Live a Little

by Howard Jacobson

At the age of ninety-something, Beryl Dusinbery is forgetting everything – including her own children. She spends her days stitching morbid samplers and tormenting her two long-suffering carers, Nastya and Euphoria, with tangled stories of her husbands and love affairs.

Shimi Carmelli can do up his own buttons, walks without the aid of a frame and speaks without spitting. Among the widows of North London, he’s whispered about as the last of the eligible bachelors. Unlike Beryl, he forgets nothing – especially not the shame of a childhood incident that has hung over him like an oppressive cloud ever since.

There’s very little life remaining for either of them, but perhaps just enough to heal some of the hurt inflicted along the way, and find new meaning in what’s left. Told with Jacobson’s trademark wit and style, Live a Little is in equal parts funny, irreverent and tender – a novel to make you consider all the paths not taken, and whether you could still change course.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Contemporary, Unfinished, Novels, Jewish

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2019

About the author

Howard Jacobson was born in Manchester, England, and educated at Cambridge. His many novels include The Mighty Walzer (winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize), Who’s Sorry Now? and Kalooki Nights (both longlisted for the Man Booker Prize), and, most recently, The Act of Love. Jacobson is also a respected critic and broadcaster, and writes a weekly column for the Independent. He lives in London.

Profile of Howard Jacobson in The New York Times.

“The book's appeal to Jewish readers is obvious, but like all great Jewish art — the paintings of Marc Chagall, the books of Saul Bellow, the films of Woody Allen — it is Jacobson's use of the Jewish experience to explain the greater human one that sets it apart. Who among us is so certain of our identity? Who hasn't been asked, "What's your background" and hesitated, even for a split second, to answer their inquisitor? Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question forces us to ask that of ourselves, and that's why it's a must read, no matter what your background.”—-David Sax, NPR.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔]

Not going to rate this as I only made it to page ninty.
Some of the parts I read were witty but on the whole i just can't connect to this book.

[JimZ]

I am going to do a DNF on this. I made it p. 40 and I feel that this is Jacobson trying to say clever and witty things out of the mouths or thoughts of his characters. I'm tired of it and probably won't read anything else by him again. I do not normally post reviews on books I did not finish, but I saw how many others did a DNF on this book and I thought I would put in my two cents worth.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Live A Little very much in the end. It is witty, insightful and rather touching, but I found the first two-thirds or so a bit of a slog.

This is a story of two people in their eighties and nineties respectively who have very different pasts and views of themselves. Shimi Carmelli is cursed with remembering almost everything – especially his shames and embarrassments which are many. (“A butterfly doesn’t beat its wings in China without Shimi feeling it is his fault or at leasts reflects badly on him.”) Beryl Duisenbery, on the other hand, is losing her memory, while trying to write a memoir of her imperiously lived life (“Who the hell cares, anyway, she thinks. It’s true if I say it is. It’s true if I recall it that way.”)

We spend the first two-thirds of the book getting to know Beryl and Shimi, allowing Jacobson time to develop his characters while throwing witty barbs at politics of both shades, artists, elderly widows and plenty of other targets. It’s well done and fantastically well written, of course, and they are interesting characters but I did find that it meandered a bit. The book really takes off when Beryl and Shimi finally meet and their relationship brings about some surprising and sometimes genuinely touching revelations, confessions and redemptions of a kind. Here, I think Jacobson has important things to say about loneliness, the impact of shame on a life and about relationships in general.

I laughed several times and was moved, too and in spite of my reservations about the length of the first section, I can recommend Live A Little as a rewarding read.

(My thanks to Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley.)

[Laura Spira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat to my surprise, I enjoyed this book immensely. I had not anticipated that reading about very old people and their relationships could be quite so joyous. Jacobson has created two central characters, Shimi and Beryl, who will stay in my mind for a long time. Shimi, in appearance, is much like my grandfather, but a far more tortured soul than he ever was. Beryl is a monstrous invention, arrantly self-centred and a most neglectful mother, although we can never be sure about any of the history she conjures up for herself. Although she is ageing disgracefully - indeed, seems to have lived her whole life disgracefully - she mellows as she absorbs Shimi into her purview. She is one of the very few fictional characters I have ever wanted to meet in real life.

And the other characters are equally vivid: Beryl's long-suffering carers, the Greek chorus of Widows and, off stage, Shimi's estranged younger brother, Ephraim.

But the best thing about this book is the conversation. Beryl, while losing her memory and her words, still commands a wide range of allusions and vocabulary. Her wounding sarcasm to her carers and her sons is entertaining and her verbal jousting with Shimi is delightful. Jacobson is a master of dialogue. The book is scattered with arresting turns of phrase and gentle humour and I found the ending unexpectedly hopeful and uplifting.

[Michael Berquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of “Live A Little” from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

This is the smartest book I have read in 2019. It is no surprise that Jacobson has won and been nominated for the Man Booker Prize multiple times. His characterizations here are excellent. Beryl Dusinbery is an insightful and acerbic character who had me cracking up and rereading her pointed accusations in equal measure.
The writing is beautiful. Take the time to look up the stunning language Jacobsen utilizes because no word is superfluous and each heightens the characterizations. I highly recommend this book to all readers who are caretakers or are taken care of as they will surely find humor and poignancy in this breathtaking novel of love and regret. I know this reader sure did.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A humorous, witty, clever, touching, engaging character based novel about two very old people. A book about old age and memory. Ninety something Beryl Businbery stitches samples and torments her two carers, Nastya and Euphoria. Beryl forgets things, including her children. She talks about her husbands and love affairs. Shims Carmelli is 91 years old, has a good memory, walks without a frame and speaks without spitting. He never married. He discovers that his brother has died. Shimi I had not seen his brother for over forty years. At his brother’s funeral he meets Beryl.

The author treats old age with compassion. The characters discover inner capacities for kindness, caring and inspiration. A book to reread.

I have had a mixed experience with Howard Jacobson. I particularly liked ‘The Finkler Question’, ‘’Shylock is my Name’ and ‘The Mighty Walzer’. However I struggled with ‘J’ and ‘Pussy’. Still, four very good novels outweighs the two rather disappointing reading experiences.

This book was first published in 2019.

[Kathryn Bashaar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beryl Dusinbery and Shini Carmelli are two very elderly London residents, and very different from each other.

Beryl is slowly losing her memories to dementia. She is a self-centered, talkative, demanding woman who freely admits that she was a neglectful mother and can't even quite remember how many children she has nor exactly which lover or husband was the father of each child. She seems to be quite well-to-do, as she has two caregivers who see to her needs around the clock. Euphoria is a sweet-natured Ugandan. Nastya is a cynical self-interested young woman from Moldova.

Shimi has bladder issues but is otherwise amazing healthy for a man in his 90s. He finds himself very popular with the local widows who consider him a catch because he can 'do up his own buttons, walk without a walker and talk without spitting.' Shimi's memory is all too intact. He still recalls with agony a fairly minor offense from his childhood which has formed his life and left him lacking in self-confidence, social skills and ambition. He ekes out a living as a card-reader.

The reader assumes that these two will meet, but what connects them really took me by surprise.

Beryl and Shimi, and Beryl's caretakers, are interesting characters, so I looked forward to seeing what would happen when they finally met. But the second half of the book was disappointing. Everything Beryl and Shimi do and say once they meet feels out of character. Other than the surprise connection, there doesn't seem to be anything that would attract them to each other, yet they immediately fall in love. Shy, uptight Shimi suddenly develops both verbal wit and a sophisticated understanding of himself. Self-centered Beryl is suddenly a great listener with a deep understanding of another human being and the ability to ask just the right question. The caregivers drop out of the plot altogether. Shimi and Beryl have lengthy, lengthy dialogs that attempt to explain things about their relationship that the author should have shown us in scenes, and none of the explanations make any sense anyway. I felt like this author made up some really good characters, then got halfway through the book and couldn't figures out what to do with them.

Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon....

[Greville Waterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried... Oh how hard I tried. That seems to be my experience with so many of Howard Jacobson's book. I loved some of his early books as well as The Mighty Walzer which was poignant and hilarious but I have struggled ever since.

Maybe it is me but I am happy to work at a book and do not expect instant gratification but I just could not immerse myself in "Live a Little".

There were some lovely descriptions of North London Jewish life which were accurate and acute but I found the plot confusing and hard to grasp.

Perhaps it is meant to be like that as most of the main characters are very elderly and no longer as sharp as they once were but the late, great Mordecai Richler portrayed such a situation with humour, sympathy and hilarity in "Barney's Version" a marvellous tragi-comedy.

Maybe I have completely missed the point but whilst there were some beautifully crafted sentences and analogies I did not get the point of this book which I regret because I might be missing something worthwhile.

[Rana Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC for Novel Neighbor.
I don't know how to go about writing a review for this book. I just didn't get it. It is either a bad book or it's way above my reading level. It was confusing and full of stories that felt they were all going to connect but really didn't. That may have been on purpose given the main character Beryl Dusinbery is older and forgetting major parts of her life.

"Here/there, life/death-same difference."
The tone and feelings of the main character all came to a head for me in this one quote. Getting to the end of ones life can be darn depressing. Yuck.

[Caren · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is unusual for me to give up and not finish a book. However, I was actually getting angry at the time I was wasting looking for a purpose in Jacobson's tedious and unsympathetic account of Beryl and her dementia. I "surrendered" before discovering how Beryl's story would link to that of the elderly Shimi. Apparently, his trying on his mother's underpants when he was a child would have some lasting impact on his lonely life. Ridiculous, not at all funny, and missing the philosophical astuteness and wit found in "The Finkler Question", the novel aggravated me.

[Mark Gubarenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Не читал ничего у Джейкобсона до этого, но подумал раз человек Букер получает, то наверное умеет писать. Книгу взял пару лет назад как она выходила, и вот дошли руки.

Блин, благо не длинная. Обещают нам лав-стори про пенсионеров, а по факту чушь и набор предложений просто. Интрига которая есть - ничем не оправдывается. Финальный твист не то чтобы важен, да и тоже никак не влияет ни на что.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, and so did my husband. I understand why it doesn’t have broad appeal. The first half of the book toggles back and forth between two really old people, Shimi and Beryl who live on the same North London street but have never met. The man, Shimi has failed to “live a little” throughout his many decades. Even so, he is madly popular with elderly widows in his neighbourhood because he stands tall and his hands don’t tremble. And he is still alive though pushing 90. Howard Jacobson takes an unsentimental and at times humanely humorous look at the indignities of old age: weak bladders, faltering memories, embarrassing recollections.

Beryl, aka the Princess is fighting to keep hold of her mind. In spite of her memory lapses, she is sharply intelligent and sharp tongued with her two carers, an Eastern European woman on the lookout for a way up, and a sweet natured African woman. I found it charming just to see these two come to life because when do you come across characters who are caregivers to the elderly in contemporary novels?
I appreciated the freshness and originality of the main characters as well.

The magic happens when Beryl and Shimi finally meet in a cemetery after a funeral and discover a mutual third party connection. It’s not the magic of young love but the synchronous magic of great conversation as they dive into exploring the stuff in their heads, the things they’ve been unable to say to anyone else. (Their dialogue snaps and sparks, Great writing. )They’re better together, and they both learn to “live a little.” Jacobson says he is not an optimist, but this struck me as a hopeful story.

[Stephen Goldenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always feel that reading a Howard Jacobson novel is like eating a fancy dessert in a restaurant. There’s more pleasure in looking at it on the plate than actually eating it. And when you have eaten it, it leaves you with a feeling of over-indulgence and sickliness.
Ostensibly, it’s a story about a romance(?) between two nonagenarians, Beryl and Shimi. But, as with most Jacobson novels, this is all about character with very little story. Beryl and Shimi don’t even meet until two thirds of the way through the novel. What keeps it readable is Jacobson’s flair with language, the many flashes of wit and some larger than life characters. However, in the end, it’s style over substance.

[Sumit Bhagat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every year when I travel all the way to Jaipur for the Literature Festival, I travel with no expectations but one - to discover a new author by some stroke of perchance or serendipity. And if my past experience were to bear any witness, in the process of that discovery, you not only come back with a new name, you also inherit a new person, a new idea, a new way of looking at the world. I can't thank the festival enough for introducing me to Jhumpa Lahiri, Andre Aciman, and now, Howard Jacobsen.

Howard Jacobsen took my fancy when he was a part of a larger panel on fiction (as told by my friends) and later on travel (which I personally bore witness to). Every time the mic was handed over to him, he was either very funny or very deep. More often than not, he was both. I was instantly a fan. Off I rushed to the book stall and to my dismay ended up finding neither his Booker prize winning work 'The Finkler Question' nor the 2014 shortlist 'J' there. Apparently, everything had been sold out the previous day. As a drifted across the book stall, heartbroken, I chanced upon a slightly torn copy of his latest book - 'Live a Little' on a random aisle. With a cover like that and the lovely premise, my joy knew no bounds.

Live a Little is a story of two individuals falling in love at the absolute twilight of their lives. Beryl Dusinberry is 99, Shimi Carmelli is 91. And yet, here they are on Finchley Road, falling in love, slowly, but surely. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the book so much when I started with it. Jacobsen's language initially reminded me of Joseph Conrad in its complexity and vocabulary, in that I had to look at the thesaurus often which broke my chain of thought. But once you are drawn into the story, it makes for a wonderful reading.

I found Shimi's character much more layered and interesting, and Jacobsen's writing does carry that wit, if only in a darkly comic way. Sometimes you would chuckle to yourself, and often you would be moved. I can't quite say I could feel for Shimi or Beryl, or completely connect to them, but the way Jacobsen builds his characters, there was definitely this neutral space in which I felt I knew them closely.

My only grouse with the story is that it builds up slowly and then moves too fast. I just couldn't help but compare it to 'A Man Called Ove' (due to the similarity of premise), and anything, when compared to A Man Called Ove is bound to end up falling short of your expectations at some level of the other.

To be fair, Howard Jacobsen as an author grows on you. I wasn't quite sure of him when I started, but by the time I finished this book, I fell in love with his writing. I think Live a Little shows the promise of his writing that may have once blossomed in A Finkler Question or J. That being said Live a Little shines in its own light in reminding us that love finds a way if we are open enough to embrace it, irrespective who or where we are.

[mentalexotica]

Can’t review a book that I didn’t bring myself to finish but, it’s not to say I didn’t give this one a chance. I Got and as far as 120 pages I simply could not encourage myself any further. No don’t get me wrong. This is on to say that this book is unreadable. It is to say, rather, then I wanted to begin the year with something a little more impactful. And this book just wasn’t meeting the mark.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed the wit and humour that Howard Jacobson brings to the table. His sense of humour is pithy, wry, and quick. However, while the pages are entertaining, the story is slow. Too slow. And embroidered with details which, while being entertaining, are of no great consequence other than to illustrate the author’s acumen. Yes, Jacobson can write. Yes, he can arrest with the musicality and lyricism of language. But can he hold the fort long enough for the punchline to be delivered just so? Not quite.

I might pick this book up later on in the year, during a particularly light period of reading, when I didn’t feel as raring to go as I do right now. And perhaps under those circumstances, I might enjoy the levity, the incisiveness, and the remarkable skill of observation this author is known for.

[Zulfiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious, funny, sad, and elegiac, but it is too drawn out; thus, after a pleasant surprise of the strong beginning and good character development, it turns into a slow-churning, even somewhat redundant narrative.

I do like the modern trend of book focusing on octo and nonogenarians. We do need more books like that while the modern fictional trend focuses mostly on titillating YA or pathetic genre books. We do need more brooding books of self-discovery and meditation, but despite checking all these boxes, Live A Little is just average-ish with the sluggish plot ( even though the mood of the book does not require too much of a plot line), but if one gets into a plot, then one is expected to stick to it, not to draw it out for the sake of the size of the novel)

Overall, I quite enjoyed it, but I also can see its glaring flaws.

[Moirad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up and put down, and then eventually finished. 2 very elderly Londoners meet and join forces. Some humour, especially in the comments by Nastya, a carer, but this was rather a plod.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the audiobook with its outstanding narration, the story itself would be a three.

Shimi tried on his mother's bloomers at age ten (once); we learn that at age 90 he's been haunted by this his entire life. His mother died when he was a child, shortly thereafter his father abandoned Shimi and his brother Ephraim. The brothers last met in 1959; Shimi attends his brother's funeral in 2019 out of curiosity. He is rather a nebbish (sad sack).

Beryl (slightly younger than Shimi) has at least three sons, she isn't exactly certain who all of her living relatives are. Her life consists of terrorizing her caregivers, a sweet African and a sour Eastern European. She is quite opinionated and aggressive, presumably with some memory loss (aphasia).

She corners Shimi at the funeral to learn more about Ephriam's early life. Second half of the book feels a lot like a play script between those two. I'll give a bit of a spoiler in the form of a criticism that when the bloomers episode arises, Beryl is as confused as I was how that came to "define" him? Shimi is forced to confront that, but his answer came through as word salad to me. Oh well...

For me, the first part worked out OK as Beryl's over-the-top attitude contrasted to balance out Shimi's self-pity. I missed how Shimi's doctor came to have a heavy New York accent? Would have liked to have heard about the African carer's tea with the Queen!

For all the times I felt the story felt as though might teeter into "slog" territory, I realized later that that I was actually missing those two!

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, to be able to write like Howard Jacobson.....

Thoroughly enjoyed this smart, witty, and often laugh-out-loud funny book about life in London as experienced by two 90-something-year-olds who have met in their old-old age and bring to their relationship _quite_ different life experiences.

As someone who has had the privilege of being around vibrant and brilliant people as they grew older and then transitioned on from this plane of existence, I was especially appreciative of how Mr Jacobson treated the protagonists of Live a Little with respect. Found myself wondering if he wants to be Shimi or Beryl when he grows up. Most likely a combination of the two, I'm thinking.

Note: I don't think this book will be everyone's cup of tea. I had to look up the meaning of several words, as well as translations for a variety of foreign phrases and to learn about referenced historical characters. Plus there are some difficult things to read about, because, well, hey--life isn't always pleasant, is it? Especially when one has lived nine decades-plus.

But if you like London, and wicked smart people, then I think you, too, will enjoy this story.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zwei Personen in den Neunzigern - die "Prinzessin" Beryl Dusinbury, die immer vergesslicher wird, und Shimi Carmelli, der sich an zuviel erinnert, z.B. an diverse Peinlichkeiten in seiner Jugend, finden trotz unterschiedlicher Charaktere zu einer Beziehung.

Das Buch ist mit skurrilem Humor gespickt, aber auch mit unangenehmen Ereignissen und agressiven Sätzen, also war es nicht unbedingt nach meinem Geschmack. Die Idee ist wohl gut, sich mit alten Leuten zu beschäftigen, aber ich konnte mich nicht unbedingt damit anfreunden.

Danke an den Verlag und Netgalley für ein Rezensionsexemplar im Gegenzug für eine ehrliche Rezension.

[Susan Aldridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm only not giving this one star because that seems a bit mean. I enjoyed Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2010, and Live a Little was on the Guardian books to look forward to in 2019 list, several of which I have read and enjoyed. But a couple of hours in (I had this on audible), I was ready to pack it in and only persisted because I looked up a couple of reviews, which were very positive. But yesterday, as I struggled through the last hour while walking around the park, I was tutting with exasperation and just longing for it to be over!
The Finchley Rd setting seemed promising, as I'm a North Londoner and like to read about places I'm familiar with, and the topic - love in old age, between a man in his 80s (Shimi Carmelli) and a woman of 99 (Beryl Dusinbery) - interesting. The first half of the book, though, deals with their separate backstories and Beryl comes across as being arrogant, awkward and racist, with no redeeming features that I could detect. Shimi was more sympathetic and his relationship with his family well described.
When they finally did get together, at Shimi's brother's funeral, what we then get is a series of brittle interchanges with Beryl indulging in lots of vacuous pseudo-philosophical one-liners that sat at odds with her failing memory at other times. I'll admit it's funny to witness her family's alarm at the prospect of the two of them marrying and possibly making off with their inheritance, but I never felt there was any real feeling between Shimi and Beryl - it always seemed to be more about her scoring points – so that was a disappointment. There are some amusing scenes, I have to say, like the Finchley Rd Widow's Ball, where Shimi carries out card readings, but for me the book was more facetious than funny.

[Chris Perera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cards on the table (and anyone planning to read this novel will soon discover why that is an appropriate expression) I am a big fan of Howard Jacobson’s work. In Shimi Carmelli and Beryl Dusinbery, Jacobson has created two well-worn and deliciously plausible nonagenarians, whose ancient skins have endured vastly differing experiences of life. As ever with Jacobson, it is the use of language (particularly when the banter becomes witty) and juggling of ideas (in relation to personal philosophies and meditations on life) that are never far from the fore. In addition, a wonderful cast of extras provide perfect foils for the barbed wit of Beryl and the terror of personal interaction faced by the perpetually frightened rabbit that is Shimi. Beryl, we soon discover, has lived a very full life (and yes, ‘very full’ means precisely what you’re thinking) whereas poor Shimi has endured quite the opposite (by his own choice, I must add). Eventually (and you don’t get more eventually than two characters who meet in their nineties) their worlds collide, or more appropriately, coincide. If I have one criticism, it is that the characters are a little too self-aware. That’s fine, but in the latter half of the novel, their conversation dominates and sometimes, the comebacks are a little too slick and polished. That said, it’s a minor criticism and fans of Howard Jacobson should enjoy this novel as it crackles along with the author’s characteristic intelligence and wit.

[Julie Trapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

1st half of the book is Beryl (90+) and Shimi (OLD) alternating chapters giving us background on their lives so far. BORING!!!! The 2nd half is when they meet. She can't remember anything (people, places, things) and is a mean old bag to her 2 caretakers. He remembers everything that ever happened to him and is (seemingly, to him) the only eligible bachelor in London who can walk without a cane, doesn't spit when he talks and can button his own clothes. This was so boring and they were both annoying. Yes, I have known relatives who get dementia - and have known elderly relatives who still in their 90s have all of their faculties. As my grandmother used to say - "Just shoot me when I get that bad".

[RaeAnna Rekemeyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the writing, but the story itself was lackluster for me. I can’t even remember the plot, except for the part where I couldn’t care less about the characters. The female characters in particular were… shallow. It’s an excellent example of why I don’t like reading female characters written by men. The narrative style is humorous and interesting.
Memorable Quotes
“I was more of a man than any of my men were and I don’t doubt I will prove to be more of a carer than my carers.”
“What they call dementia, she has decided, is nothing but a failure to maintain a comprehensive filing system. And what they call losing your mind is forgetting to use it.”

https://onthebl.org/2021/10/21/easy-f...

[Paula Ackley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to stop entering any giveaway which has brilliant, witty, humorous, etc. in the book's description. I never seem to find them funny and Mr. Jacobson's Live a Little is no exception. Long, yes. Rambling, yes. Boring, yes. Didn't get it, slogged through, wishing it was over, struggled with, people I didn't like and couldn't connect with-yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. Should I have learned my lesson from other books that I don't have to finish reading a book if I don't like it? YES! I always wonder if it's just me but at least this time there are several other readers who agree with me. I am not alone.

[L A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review is based on my own personal enjoyment of the novel and not how well written it is.

I'm not going to beat around the bush, I just wasn't feeling it. I loved some of the turns of phrase and the writing was witty, if rather caustically so, but I couldn't connect with this book. I enjoyed the writer's sense of humour but I couldn't engage with either of the main characters or the story.

Just one of those books that wasn't for me I'm afraid.

[Jodi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Goodreads Giveaway win - I started it, but the story didn't make much sense to me. Only got about 60 pages in to it - the main characters were pretty annoying and their little "quirks" (she is losing her memory and her main hobbies are embroidering things with death related quotes and abusing her caregivers - his seems to be outdoor peeing and reading tarot cards for lonely, rich widows..) just couldn't hold me. I rarely put a book down and say "nah", but this was one of them. Just didn't care enough about the characters quickly enough to keep me engaged...

[Elizabeth King · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels unfair giving a rating because I gave up rather than finished. I found the writing really hard work - disjointed and too many different perspectives at once. It jarred on me and it was too much of a slog. Maybe if I’d found any of the characters compelling I would have stuck with it but they were all unpleasant and I didn’t want to stay in their heads an6 longer.

[Rebecca]

It’s been a while since I tried a Jacobson novel, and the idea of a comic romance between 90-somethings appealed to me, so I thought I’d give his work another go. The first chapter, about Beryl and her morbid cross-stitch sayings, was entertaining enough, but the second chapter quickly lost me.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Howard Jacobson read and I was absolutely charmed by his characters. Their witty and honest conversations not only had me using a dictionary but wanting more.