I think this may be a case of "it's not you, it's me"

I loved the idea of the story, a 75 year old breaking out of a care home and living life to the full. Evie is a great character and I'm sure most people will think this is a heart warming, feel good book.

But for me it just fell a little flat and I was a little bored. Honestly there really isn't much to dislike about this book but it just didn't do it for me ::shrugs::

There's been an awful lot of feel good books recently and this wasn't the best. I thought it was just silly. Couldn't get past the first few chapters.

If you enjoyed reading “The Old Man who climbed out of the Window and Disappeared” you should certainly enjoy “A Grand Old Time”. Evie, a lively Irish lady, hates life in Sheldon Lodge, the residential home that her son decided she should move to following the death of her husband., and one day decides the only thing to do is escape, so walks out and hops on a bus to Dublin, shops for new clothes and large sunglasses and achieves anonymity. Meanwhile her son, a mammy’s boy is naturally frantic with worry. As a result of a chance encounter Evie is persuaded to enter a betting shop, places a bet on horse number 4 (her favourite number), a 100 to 1 outsider and wins a small fortune. This leads her to fly to Liverpool , more encounters with strangers and an eventual trip to France where she decides to make it into a grand holiday. Son, Brendan, and his wife eventually find out that she has crossed the Channel and set out to try and find her. One thing leads to another and produces a very good read.

This was a fun and cheery read! A75 year old woman escapes her care home and decides to go on a bt of a journey. From Dublin via Liverpool and then to Roscoff and down to the South of France - Carcassone no less! Why? Well you’ll have to find out - but what a journey and story this is!

There’s fun and laughter along the way and oh the food descriptions and the gorgeous scenes in French markets, and on campsites along the way. It really makes you want to head direly to a French village and sit down with a bag of fresh fruit and a baguette.

Evie travels all the way through France in a camper van. Well, this made me love her all the more! Evie would be the ideal travel companion and I genuinely loved spending time with her on this journey. I particularly loved the way she bought and then talked about novels and was inspired by the places she visits along the way. She’s a booktrailer in secret and I loved her from the start.

Meanwhile, the story splits to Brendan, Evie’s son,and his wife Maura when they decide to go to France and bring Evie home. The story flits to them having their own adventures through French villages and on French roads.
Their troubled story is beautifully intertwined with Evie’s –and it was a pleasure getting to know then all.

A French hug in a book. Just goes to prove that anyone of any age with a twinkle in their eye can have the travelling adventure of their lives. I’m inspired to “do an Evie” now and definitely in a camper van long before I’m 75.

An infectious, happy,inspiring and heartwarming read with a keen sense of place and the spirit of adventure and travel throughout. Bon Voyage!

A delightful tale about a lady in a nursing home who takes off for one last adventure. There's also the parallel story of her son and daughter-in-law and their unhappy marriage.
It's an easy read.

How we and our families handle the final stretch of our lives can seem a dispiriting prospect but Judy Leigh fashions a breakout from the rut into which many seem to fall. The author conjures a likeable heroine in Evie Gallagher whose adventures touch many on the journey to a better and happier ending, though not without sadness too. Life is very much what you make it.

NB This review will be added to amazon.co.uk upon the release of the book on 3 May 2018.

There aren't enough mature heroines in fiction, we need more like Evie, who is a lovely main character. This is an uplifting novel with a lesson that life does not stop just because there are a few more birthday candles on the cake and that it's never too late to start anew.

A heart-warming read that I would have no hesitation in recommending.

I loved this book and the characters within. Evie is 75 and feels she is too young for the care home she's been put in, so she escapes and embraces a new life growing confidence on the way with a lot of growing old disgracefully. When the story starts she is still grieving for her recently deceased husband and does display signs of 'old age', but as the story develops she is an inspiration to us all. As long as we have our health, 75 is still young and we can still achieve things if we are brave enough to rebel from the confines that old age, in particular older women, we are expected to conform to. Her son, Brendan, is a wet blanket and one feels like shaking him along with his wife, Maura, both seem to be spoilt and sulky most of the time.
There are many twists and turns with a good sprinkling of humour and Judy gets the reader 100% behind Evie. The description of the areas of France that were visited are well represented and the area between St Girons and Foix I know reasonably well and can picture the markets, the underground river and little roads in the mountains. The only thing that slightly jars in this respect, is that this area (Ariege) is not a wine growing region but is next door to Aude which does produce good wine and within the Languedoc Roussillion region, so I shifted my minds eye whilst reading over slightly east! It did not affect my enjoyment of the book at all and it would make a good holiday read, the chapters aren't long so easy to pick up and put down, although I must admit I got hooked.

This is a heartwarming tale of modern relationships and how we treat our elderly people. Evie had ended up in Sheldon Lodge when her husband died but she realised that it was not the right place for her and managed to escape. This is a lesson to all of us with aging parents to think about what is best for them, not just what works for us. It was fantastic that Evie managed to forge a new life for herself at the age of 75. These events were also a wake-up call for Brendan, her son, whose marriage was foundering. A lovely book and highly recommended.

Evie Gallagher’s husband died and she felt like her life was over so agreed to move into an old folks home. She hated it so she left and ended up driving across France Iin a camper van. This book tells the story of EVies adventures, and simultaneously her son and daughter in laws story as they follow her across France to bring her home.
Evie meets a whole host of characters in her travels and carves a new life for herself much to her and her family’s surprise. I will not give away the ending but I will tell you that you will be rooting for Evie from the get go!

There seems to be a growing rebellion among old people.  First The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window, and now this.  I received an ARC for this wonderfully funny and heart-warming (and heart-panging) book.  Thank you to the publishers and Net-Galley.

Seventy-five year-old Evie starts her escape unsteadily, and finds herself regaining lost confidence.  That is a truth for many people who have been confined in some way, and then get the courage to say 'no'.  One of the many strengths of this book is that Evie has many mishaps, and nearly gets herself into serious trouble.  Fortunately there are usually strangers (however strange) who help.  Having helped, they may be put upon for a while, until Evie finds the wisdom within herself to help them in return. And then she gets all sorts of ideas for further exploration - and since she has the means to do so, she gets going!

A few steps behind is her worried son, and his inconsistent wife.  I say inconsistent, because she wafts from giving up on things (including her husband) to trying for one last time.  She's an interesting character, but not a likeable one. He's a bit of a wimp, but sees it as his duty to bring his mother 'home'.  It's all a great recipe for trials, tribulations, travel problems that are delightfully hilarious when you aren't involved in them, and anger from the reader who by now has sided entirely with his mum.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone within planning distance of care homes, and for those who have had to consign a parent to one, knowing that she or she really cannot look after themselves.  If you have any doubts about that, take care not to let your guilt complex get worse by reading this - although you may find it helps, in a strange sort of way!

A thoroughly enjoyable debut from the author, and I look forward to more from her.

This is my first time i have read anything by this author and i was and i am pleasantly surprised by this because i LOVED it. It had the feel good factor, pleasant stpryline and it had the most amazing characters to boost. It is set in the lovely country Ireland and Evie who is 75 is dying of boredham living in a care home, nothing could be any worse for Evie. Her son and daughter in law visit her egular but theres no connection, or fun chats so she decides enough is enough and embarks on a trip, she has never done anything wuite like this before and sets sail to Liverpool, but thats not the ned she further ventures further out..... FRANCE and further south she goes funding it by her lucky number....
Her son is loving his job but something isnt wuite right with his loveless marriage and decide to follow his mother for some adventure being who he is he calls his wife to accomnay him to enjoy the summer together.
This story is laid out different than other books i have read as it opens up the heart to find happiness which ay you look, its certainly kept me page turning.
All of these reviews are soley mine and i would like to thank Netgalley for sending me this book

Loved it. Evie shows how an older lady with little self confidence, drained by family suggesting her usefulness is over and that she is only fit to live a quiet boring life in a residential home ,can rebel and rebuild her life. She also manages to suggest a way rebuild her son and daughter in law's happiness. Compulsive reading, brilliantly written.

Sat in her room at Sheldon Lodge, Evie Gallagher realises she has made a big mistake. She may be 75, but she’s not ready for life in a care home. So off she sets in search of a little more spice to life – first in her home city of Dublin, then Liverpool, then to Brittany and beyond – all the while with her son Brendan and daughter-in-law Maura in hot pursuit, following the trail of her text messages across France, determined to bring her home. Because 75 just don’t do this sort of thing, surely?
I loved Evie’s gradual transformation from the slightly anxious and isolated woman she had become, back to the feisty Evie of her youth, as her horizons broaden with each step she takes into each new adventure.
Brendan and Maura’s ailing marriage and their struggles to communicate were quite skilfully drawn, leaving the reader’s sympathies to fluctuate between them, as neither of them is wholly in the right or wholly to blame.
The book’s style reads very much like the product of a creative writing course, which loses a star for me, but as an example of the growing canon of fiction featuring older people not behaving in a way that society prescribes, it’s one of the better offerings. Worth a read for fans of The Hundred-Year-Old Man…, and The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen.

I would like to thank Avon Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘A Grand Old Time’ by Judy Leigh in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Evie is bored with her life at Sheldon Lodge, a care home in Dublin, and decides to have an adventure. She travels to Liverpool, catches the ferry to Brittany then buys a campervan and drives across France. During her journey Evie finds love and experiences sadness and grief, but always with a sense of humour.
Although I found parts of this novel a bit protracted at times I enjoyed reading it. I liked the feisty character of Evie, her son Brendan and his wife Maura, and the Irish humour. The sadness and grief were handled with sensitivity. The novel shows that there’s plenty to look forward to even after the age of seventy has been reached.

I adored this book! I want to be Evie! Evie is 75 and living in a care home in Dublin, mainly because she is recently widowed and thinks she will get some company by living there. She hates it! So she makes her escape, and has a grand adventure from Ireland to Liverpool and then on to France. Along the way, due to the luck of the Irish, she has a huge win on the horses, so is able to fund her trip comfortably. She shrugs off her old lady clothes, has a make over, makes friends, gets drunk and becomes the independent women she always knew she could be.
Her son Brendan is a right misery, married to Maura, they are coasting along in their marriage, but their journey to try to find Evie and bring her home leads them both to reevaluate their lives.
Evie find happiness and heartbreak, and crams a whole lifetime into her few months of freedom. I love the descriptive writing in this book, Dublin, Liverpool and France come to life for me. The lifestyle in France is so wonderfully described, and Evie finds her true self here.
There is a strong thread of humour throughout this book which really appealed to me, funny,moving, sad and real, this book is a real triumph and I wish the author every success with it!

A marvellous,funny book,that proves that you are never too old for adventure and love. I just adored the character Evie,and the wonderful,lovely descriptions of France have made me homesick,for the markets and restaurants,the mouth watering food and the wines!!
Evie Gallagher decides that she is too young to be shut up in her care home and makes a break for her freedom! She takes a bus to Dublin where she meets Memphis,who takes her to a betting shop . Evie bets on Lucky Jim number 4,her lucky number,and the luck of the Irish,means that her horse comes first with odds of 100-1. She flies to Liverpool,and buys new clothes for her next adventure,she goes to Plymouth and from there becomes a foot passenger to France via Roscoff!!
Brendan,her son,and his wife Maura decide to go to France and bring Evie home. By this time Evie has bought a small camper van and is busy exploring and making many friends, and ends up falling in love.
I read this book when The Beast from the East came calling. We had snow drifts of 4feet deep , wind chill reduced the temperature to -12 degrees and the wind speed was at times 50mph! This book brought sunshine into my life and it made me laugh out loud! Pure escapism indeed and I felt so much better for reading this story, that gives hope to us all, who at times ,do feel rather tired and ancient!!
I am recommending this book to my local library and book group I know it will be well received and enjoyed. A brilliant debut!!
I have given this book a five star rating and posted this review to Goodreads today.

What a truly lovely read, Evie is a wonderful character and I warmed to her straight away, I must admit I thought her Son was a bit of a wet blanket and I didn't really take to him.
A great funny uplifting read that proves you are never too old

Well it certainly was a grand old time! Evie is the older lady we all want to be, brave, self assured and full of wisdom that only age can really bring. She is fully ready to say to hell with it all and squeeze every drop of life and love out of her life as there can be. I loved the relationships she made along the way and the fact that she cared about everyone but wasn't afraid to put herself first when needed which often we are all too scared to do. It took guts and gusto (and a sprinkle of luck) to take off and live life to the max but she did and wouldn't you just love to share a bottle of wine with her and listen to her stories! I didn't at all like Brendan and Maura during the first parts of the book, I was surprised by there are age as they sounded so much older. As the book progressed you gain understanding for them and it was lovely to see how things turned out for them. Without wanting to cause any spoilers this book was adorable, heart warming, heart breaking at times and makes you want to pack up and go off on an adventure! Maybe one day we will all take a leaf out of Evies book. Thank you very much for letting me read this ARC, I am sure readers will love it and we will all look forward to more.

There are certain standout characters who stay with me for months (maybe even years) after I’ve finished a book – and Evie Gallagher is definitely one of them.
The 75-year-old heroine of Judy Leigh’s debut is utterly captivating – she’s warm, funny, brave and real.
Evie also gives a refreshing (and much needed) make-over to the image of older women; I want to be like her when I grow up!
I find it hard to believe that this is a debut because the story is so accomplished with twists and turns (no spoilers, promise) that kept me reading long into the night.
Anyone who buys a camper van is already high on my list of people I would like to befriend but Evie is such a great character. It feels like she’s quite innocent, having led a rather sheltered life, but then she gets a glint in her eye that reveals she’s actually rather canny.
And it’s not only Evie we get to meet, we also follow her son Brendan and his wife Maura as they journey to France to bring her home.
Their troubled story is beautifully intertwined with Evie’s – and there are surprises in store for all of them.
I laughed and cried but I also learnt a lot.
While it might not be the done thing to mention film in a book review, I can definitely see A Grand Old Time being made into a film. It’s not that it isn’t a good read – it really is – but the characters are ripe for the big screen (I even spent some time picking who I would want to play Evie) as well as the plot itself. I would definitely go and see it and think it would be a crying shame if this is not picked up.
I loved Evie. I loved this book. I can’t wait to read more of Judy’s work.