Holding Hands

by Stevie Turner

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2026

About the author

Stevie Turner is a British author of suspense, paranormal, women's fiction family dramas, and darkly humorous novels. She has also branched out into the world of audio books, screenplays, and translations. Her third novel 'A House Without Windows' gained the attention of a New York media production company in December 2017, and her screenplay 'For the Sake of a Child' won Silver in the 2017 Depth of Field International Film Festival.

More recently Stevie's novel 'His Ladyship' made the finals and Longlist of the 2021 Page Turner Award, and her book 'Falling' reached the finals of the 2022 Page Turner Award. Her (as yet unpublished) novella 'Holding Hands' was shortlisted for the 2025 Page Turner Writing Award.

To quote reader Roberta Baden-Powell: 'I'm looking forward to reading your new book and find your books the best so far. The style you write in has given me a new perspective and a renewed inspiration in reading once again.'

Stevie can be contacted at the following email address: info@stevieturner.uk You can also find her website at www.stevieturner.uk and her blog at www.steviet3.wordpress.com

Don't forget to sign up to Stevie's mailing list for new publications, events and giveaways! http://eepurl.com/dvNklL

Reviews

[Olga Miret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am familiar with the work of this author and have read many reviews about it, but this is the first short story/novella I’ve read by her.
This story is somewhat unusual, especially for a romance, because it focuses on two characters in their eighties, Tom and Ellen. Readers meet Tom, who is almost ninety and a widower; he lost his wife, Jean, the love of his life, a year ago, and he still misses her and cannot get used to life without her. He has managed to create a routine at the supported accommodation where he lives, and he remains fairly active, but he feels lonely. He works as a volunteer as well, holding the hands of patients (many of them quite elderly) who have to receive intraocular injections to treat a degenerative eye condition. He tells his own story in the first person, and he is quite a down-to-earth and likeable character. He has no relatives left, as he and his wife never had any children, and it is impossible not to imagine what life would be like at that age if we were in a similar situation.
Ellen, on the other hand, suffers from severe arthritis and mobility problems, has been a widow for many years and still has a big zest for life. She also has a son, Bob, but she doesn’t get on well with him, and it is not surprising, as he is selfish and only interested in getting hold of his mother’s money. She gets to tell her own side of the story, also in the first person, towards the end of the novella, and there are very moving moments readers get to share with her.
Tom and Ellen meet thanks to his volunteering, and they both connect due to their similar circumstances. They enjoy each other’s company and would like to spend some time together in their old age, but Bob feels threatened by this relationship. He tries to control his mother and does not allow her any freedom, just in case she might do something that could interfere with his chances of inheriting all the money.
I won’t go into any details, as there are quite a few surprises and twists in the story, but as you might expect, the path of true love (or true affection and friendship) does not run smooth, even at this age.
I really enjoyed meeting this couple and getting to know their lives and their strong and independent spirits, despite all the hurdles and challenges they have to face. The author manages to create very compelling and realistic characters in this compact story that packs a lot of details in few pages. There is also a memorable (and horrible) baddy, and a touch of the unexpected at the end that will delight most readers.
I am sure this won’t be the last of Stevie Turner’s stories I read, and I recommend it to all readers who like older protagonists and second-chance stories with a big heart.

[D.G. Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holding Hands is a wonderfully touching story taking in the perspective of aging seniors. Tom, a widower living in a senior home is taking in life as much as he can, despite the drawbacks of aging and him missing his departed wife, Jean.

Tom seems a spunky man, despite his nearing 90 years old. Tom keeps himself busy by volunteering at an eye clinic as a hand-holder for incoming patients as they are getting eye injections for their degenerative eye disease. He has his routines and still takes the bus, and shares a lot of himself with us about his love for his Jean, as he visits her grave daily and enjoys chats with her. One day in the clinic cafeteria, he meets elderly Ellen, then holds her hand during her treatment. The two strike up a friendship, and we get to understand his feelings when he talks to his beloved wife. Despite him living alone and finding happiness among other people, Tom can’t help but feel a bit guilty having any interest in any other woman because he doesn’t want to betray the love he felt for his wife. But Tom’s loneliness makes him curious to learn more about Ellen, as company is a rare thing for him.

As their friendship builds, there’s a bully in town, ‘Bastard Bob’, as Tom likes to refer to Ellen’s overbearing son who’d rather she be alone and isolated than to have any social life. As their friendship grows, Tom and Ellen come up with some shenanigans to be able to spend time together, making many efforts to dodge Bob at any opportunity. This is when the book heats up with ‘their plan’. Will they pull it off? You’ll have to read to find out.

[Alex Craigie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful book about an elderly man who volunteers to hold the hands of anxious patients awaiting eye injections. His accounts of his daily life are masterfully done and really capture the loneliness, boredom and humour of a man approaching his 87th year. His wife died just over a year ago and there’s a touching description of him standing inside her empty wardrobe to capture the lingering scent of her.
Tom is so lonely at the beginning of the book he passes the time volunteering, sleeping, going to bingo, and even attempting line dancing just to be with people.
Then he meets a fun-loving woman, Ellen, at the eye clinic and things change for him in ways that he couldn’t have anticipated. The only fly in the ointment is Ellen’s controlling and disapproving son Bob. This isn’t a ‘cosy’ story, as such, but I’ll not give away any spoilers except to say that the ending came as quite a surprise.
This is a well-written tale that captures the fun and loneliness of people in a way I found enchanting.

[Pete Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holding Hands is not your ordinary novella, as the two main protagonists, Tom and Ellen, are both in their 80s. Tom has been a lonely widower since Jean, his wife of 65 years, passed away. To keep himself occupied, he volunteers twice a week at a local hospital. He serves as a hand-holder to comfort patients undergoing eye injections for macular degeneration. While at the hospital, he forms a friendship with one of the patients. Ellen may be confined to a wheelchair, but she's still full of life.

Together, Tom and Ellen fill a void in each other's lives. The only problem is that Ellen has a wretched son named Bob, who is very controlling of his mother's life. He thinks he stands to inherit a fortune from his mother when she passes, so he's now pretending to be the caring son. When Bob begins interfering in Ellen's and Tom's relationship, Ellen suggests that the two friends get married so they can live their own lives without Bob's interference. Will they be able to pull that off without Bob getting in the way?