure about a bucket list Beryl does try new things within her local environment. Life goes on, though, as a thread throughout this inspirational tale. The dog needs to be walked, the jumble sale has tables that need manning and family issues have to be dealt with.
This is a tale of events that could happen to anyone and everyone should read it. Yes, it’s sad but it is very readable, humorous and downright inspiring.
January 18, 2024
52 Weeks covers a series of incidents in the life of a woman coping with a terminal cancer diagnosis as she meets her nemesis head on with wit, grit and pathos; and the occasional splash of saucy humour. Beryl’s husband, Len, is true gold in his understated but rock-like support of his one true love, while best friend Vera is a wild eccentric possessed of a shrewd perspicacity that makes her a real joy. Lillie walks the tightrope of a tricky subject with panache, with the ability to move his readers from tears to chuckles in the space of a single page. Highly recommended.
April 28, 2025
Life is what YOU make of it!
Beryl is told at the beginning of the book that she has one year to live. She decides to make the most of it and also to keep a diary for her family. While I thought it would be depressing it is, In fact , very funny and very real. Totally enjoyable book and definitely unique!
Beryl is told at the beginning of the book that she has one year to live. She decides to make the most of it and also to keep a diary for her family. While I thought it would be depressing it is, In fact , very funny and very real. Totally enjoyable book and definitely unique!
July 16, 2025
This book had me gripped, it was such an interesting concept of laying out the story and some pf it had tears flowing out of my eyes. My only issues with the book was the grammar was all over the place in the e-book Kindle version and the ending was bizzare. Not to say I wanted a super sad ending but to end the way it did there was no finalisation or wrap up to the life you follow in the story.
March 29, 2025
I really enjoyed this, laughed and cried, and I've read it in a few days.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews