Hello and welcome to my blog today for my review of The Silver Ladies Do Lunch by Judy Leigh. Thank you to Rachels random resources for sending me an ARC copy ahead of this blog tour.
𝐵𝓁𝓊𝓇𝒷
When Lin, Josie and Minnie left Miss Hamilton’s class at Middleton Ferris County Primary School, sixty years ago, they could only dream about what the future had in store for them. The one thing they knew for certain was that their friendship would thrive.
Years later and life hasn’t always been kind. Josie is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband Harry a year after his sudden demise. Lin is hoping to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary with husband Neil, but he’s suddenly keeping secrets and telling her lies, so she’s suspecting the worst And as for Minnie, well she loves her life in Oxford academia, but with no family to call her own, she sometimes wonders if the sacrifices were all worthwhile.
So, when the ninety-year-old Miss Hamilton – or Cecily as she lets them call her now – glides gracefully back into their lives on her glamorous purple mobility scooter, the ladies are in need of inspiration and fun. And over their regular lunches, the friends start to dream of leaving the past in the past and embracing the future, because there’s nothing you can’t achieve with good friends at your side.
𝑀𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
I have a soft spot for mid life and older characters in stories. Judy Leigh does this so well. Her previous books The Golden Oldies Book Club and the Golden girls getaway were just as good.
The main characters of this story are no exception. Minnie with her suave academic life in Oxford is a force to be reckoned with, she has taken every chance thrown at her and made the best of everything creating the perfect life for herself.
Lin has had a happy life but she is beginning to suspect all is not as it should be and is questioning her choices and the man she married.
Josie, after losing her beloved husband is trying to fine her place in the world and how she is going to make her mark. Life becomes exciting and interesting and characters from her past reappear to create new friendships and new chances.
Another force to be reckoned with is Cecily, or 'Miss Hamilton' as most of the ageing population still refer to her! She was the primary teacher of all of the older characters and her first scene when she began to teach them all made me so happy. I genuinely fell in love with Miss Hamilton a little bit, she is the teacher we all aspire to be. Engaging, fun, charismatic, able to play the guitar and sing as well as keep the children in the palm of her hand. Her passion for her students and her strength when fighting for them and the opportunities they need in life is beautiful and I think we all need to take a little bit of Cecily away with us!
As well as the older characters there are plenty of young blooded people in the town of Middleton Ferris, they bring mystery and intrigue to the story and there are lots of slow reveals and sneaky hints that lead you down the garden path before you realise that you have been tricked and the answer to the mystery is something completely different.
I love a character driven story where everyone in intertwined and all have an impact on each other, this is exactly that and it gave me all the cosy, happy feels right util the very end. I am off to find some more silver ladies books to add to my collection (and brush up on my guitar playing skills while wearing red lipstick!)
𝒜𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇
Judy Leigh is the USA Today bestselling author of The Old Girls’ Network and Five French Hens and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.
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Thanks for such a gorgeous, insightful review. Sending warmest wishes, J xx