Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War

by Vernon Coleman

The first of four books about Mrs Caldicot. Mrs Caldicot is a widow who leads a revolution in a depressing nursing home. The novel has been filmed with Pauline Collins as Mrs Caldicot and John Alderton as the nursing home owner. Peter Capaldi plays Mrs Caldicot's son. This is the first Mrs Caldicot novel. (The second, which continues the story, is Mrs Caldicot's Knickerbocker Glory. The third book is Mrs Caldicot's Oyster Parade and the fourth is Mrs Caldicot's Turkish Delight.) Books and film have been widely praised. The Times described it as `Funny and poignant'. The Daily Express called it a `fairytale comedy'. The Daily Telegraph called it `Funny and poignant and socially relevant'. Cinema audiences stood and cheered at the end when the film was shown. The first of the books and films to see life through the eyes of the older citizen. `Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War made me laugh out loud. Dr Coleman's lightness of touch and direct prose are all that one could wish for.' - Maxwell Craven in the Derby Evening Telegraph `Vernon Coleman really captures the personality of Mrs Caldicot. You'll be hooked and won't be able to put it down.' - Newton Abbott & Mid Devon `Understated British classic.' - Express and Echo `Funny and thought provoking novel.' - Western Morning News 'Funny and poignant...about a woman who decides to fight back, transforming the lives of those around her.' - The Times '...typically understated British classic.' - Express & Echo 'Humour, pathos and sympathy.' -Evening standard 'Witty, poignant and beautifully written' - Western Mail '...a little British comedy with a big heart.' Financial Times The author, Vernon Coleman, is a qualified doctor who has written over 100 books - many of which have appeared on bestseller lists. His books have sold over two million hardback and paperback copies in the UK and been translated into 24 languages. There is a list of his other novels on his Amazon author site. Bestselling non-fiction books include Bodypower. He is also the author of How to Stop Your Doctor Killing You. What the papers say about Vernon Coleman is a very funny writer - This England Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - The Good Book Guide No thinking person can ignore him - The Ecologist A godsend - Daily Telegraph Superstar - Independent on Sunday Compulsive reading - The Guardian His message is important - The Economist His advice is optimistic and enthusiastic - British Medical Journal The man is a national treasure - What doctors don't tell you Its impossible not to be impressed - Western Daily Press Outspoken and alert - Sunday Express Marvellously succinct, refreshingly sensible - The Spectator Probably one of the most brilliant men alive today - Irish Times King of the media docs - The Independent Britain's leading medical author - The Star Britain's leading health care campaigner - The Sun The patients' champion - Birmingham Post The doctor who dares to speak his mind - Oxford Mail He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping etc etc

Genres: Fiction, Humor

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2002

About the author

There is a full biog on www.vernoncoleman.com
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Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K23T...

Easy to imagine that Mrs Caldicot is an older Shirley Valentine.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a humorous but serious book about an emotionally stifled woman, Thelma Caldicot, who was down trodden by her overbearing husband and after his death her son Derek. She is coerced by her manipulative son and daughter- in- law Veronica into a run-down nursing home, owned by Derek’s employer. Derek also gets her to sign over her house to him. Thelma doesn’t like the nursing home and reveals her frustration. She is medicated by the staff to calm her.

Thelma takes herself off the medication and leads the retirement home residents into a revolt against having cabbage served every day. When the management of the home tells her she cannot have her cat and it will be put down, she leaves the home with the other residents following her and they take up residence in a luxury hotel nearby. Then the fun part of the story begins.

She learns to speak up for herself and along the way the other retirement home residents. Moral of story, beware if you try to toss the elderly into the scrapheap.

The book is well written and great fun. The e-book is 153 pages long and published in 2014. The original book was published 1993. I believe it was made into a T.V. movie in Britain. I read this e-book on my Kindle app for my iPad.

[Kate Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely and funny novel, which focuses on Mrs Caldicot finding her voice and her power to be in charge of her life. You can read all the blurb accompanying the book but it doesn’t do justice to the natural and gentle emergence of Mrs Caldicot in her ‘velvet’ revolution where honesty, openness and integrity matter as well as her keen eye for falseness and simple idiocy of some ways of being. This is a great book that pokes a needle of truth into pomposity, patriarchy and elements of media (talkshows and newspapers). She becomes an unassuming heroine of the other adults in the care home and she doesn’t shy from responsibility. The characters are sharply drawn and don’t cross the boundaries of caricature or stereotypes.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but with the exception of Mrs Caldicot I don't think the other characters were as well delineated as in the Young Doctor series by the same author. Not withstanding that comment, I did find it very easy to read and it even managed to evoke the occasional laugh. I'll withhold my judgement until I read some others in the series and see if I can relate to the characters a little better.

[Faye Sherron · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a lovely fairytale for the over-sixty age...

To read of someone simply victorious for predominantly telling the truth because it is true; for an individual to hope, after years of hopelessness, to see life blossom and the story of it being so believable... it's a delight! i would have been pleased to have been a soldier in a campaign against the enemy'Cabbage'(though i do admit to enjoying a bit of the green-headed vegetable on occasion).

[Cynthia Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an utterly delightful little book about the rebellion of some seniors who had been relocated from their homes to a "rest home" by their children quite against their will. Their leader, Mrs. Caldecott had led a very bland and unfulfilling life and never expected any more of life until she found herself the leader of this coup. Very British, very funny.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was absolutely charming and in some places laugh out loud funny. It is an interesting examination of how a woman who has deferred to her husband her entire life finds her voice, as well a skewering of popular society's treatment of the elderly population. This is a very quick read, and I felt some sections could have been expanded, but overall I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4* of five

An absolutely delightful film was made from this deeply sad, deeply infuriating book about the repressive, repressed life of a wife deliciously widowed, but sadly not de-childed as well.

Pauline Collins is a charmer!

[Margaret Fielding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geriatricks!

I loved every minute because I am here , this is my life now. I am almost eighty and this has been the best thing since "One flew over the cuckoo's nest". Dr Coleman knows that laughter is the best medicine: Should be on prescription?

[Sue Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, initially I felt quite angry and very sad but as the story went on I was rooting for the underdog. Quite a few laugh out loud moments, plenty of happy tears too. My only complaint, it was over all too soon, I wanted more.

[Kimberly Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vernon Coleman is one of my favorite authors and his books are always well written and hilarious. This book had me chuckling and laughing out loud until I couldn't breath it's so funny! Highly recommend!

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read.

I loved reading this book! I love how honest it is in regards to her thoughts. No more cabbage!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing

One of the funniest and most lighthearted books I've had the pleasure of reading in ages. The golden years can be quite exciting !

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK

[Angela Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this book was absolutely maddening because I just wanted to jump into the book and start slapping some characters around... But all in all, it turned out pretty good.

[Kathy Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to see a heroine in her seventies

Mrs. Caldicot is lovable and finds she is capable of so much more than the life she has lived for the last 70 years.

[Mrs Sylvia G Stanbra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gentle tale

A clever book which makes you think a lot but laugh even more. I loved it. Shall read more of Mr Coleman’s books

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful!

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable reading!

[Sara McFerrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful read! This book is so cleverly written. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. I highly recommend this book.

[Roberta R. Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my. I loved this story. There were parts where I simply laughed out loud. The book is a fast read, with a plot that unfolds with perfect timing, bridging reality and fantasy. Highly recommend.

[Wil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book didn't prove to be so funny as the title would lead you to believe, but it was funny, nonetheless.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little tale with a moral - widow finds her voice after being woefully ill-treated by her on and packed off to a hellhole of a retirement home.

[Ted Blackwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

It was fun to read how Mrs Caldicot really blossomed after she had the chance to be herself. Many laughs through the book.

[Lauretta Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

a Fun Read

I quite enjoyed this book, as an older individual I could relate to some of the situations in this book.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a light, sometimes very funny story, but it really did glide right past all the important parts. Women losing themselves to becoming the wife/mother (although less so for my generation than my mom's). I wish there had been some sort of family connection. I think it would have been nice and funny if the teen grandson and she hooked up somehow and as she grows a backbone, he starts to grow up a bit too.

The abuse of older folks, sometimes legit and sometimes only in the eyes of the elder, could have been more of the story, but then it wouldn't have that cartoon sort of story. It would have been heavier, but I think it would have been a better story in the end.

Having said all of that... I read it quickly on vacation and everything I've been reading this year seems so heavy, so this was a nice break.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story and thought that it brought up some very real issues. Like his other books, though, I felt that the "bad guys" were pretty one-dimensional. Basically, they are like the villains in his other books that I have read so far. But I really liked the characters at the nursing home and the internal dialogue from the main character. The story is not entirely realistic, but I cared about the characters the author wanted me to care about.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't finish this book. I am sure Mrs. Caldicot finds her way, but...as a woman of a certain age, I found her situation just too utterly painful, even if funny. I found myself cringing at the treatment of Mrs. Caldicot by her son. The Covid 19 disasters in nursing homes in Canada were too close for comfort. This was not an escape for me, but a reality. The writing in this series is really good and up to, even surpassing, the first of Coleman's Young Doctor series.

[Carole O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story about a woman who all her life had been ordered about , first by her husband and then when the husband dies by her son, as soon as his dad is gone he puts her in a home even though she is physically fit, he just wants rid of her, but she turns her life around and also the lives of the other residents.

Great story where the underdog wins.

[Marion Granigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute gem of a book! Sometimes you want to change your life but everyone stands in your way. That is when you take matters into your own hands. Mrs. Caldicot does just that. I've read this several times and it's time to revisit.