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Lizzie Vogel #2
Paradise Lodge
This is the story of Lizzie Vogel, a 15 year old girl who finds herself working in an old people's home in the 1970s. The place is in chaos and it's not really a suitable job for a schoolgirl: she'd only gone for the job because it seemed too exhausting to commit to being a full-time girlfriend or a punk, and she doesn't realise there's a right and a wrong way to get someone out of a bath.
Through a cast of wonderful characters, from the assertively shy Nurse who only communicates via little grunts to the very attractive son of the Chinese take away manager, Paradise Lodge is the story of being very young, and very old, and the laughter, and the tears, in between.
Through a cast of wonderful characters, from the assertively shy Nurse who only communicates via little grunts to the very attractive son of the Chinese take away manager, Paradise Lodge is the story of being very young, and very old, and the laughter, and the tears, in between.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews
September 24, 2018
This was a really enjoyable, chicken-soup-for-the-soul read, in which a fifteen-year old girl discovered another side to life, by working as an auxiliary nurse in an elderly care home. Her main duty was to assist with the "comfort rounds", but she soon worked herself up to serve the tea as well.
Paradise Lodge was once a stately old British home, but now battled to remain a respectable place for its inhabitants.
It was the 1970s and Lizzie wanted a way to earn her own money and buy the things her mother and her stepfather could not afford, such as Linco beer shampoo and Maxwell House Coffee. There was a new baby in the home, and her mother, the philosopher, had to drive the laundry van. Thus life became a little tricky. It was sometimes necessary to skip school and she got demoted to the 'B' group, while she herself was actually regarded as an intellectual by so many.
Some quirky characters crossed her path in the old home and taught her some lessons she never expected. The blurb says:
RECOMMENDED.
Paradise Lodge was once a stately old British home, but now battled to remain a respectable place for its inhabitants.
It was the 1970s and Lizzie wanted a way to earn her own money and buy the things her mother and her stepfather could not afford, such as Linco beer shampoo and Maxwell House Coffee. There was a new baby in the home, and her mother, the philosopher, had to drive the laundry van. Thus life became a little tricky. It was sometimes necessary to skip school and she got demoted to the 'B' group, while she herself was actually regarded as an intellectual by so many.
Some quirky characters crossed her path in the old home and taught her some lessons she never expected. The blurb says:
Through a cast of wonderful characters, from the assertively shy Nurse who only communicates via little grunts to the very attractive son of the Chinese take away manager, Paradise Lodge is the story of being very young, and very old, and the laughter, and the tears, in between.I really enjoyed this novel. The author managed to portray Lizzie true to the character of a fifteen year old and how she resolved the challenges being flung at her from all over the place. Her solutions were not always the correct ones, but she learnt quickly how to adapt to the adult world waiting out there. From matron secret's ambitions; to her mother's aspirations for her daughter; to the headmistress of her school's devious shenanigans; her so-called friend, Miranda Longlady's callous intentions with her attractive Chinese boyfriend; to Mr. Simmons being constantly kidnapped; her sister finding her way to a better education; and Lady Briggs being kept isolated on the top floor, life was neither cotton-balled nor extremely brutal. However, anything in between was possible, depending on what day it was, and where Lizzie found herself. In fact, life was everything except sentimental.
Lizzie: ..."we went up to Lady Briggs’ room and I helped Lady Briggs on to the commode, since we were up there, and we whistled ‘To Be A Pilgrim’ until our lips ached because Lady Briggs always said whistling hymns helped her go."This touching, tragicomedy kicks off with this quote:
'At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies. ~P. G. Wodehouse, Uneasy MoneyThe novel was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize in 2017 and is a delightful coming of age experience.
RECOMMENDED.
September 1, 2016
BABT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07q375dDescription: Craving independence, frustrated with her dysfunctional family and fed up with not being able to afford branded shampoo, 15-year-old Lizzie Vogel takes a job at Paradise Lodge, a nursing home for the elderly.
She soon learns the ways of the 'comfort round' and gets used to the scheming of her eccentric co-workers, but finds herself distracted by thoughts of 'erotic handholding' with her friend Miranda's boyfriend, Mike Yu.
When a new old people's home threatens to poach all their patients, Paradise Lodge must fight for survival. And as Lizzie gets increasingly drawn in to keeping the crumbling home afloat, her job threatens to impact her schoolwork and she must choose which path to take.
January 7, 2017
5 stars for sheer enjoyment. This is a wonderful follow up to Stibbe's Man at the Helm. The Paradise Lodge nursing home is the perfect setting for quirky characters and hysterical observations from 15 year old Lizzie in 1970's Britain. I love Lizzie's voice and laughed out loud multiple times throughout the book which I consider to be high praise (pushing this from 4 to 5 stars). If you've enjoyed Stibbe's earlier books, you'll love this one. If you haven't read her yet (and you like Adrian Mole style British humor) then add this to your TBR.
March 16, 2023
i’m sad i didn’t enjoy this as much as i’ve enjoyed stibbe’s other books, but it just felt such a c h o r e to get enough
September 9, 2016
From BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime:
Leicestershire, 1977.
Craving independence, frustrated with her dysfunctional family and fed up with not being able to afford branded shampoo, 15-year-old Lizzie Vogel takes a job at Paradise Lodge, a nursing home for the elderly.
She soon learns the ways of the 'comfort round' and gets used to the scheming of her eccentric co-workers, but finds herself distracted by thoughts of 'erotic handholding' with her friend Miranda's boyfriend, Mike Yu.
When a new old people's home threatens to poach all their patients, Paradise Lodge must fight for survival. And as Lizzie gets increasingly drawn in to keeping the crumbling home afloat, her job threatens to impact her schoolwork and she must choose which path to take.
A wise, moving and funny new coming-of-age novel from Nina Stibbe, the bestselling author of 'Love, Nina'.
Read by Alice Lowe
Produced by Mair Bosworth.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07q375d
Leicestershire, 1977.
Craving independence, frustrated with her dysfunctional family and fed up with not being able to afford branded shampoo, 15-year-old Lizzie Vogel takes a job at Paradise Lodge, a nursing home for the elderly.
She soon learns the ways of the 'comfort round' and gets used to the scheming of her eccentric co-workers, but finds herself distracted by thoughts of 'erotic handholding' with her friend Miranda's boyfriend, Mike Yu.
When a new old people's home threatens to poach all their patients, Paradise Lodge must fight for survival. And as Lizzie gets increasingly drawn in to keeping the crumbling home afloat, her job threatens to impact her schoolwork and she must choose which path to take.
A wise, moving and funny new coming-of-age novel from Nina Stibbe, the bestselling author of 'Love, Nina'.
Read by Alice Lowe
Produced by Mair Bosworth.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07q375d
August 15, 2016
I reviewed this wonderful book for the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
September 16, 2016
I don't usually read "coming of age" novels. I am so glad I made an exception for this one! It's the 70's in Britain. A girl from a rather chaotic family (hey, at least Mom is off drugs and alcohol) takes a job so she can buy name-brand shampoo and underpants with the days of the week printed on them. The job is in a quirky nursing/retirement home more chaotic than her own family's. The owner occasionally wanders about the place in the buff. The morgue abuts the kitchen. When the owner's wife leaves, followed by more than one of the actual nurses in the place, it hits the skids. Untrained, unqualified staff provide what care they can. They work from a place of love, but sometimes that just isn't enough, especially when the home is being run by someone not only unqualified, but lacking that love. Some meals consist only of pudding, because the grocer isn't being paid and, for some reason, won't make deliveries. There is a kidnapping. There is a wedding. Meanwhile, the girl from the chaotic family is missing so much school it's questionable whether she'll get through at all.
There is teen-age romance and angst. There is adult romance, with slightly less angst. I won't even consider telling you how this comes to a conclusion because it's just too wonderful to spoil.
There is teen-age romance and angst. There is adult romance, with slightly less angst. I won't even consider telling you how this comes to a conclusion because it's just too wonderful to spoil.
July 23, 2017
Paradise Lodge is one of those books whose plot is hard to describe in a way that does it credit. Essentially, it is the story of Lizzie Vogel and her life at Paradise Lodge, the eponymous residential home where Lizzie starts working. But in reality it is about so much more than that; it is about Lizzie's future, as she is kicked off the O Level course for taking too much time off school (to work at Paradise Lodge), her relationships with her friends, her friend's boyfriend, and her mildly dysfunctional family, and the lives of the other staff and the residents at Paradise Lodge.
This is a charming, humorous, and character-driven novel, which will possibly make you cry, probably make you laugh, and certainly keep you engaged. I would highly recommend it. (I also love the title.)
This is a charming, humorous, and character-driven novel, which will possibly make you cry, probably make you laugh, and certainly keep you engaged. I would highly recommend it. (I also love the title.)
February 10, 2019
Brilliantly-observed, laugh-out-loud funny at times, but full of pathos too. What I truly love about Nina Stibbe's books is that they all have a good heart. They're hilarious, but never unkind. Wonderful.
October 1, 2016
I LOVE THIS BOOK. Love it. I love Nina Stibbe's writing. It's funny and insightful and I will read every book she ever writes!
October 15, 2016
Sweetly funny but a little too long.
June 1, 2020
I would expect nothing less from a Nina Stibbe novel.
This one is set around 15 year old Lizzie Vogel who gets a job as a nurse in a residential home so she can afford to buy beer shampoo as her mother is essentially broke.
It’s funny and witty and you fall in love with Lizzie and her narrative!
Here’s one extract to sum it up:
“... she [Matron, another character] dabbed her hanky under her spectacles and the whole thing was too sad to watch. A dalek would’ve cried.”
This one is set around 15 year old Lizzie Vogel who gets a job as a nurse in a residential home so she can afford to buy beer shampoo as her mother is essentially broke.
It’s funny and witty and you fall in love with Lizzie and her narrative!
Here’s one extract to sum it up:
“... she [Matron, another character] dabbed her hanky under her spectacles and the whole thing was too sad to watch. A dalek would’ve cried.”
April 11, 2018
4.5; such a lovely, delightful book! with some brilliant (very british) humor <3
October 20, 2016
You Will Fall in Love
Anyone who has ever worked in a nursing home in almost any capacity will recognize the wonderfully drawn emotional (and often humorous) qualities in author Nina Stibble's "Paradise Lodge." It's a mainstream novel set in the U.K. In 1977, bringing into play 15-year-old protagonist Lizzie, who accepts a job at Paradise Lodge, an aging but still nicely appointed nursing home with a cast of nurses and young caregivers like Lizzie — who far prefers working with the aging patients and chain-smoking nurses than going to school.
Lizzie learns on her first day that bringing patients to the bathroom, or what Paradise Lodge teaches her must be called the "comfort zone," is an arduous, time-consuming task. But she falls in love with a lot of the patients, and I can attest that doing so is altogether NOT uncommon between staff and patients, even today. No, I wasn't a nurse. But I worked as communications director for two modern nursing homes and had loads of encounters with staff and patients. When patients die, yeah, it's a loss. When they wait too long for call bells to be answered, it's a dreadful issue.
But Stibble, with gentle humor and poignant descriptions of encounters between young Lizzie and staff, tells a larger story, really. For me, it's one of respect, growing up and, well, in the case of patients, growing increasingly toward their final act.
What surprises Lizzie again and again is her understanding of the elderly, what she learns from them, and the reality that the elderly have much, much to teach.
It doesn't matter that the book was published in the U.K. It's making waves across the pond, and it should. Any one of us one day might require services from a skilled nursing facility because our bodies fail us. Lizzie learns that and so much more, and in a beautifully rendered descriptive way that only a genuinely gifted writer can convey.
You don't have to be a nurse or certified nursing assistant to enjoy this novel. You just have to acknowledge that life moves on for the young and the old. Some of that moving on is funny. Some isn't. But it will resonate because in the end, we will all travel the path that brings us to somewhere we may not want to be. I hope a Lizzie is there for me.
Anyone who has ever worked in a nursing home in almost any capacity will recognize the wonderfully drawn emotional (and often humorous) qualities in author Nina Stibble's "Paradise Lodge." It's a mainstream novel set in the U.K. In 1977, bringing into play 15-year-old protagonist Lizzie, who accepts a job at Paradise Lodge, an aging but still nicely appointed nursing home with a cast of nurses and young caregivers like Lizzie — who far prefers working with the aging patients and chain-smoking nurses than going to school.
Lizzie learns on her first day that bringing patients to the bathroom, or what Paradise Lodge teaches her must be called the "comfort zone," is an arduous, time-consuming task. But she falls in love with a lot of the patients, and I can attest that doing so is altogether NOT uncommon between staff and patients, even today. No, I wasn't a nurse. But I worked as communications director for two modern nursing homes and had loads of encounters with staff and patients. When patients die, yeah, it's a loss. When they wait too long for call bells to be answered, it's a dreadful issue.
But Stibble, with gentle humor and poignant descriptions of encounters between young Lizzie and staff, tells a larger story, really. For me, it's one of respect, growing up and, well, in the case of patients, growing increasingly toward their final act.
What surprises Lizzie again and again is her understanding of the elderly, what she learns from them, and the reality that the elderly have much, much to teach.
It doesn't matter that the book was published in the U.K. It's making waves across the pond, and it should. Any one of us one day might require services from a skilled nursing facility because our bodies fail us. Lizzie learns that and so much more, and in a beautifully rendered descriptive way that only a genuinely gifted writer can convey.
You don't have to be a nurse or certified nursing assistant to enjoy this novel. You just have to acknowledge that life moves on for the young and the old. Some of that moving on is funny. Some isn't. But it will resonate because in the end, we will all travel the path that brings us to somewhere we may not want to be. I hope a Lizzie is there for me.
July 9, 2016
Lizzie is 15 years old, bored at school and living in a dysfunctional family with no money to buy anything other than 'econo coffee'. This being the 1970s in the East Midlands, Lizzie decides to get a part-time job to buy shampoo and nice clothes from Chelsea Girl and that's how she ends up working at Paradise Lodge. The Lodge is a care home run on a shoestring and peopled by eccentrics, both staff and patients. Whilst at Paradise Lodge Lizzie falls in love, is removed from the 'O level stream', blackmailed by her Deputy Headteacher and grows up a little.
Nina Stibbe is a writer who has a very authentic voice which works incredibly well in this genre. She has a knack of picking out the cultural references that pepper her books, here referring to events (the deaths of Elvis and Marc Bolan), fashion (punk, hair dye and shampoo) and media (Starchy and Hutch) that resonate with her readers. No-one could describe this as being a deep and meaningful book, it is a series of amusing vignettes, but it it written with huge gusto and is laugh out loud funny at times.
Nina Stibbe is a writer who has a very authentic voice which works incredibly well in this genre. She has a knack of picking out the cultural references that pepper her books, here referring to events (the deaths of Elvis and Marc Bolan), fashion (punk, hair dye and shampoo) and media (Starchy and Hutch) that resonate with her readers. No-one could describe this as being a deep and meaningful book, it is a series of amusing vignettes, but it it written with huge gusto and is laugh out loud funny at times.
October 28, 2016
A sequel to "Man at the Helm," but could be read on its own. I've read all three of Nina Stibbe's books, and each is charmingly told in a droll, deadpan voice.
Here 15 year old Lizzie seeks a job in a care facility for the elderly, and finds herself taking on more than is likely legal for a teenage "auxiliary nurse," even in this 1970s setting. There is not a lot of plot, just the anxiety provoking day to day life of the main character as she spends far too much time at work, begins failing at school, and finds herself thrust into the lives of the residents and her new coworkers.
There is a definite arc of growth for Lizzie, though, as she grapples with romantic feelings and worries over the newfound security at home after finding a man for her mum in the last book. But the main reading pleasure is in her unique voice and the dry, matter of fact way she describes the sometimes outrageous predicaments she finds herself in.
Here 15 year old Lizzie seeks a job in a care facility for the elderly, and finds herself taking on more than is likely legal for a teenage "auxiliary nurse," even in this 1970s setting. There is not a lot of plot, just the anxiety provoking day to day life of the main character as she spends far too much time at work, begins failing at school, and finds herself thrust into the lives of the residents and her new coworkers.
There is a definite arc of growth for Lizzie, though, as she grapples with romantic feelings and worries over the newfound security at home after finding a man for her mum in the last book. But the main reading pleasure is in her unique voice and the dry, matter of fact way she describes the sometimes outrageous predicaments she finds herself in.
July 20, 2016
This isn't a taxing read but wonderful, nonetheless. I really enjoyed the flip, sing-song narrative and the voice and character of 15 year old, Lizzie Vogel, who just wants a job, or at least, something to change in her life. It's the 1970s and when a vacancy pops up in an old people's home, she jumps at it. How hard can it be? Besides, it pays 35p an hour and she wouldn't need to get the bus - she has a thing about buses - and she knows a bit about how to care for old people. Quickly, the home comes under direct threat from a rival, all-singing, all-dancing (literally, albeit with chairs) old-people's home and Lizzie and her amusing team of colleagues have to use all their guile to keep the residents with them. It's a charming book, which had me tittering all the way through. Packed with feel-good factor and certainly one to fight over with your teens.
December 13, 2018
I've read downloaded Kindle samples of Stibbe's earlier books, memoirs about her time working for an editor, and have been eager to read those. I reserved this from my local library, and enjoyed the first 100 pages, then grew tired. There's humor - a 16 year old who should be in school is instead working as a caregiver at an old folk's home, is failing in school, etc. Sweet for a while, then I wasn't interested. I felt like there was a reach towards Adrian Mole territory, but it didn't keep me focused.
October 26, 2016
I don't describe many books as "delightful," but this is one of them. I fell in love with the 15-year-old narrator's voice (she's witty in an unforced way) and with the dysfunctional, charming nursing home where she works. Definitely recommended!
November 23, 2018
Absolutely loved this book. Stibbe writes with effortless, dry humour and I laughed aloud a number of times. The protagonist is entirely believable and the comings and goings of life at Paradise Lodge had touching moments of poignancy. I’ve got my mum reading it now 😀
August 29, 2016
Worthy sequel to "Man at the Helm." Quite a funny look at a poorly-run old people's home and its employees.
May 31, 2017
I won this via a Penguin Goodread Giveaway and although it's a sequel to an earlier Nina Stibbe, I was totally unfamiliar with her work.
Everything about it from the blurb appealed - a coming of age tale of a young girl in the 70s working in an old people's home, and it didn't disappoint.
I rarely read "funny" books as I'm generally drawn to melancholy, angst, oppression and suffering (Yeah, I'm also great at dinner parties) but I have to say the style and tone here hit the right note immediately (I laughed out loud AND the C-Bomb was dropped within the first seven pages) and it was successfully sustained throughout.
This is a genuinely funny and, for me at least, warmly nostalgic and reminiscent of a bygone era which is deftly and wittily observed by our young narrator.
Beneath the slightly brassy cheek there is enough interesting subtle social comment - on class, age, family and gender politics - to make it not just a fun read but a clever one too.
My only criticism would be that the cover isn't representative of the content. It makes it look far too chick-litty and it just doesn't "feel right" for the characters, the era, or the style of the book. Not a huge criticism obviously, but I wouldn't have necessarily picked the book up in store with this cover and I feel it could miss out a whole (male?) audience who would enjoy it otherwise?
Everything about it from the blurb appealed - a coming of age tale of a young girl in the 70s working in an old people's home, and it didn't disappoint.
I rarely read "funny" books as I'm generally drawn to melancholy, angst, oppression and suffering (Yeah, I'm also great at dinner parties) but I have to say the style and tone here hit the right note immediately (I laughed out loud AND the C-Bomb was dropped within the first seven pages) and it was successfully sustained throughout.
This is a genuinely funny and, for me at least, warmly nostalgic and reminiscent of a bygone era which is deftly and wittily observed by our young narrator.
Beneath the slightly brassy cheek there is enough interesting subtle social comment - on class, age, family and gender politics - to make it not just a fun read but a clever one too.
My only criticism would be that the cover isn't representative of the content. It makes it look far too chick-litty and it just doesn't "feel right" for the characters, the era, or the style of the book. Not a huge criticism obviously, but I wouldn't have necessarily picked the book up in store with this cover and I feel it could miss out a whole (male?) audience who would enjoy it otherwise?
January 28, 2020
I think this one was better than Man at helm, but somehow for someone who was not even born in the 70’s (let alone in another side of the world), the book contains many references to whom i could not relate and did not make any sense for me. It can be that the book is far more apreciated by people who lived those times and places! The writing style is however very nice :)
August 13, 2024
Absolutely hilarious! I laughed out loud many times. I was in a major reading slump and this is exactly what I needed- a jolly good witty British romp. Lizzie was an utterly relatable person- I loved her so much- her thoughts were just totally spot on. She reminded me of Clarice Bean. Just a bloody fantastic book. It was so enjoyable I had to limit my reading each night in order to savour it.
June 9, 2017
Delightful audio book. Love the choice of narrator.
July 19, 2017
If you can wade through the swearing and vulgarity, as well as the knee-deep British cultural references, you will find a decent enough story.
May 5, 2022
Just what I needed - lots of laughs
October 16, 2025
Sorry but I just love Nina, would have given this a 4.5. The perfect book to get away from everything and get lost in her short, sharp and well craft sentences.
September 8, 2021
I adore Nina Stibbe's writing, and for me this is truly a 4.5. It's probably not for everyone - it's about a 15 year old Lizzie Vogel, in the late 70's English countryside, skipping a lot of school to work at a poorly run nursing home. It's one of the sequels to "Man at the Helm", and and it's not quite as laugh-out-loud hilarious and sweet as that book, but still completely wonderful.
April 6, 2024
Funny book written by a young girl lizzy who is working in an old peoples home.
Some laugh out loud moments.
Some laugh out loud moments.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews