The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons
This is a very enjoyable read. The title character is in two timelines, both in London. One begins in World War II when she is a child and her father leaves for war. The other begins in the present day. Eudora is just turning eighty-five and she lives a lonely life. After a bad fall, she now walks with a cane and although she still goes for a swim most days, and Ruth, a social worker now comes to see her regularly, she and her cat Montgomery live a quiet life together. Eudora has recently sent away to Switzerland for information on booking a planned death.
Then, a new family moves in next door, and ten-year-old Rose Trewidney introduces herself into Eudora's life in a way that can't be denied, and soon Eudora is connecting with others in her neighbourhood as well.
As we gradually see, from the earlier timeline, what events shaped Eudora, we see how those events now connect to her present and how she has created barriers to protect herself, but they have also prevented connections from forming.
As she and Rose become friends and she shares more of her earlier life with her, and uses her experiences to help Rose face challenges of her own. She also begins to realize that her life has been a better one than she realized.
This is a story with sad moments, but also joyful and amusing ones. Rose is a force to be reckoned with, and changes Eudora's life in subtle and interesting ways.
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