Meant to be working at home today. I just thought i'd have a cuppa and a chapter of this book before I started. Big mistake! Several hours later I've just finished this brilliant book but got no work done! I absolutely loved this book. It involves two different characters swapping lives for a period of time, getting out of their depth before discovering more about themselves and changing their lives as a result. Yes its been done before but this one involved a swap between a woman and her grandmother and it was just perfect. I particularly loved Eileen's story (a surprise as I thought i'd relate to Leena's story more) ; she was wise, feisty and oh so realistic but also made me think about the loneliness of old people in today's fast-paced society. This book had it all: self-discovery, angst, reconciliation,romance, friendships and even a sprinkle of cute animals. What more could you want?

I was a mix of exited and scared to read this book after enjoying Beth O'Learys debut "The Flatshare" so much last year, however I was pleasantly surprised by this.
The book follows Leena and her Grandmother Eileen as they deal with their own grief and go on a journey to "find themselves" (although not at all in the way I have made that sound!).
Leena is a high flying city girl working in London and living what I imagine to be the London life, an apartment that is too expensive with a boyfriend she barely sees as he is also a busy city guy. When she goes to visit her Grandma (after too long and a disaster at work) she decides that the best thing for both might be if they switch lives. Leena taking on her Grandmas role in the sleepy Yorkshire dales, and her Grandma finally getting to experience the London life she dreamed about as a young adult.
I really enjoyed that character development of both and loved that they both found themselves doing what they do in their old lives in their new ones, albeit in a different sense. Although some parts were predictable this was the perfect story to enjoy and help take my mind off the current situation going on in the UK.

Leena Cotton is a successful young executive on the cusp of starting her own business. She gets the wobbles at work and is forced to take a two month sabbatical to recover (and hopefully find her mojo). She is at a loss for what to do, as work has been a helpful distraction from coming to terms with the death of her sister some months previous. All at once, familiar things seem foreign and she is not sure where she fits.

Enter Eileen Cotton, Leena's grandmother, who is experiencing her own life discomforts. Eileen is struggling in the love department following Leena's grandfather leaving her for another woman. She's decided it's time to get back out there and mingle but she's assessed the local suitors and found them sadly lacking. She's going to need to look further afield.

So, Eileen and Leena decided to switch lives for two months. Leena will live in Eileen's cottage in a small Yorkshire community and Eileen will live in Leena's flat-share in London. It's safe to say neither know what to expect and both get more  than they bargain for when they leave their own lives behind.

This is the epitome of feel-good right here. It's a little slow to start as Leena and Eileen's characters are fleshed out and you sense them grappling with their individual circumstances. The pacing picks up though when the pair make their respective switches.

Eileen totally made this book for me and it was wonderful to see such a fun, rounded, cheeky character who was (gasp) over 50. Eileen defies ageist stereotypes left, right and centre - teaching the young pups a thing or two who think they know better because they are younger. Such a bittersweet and fun read about being kind to yourself, appreciating life, appreciating family, and making connections with community. Oh, and there's a couple of dalliances as well for good measure. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the free electronic advance reading copy of this book. Read it, you're going to love it.

It's due for release on 16 April 2020.

The Switch is the book we all need right at this moment.

Leena and her grandmother, Eileen, need a change a BIG change.

Both are grieving the death of Carla, Leena's sister, both are finding it hard to live in their current lives - Eileen's husband has run off with the dance teacher and Eileen struggles to keep up with her corporate job in London. Both need to escape.

They decide to switch - Leena will move to Yorkshire and take over her grandmother's neighbourhood watch duties, and Eileen will move to London to have an adventure. They have 2 months to escape the stress of their old lives, and find themselves a new way of living.

Eileen, 79, jumps straight into online dating in London, finding herself an actor who wants a torrid affair as well as sorting out the complicated life's of Leena's flatmates. While Leena gets herself caught up in neighbourhood watch, organising the May day fair and between doing both of those she crashes a mini bus, loses a puppy and finds herself a crush. Their old lives become a distant memory as they find happiness.

Both will question their relationships with each other, and with others. Both will open their heart to the community and the friendships you can find. Not only is this a touching novel dealing with grief, and difficult family relationships but is also a comfort with romance, naughty puppies, different generations coming together to better their community.

The Switch is just as addictive, sweet and comforting as Beth's debut novel, The Flat Share. If you're looking for an uplifting and comforting novel to keep you company, and to ease your mind from the endless bad news then this is the book for you. You can order The Switch from your favourite bookshop.


I was sent an ebook version from Netgalley.

During these uncertain times, The Switch is exactly the kind of wholesome content we all need right now.

The Flatshare was one of my favourite books last year. At the time of reading, I was working abroad, and O’Leary’s rom-com was the perfect book to alleviate my sky-high anxiety and homesickness. So, having delighted in The Flatshare, The Switch was one of my most anticipated releases for 2020.

Reader, I loved every second.

In London, 29-year-old Leena Cotton is mentally and physically exhausted and her boss orders her to take a two-month sabbatical. Meanwhile, her 79-year-old Grandma, Eileen Cotton, is recently single after her husband leaving her for another woman and she fancies a second chance at love. With Leena in need of a break, and there being a dearth of men in Eileen’s tiny Yorkshire village, the women swap places.

Once again, I was swept up in Beth O’Leary’s fluent writing. From the outset, I fell in love with Leena and Eileen. I honestly thought I would have enjoyed Leena’s chapters best, but they were both as charming as each other. Eileen is nearly 80 years old but that by no means encumbers her joie de vivre. Rather, she tackles London’s hustle and bustle with a pep in her step, quickly befriends Leena’s flatmates and neighbours, and even gives online dating a shot (I may have to take some tips). What’s more, she is so brutally honest that she had me laughing out loud. If I can bear semblance to her when I’m in my late seventies, I’ll be thrilled. She is simply inspiring.

Back in Hamleigh-in-Harksdale, it was a joy to watch Leena learn to love herself again. Over the course of the two months, she takes charge of the May Day celebration arrangements, nails a brownie recipe, and forms unconventional friendships; her interactions with her grumpy neighbour, Arnold, made my heart swell with happiness, and the romance was just as sugary sweet as it was in The Flatshare. The swap proves to be the perfect way to aid the healing of both women from the trauma of the past couple of years. The Cotton ladies by no means overshadow The Switch’s secondary characters. I would pack up and move to my own cottage in rural Hamleigh-in-Harksdale tomorrow if I could to live among such a charming close-knit community.

Overall, Beth O’Leary is quickly becoming an auto-read author of mine. The Switch is an uplifting read that will capture the hearts and minds of readers of all ages everywhere. The perfect book to curl up with this April.

It took me two days to read this book, I really struggled to put it down! A grandmother and her granddaughter switch lives for two months to have some time out of their usual lives. Eileen is a hit in London but Leena takes some time to adjust to her new life.

These two characters were just so likeable, and I grew to fall in love with most of the characters (especially the ones in Yorkshire) and really wanted the best outcome for all. O’Leary covers love and loss so cleverly, you really feel every emotion that her characters feel.

I would definitely recommend The Switch!

Well this bundle of cuteness was exactly what I needed while having to stay in due to 'one thing and another'.

Leena is forced to take a break from her busy London life while her grandma Eileen, is ready to look for love after being left by her husband. The family as a whole has had a bit of a hard time recently and they all have things to work through. Leena and her grandma swap lives giving Eileen the a larger selection of men in London while Leena can take care of her responsibilities in Yorkshire giving her the opportunity to reconnect with her mum.

I felt like these characters became my friends for the duration of my reading experience. I enjoyed both story lines. It was a very light and easy read, with the darker topic of grief woven in.

I sped through this book. I think I now need to try The Flatshare.

I loved this book! Funny and heartwarming, the perfect read for right now. The characters that switch are well written and the journey's they go on well thought out. After initially wondering if I would engage as well with Eileen I loved her and she became the book's hero in my eyes. I couldn't recommend this highly enough,

I read and loved The Flatshare. It was a book everyone was talking about and I recommended it to everyone I met. This does mean however that the pressure is on for an author to write a second novel which is as good, if not better, than the debut when this happens.
I am happy to declare that with The Switch Beth O'Leary has managed to write another hugely enjoyable novel, with amazing characters based on another quirky concept, that of a twenty-nine year old city dwelling career girl swapping places with her seventy-nine year old grandmother.
Leena is an ambitious career girl living and working in London when she swaps places to live in a tiny village in the Yorkshire Dales. She is burnt out and given a 2 month sabbatical but it isn't just long working hours that are taking its toll, it is also that Leena is grieving for her younger sister Carla, who died from cancer.
Although there are plenty of real life 'big' topics explored throughout the narrative, such as death, loneliness, depression and domestic abuse, these characters' histories combine to make every character likeable, and real, to such an extent that I wanted to be part of their friendship group, to enjoy a cup of tea with them or proffer a shoulder to cry on.
In Hamleigh-in-Harksdale there is Eileen, Leena's energetic and sprightly grandmother, full of life and central to village affairs. Jackson is a primary school teacher and has a tearaway hound, Arnold is grumpy and doesn't know how to use a front door and Basil will not stop ranting about squirrels at the weekly Neighbourhood Watch meetings, to name but a few of the village residents.
In Shoreditch, there is Fitz who just needs a helping hand with life in general, 'vintage' Letitia who never sees a soul, pregnant Martha with a girlfriend abroad, and the dashingly gorgeous elderly actor Tod, again to name but a few.
We watch Leena and Eileen's lives blossom as the former learns to appreciate the joys of older people, helping a community and taking the first tentative steps towards reconnecting with her Mum Marian, and the latter, Eileen, learns all about social media, online dating and how to bring people together in a big city with her Silver Shoreditch's Social Club.
Beth has warmth, compassion and sensitivity at the tip of her writing fingers and has produced the type of read that lifts one's spirits and puts a smile and some sunshine in the middle of the reader's heart. As I raced through the pages I was literally basking in that warmth, feeling hopeful, inspired and so in awe of the characters' bravery and determination.
And of course Beth likes to write about love so there is romance guaranteed and happy ever afters, which is always a winner with me. It might not be difficult to second guess who will pair up with who, but it doesn't stop you from beaming from ear to ear when it happens. After all, who says dreams can't come true?! And who says neighbourhoods can't unite in an age where so many of us don't know who lives next door?
I laughed (a lot) and cried a bi,t but above all I fell in love when reading The Switch.
I am now packing my suitcase in search of someone who is willing to swap places with me!

This book was so wholesome and warm I’m genuinely annoyed at myself for finishing it so quickly. Reading it was like taking a long bubble bath that stays the perfect temperature, surrounded by candles and spa music.
If you’re struggling atm I’d really recommend The Switch, it took my mind completely away from everything with its endless list of likeable yet relatable characters and heartwarming story.

3.5

This is a really nice story. Lovely characters that some not so nice things have happened to and then some really nice things happen. It took me a while to read this and this genre doesn't really grip me enough . I guessed the ending for each. character also but it was still a lovely book 🙂

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for a review.

What a little ray of sunshine this book was, in a dark and gloomy time. The Switch by Beth O'Leary is the follow up to one of my favourite reads of last year, The Flatshare. This novel, though unrelated to O'Leary's first novel, is still such a comfort with warm, real feeling characters with good intentions in what can feel like a bleak and cruel world. Other than this similarity, it is very different to The Flatshare and focuses more on family and community rather than romance (though that is there too, don't worry!). The book follows two characters: Leena is a young workaholic Londoner who is still reeling from her sister's untimely death, and is at a loose end once she is asked to take a two month sabbatical from her job to recover. Eileen is her generous, plucky grandmother who needs to widen her horizons beyond her small village now that she is looking for love again after her husband running off with a dance instructor. They decide the only thing for it is to switch lives, and before they know it Leena is plunged into village and way over her head in planning commities and resident's associations and Eileen is walking into traffic, drinking flat whites and trying to get to grips with online dating. Soon they learn more about themselves and each other than they knew possible, and start to wonder if they have to switch back at all.
If I could have seven more Beth O'Leary novels right now I'd be so happy and with a few pages a day would feel ready to face anything.

As a big fan of Beth O’Leary’s debut, ‘The Flatshare’ - it was inevitable that I was going to request ‘The Switch’ as an ARC for an honest review.

Again, I wasn’t disappointed; O’Leary has provided a fun and witty read. With the dual narrative (a favourite of mine), I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for Eileen (the Grandmother) and her Granddaughter, Leena.

After an incident at work, Leena is in need of a break from London and goes to visit her Grandmother in Hamleigh, who too, as luck would have it, is in need of an escape and an opportunity to experience the dreams of her younger self, a life in London. Both looking to gain different things from this ‘switch’ , they throw themselves fully into the heart of their local community.

Their new lives bring about some soul-searching, life lessons and realisations that change is needed, if and when they return back to their normal lives.

A lovely, heart-warming read about much loved, engaging and believable characters that will remain with you long after you finish the book. In the author’s acknowledgements she hopes that her readers are “well and truly Eileened” and I most certainly was.

The Switch begins when Leena is given a two month sabbatical from her city job. She decides to go up to Yorkshire to visit her grandma, Elaine for the weekend and ends up switching lives with her for the next two months. Elaine moves into Leena's London flat while Leena moves into her grandma's cottage. What follows is a beautiful story of discovery as both of these feisty women navigate their new paths.

I enjoyed The Switch so much! It's light hearted which is perfect considering the uncertainty around us. However, there is still substance. O'Leary manages to cover family bonds, strong friendships, happiness, finding yourself and not putting up with BS all while keeping it light and easy to read.

The relationships between the characters are believable and made me smile. I found myself laughing out loud sometimes too because the dialogue is so funny! This is the first book I've read in a while where I wished I could be in it and that's because the characters were just so well written. O'Leary brought the older generation to life and I now want to go and live in the countryside so I can have lots of cups of tea with elderly neighbors.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc.

Overall rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received an ARC in exchange of my honest review.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Quercus books for a chance to read and review this book early.

It's my first Beth O'Leary book. I haven't read The Flatshare but I totally plan to. This book mainly focuses on a city girl Leena and her grandmother Eileen. These two are completely opposite characters. It opens with Leena as we see her being told to take a sabbatical from her stressful job in London as a business executive and she arrives at Yorkshire village to visit her Grandma Eileen, a recently single seventy nine years old lady who was more than willing for a change in her life. So these two comes up with the plan to swap lives for two months. Sounds easy right? Lol not as easy as it sounds.

This book was very witty and heartwarming. It's tough to choose a favorite. I loved both Eileen and Leena but I still think Eileen steals the show. Despite being the elder character, she was a charmer and I loved every part of her scenes. On the other hand, Leena is very relatable. I could definitely see myself in her. She is funny and had all the quirks of a British city girl who was trying to navigate the rural life. She actually thought filling in for Eileen will be easy transaction and boy it was fun to watch her try and try again. Lol. This book was a complete delight and Leena and Eileen will feel like your friends or someone you actually know.


The author created an interesting parallel between the lives of these two women all while keeping it real and entertaining. The difference between the rural and urban life is transparent in ths book and I will call the concept pretty special. I loved it. Starting from the unique plot and the heartwarming characters to the funny and witty scenes that made me laugh out loud, it was totally worth my time. If you are wondering about the romance, then yes it has romance but the story is mainly centered around Eileen and Leena. The dialogues were clever and funny. It gives a deep insight into the life of the protagonists. I highly recommend it for the fans of Jojo Moyes and Cecelia Ahern, Phillipa Ashley or say Sophie Kinsella. If you enjoy British romantic comedies, then its definitely for you. I had a blast with 'The Switch'. It was a charming read and I am looking forward to more of Beth O'Leary's books in the future. I sincerely hope you all like it as much as I did. Coming out on April 16 so stay tuned!

Stay safe and keep reading!

A heartwarming book about a young woman who temporarily swaps lives with her grandmother. A superb feel good read

I loved the Flat share, Beth O’Leary’s first book and although The Switch is quite different, Beth is obviously a talented writer and once again the book has interesting characters and a good storyline.
The Switch tells the story of a grandmother, Eileen and her granddaughter, Leena. Both of them have suffered personal tragedy and neither of them is entirely happy with their lives so they decide to do a complete swap. Eileen at the age of 79 leaves a rural village in Yorkshire for the bright city lights of London. She yearned for adventure when she was younger but gave it all up to get married. Leena has been told to take a sabbatical from her stressful job in London and goes up to Yorkshire leaving everything she knows behind. She is going to take over all the roles her grandmother has in the village and thinks it will be easy with her experience in industry but soon has a bit of a shock and finds her skills are not so useful in this situation. Village life is portrayed as one imagines it to be with a certain amount of pettiness but also great loyalty and friendship. Eileen bursts on to the London scene and makes changes that have a massive effect on the residents of Leena’s block of flats. Where people kept themselves to themselves, they learn to get to know each other and begin to understand the power of social interaction. It was great to see a 79 year old character with a bit of life! Too many times older women are portrayed as frail old ladies who can’t do anything for themselves. This is so not true today and I thought Eileen was a good representation of the older generation

I really enjoyed this book. It has a bit of everything in it and Beth O’Leary manages to deal with sensitive issues in a light but not trivial way. It is easy to read with great characters, but I slightly preferred the Flatshare, which I thought was very original. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I chose it because I liked the sound of it when I read the blurb. The plot reminded me of the film The Holiday, but here we have a house swap between grandmother and granddaughter who need a change and an escape from their normal lives.
We have a little romance, a few laughs and tears moments.
I enjoyed the book, it was an easy read.

After seeing such rave reviews for O'Leary's debut, I was really excited to pick up her new release, particularly after reading the blurb. A young professional woman in London and her grandmother living in a northern village swap lives? Count me in! The dual perspectives of Leena and her Eileen worked really well and their journeys really complimented each other. I was actually quite surprised how attached I became to Eileen's journey - I suppose, because I was so used to reading young perspectives. However, it's novels like The Switch really show how older women are unjustly thrust to the sidelines in most fiction. O'Leary is so skilled at crafting such relatable characters and I was left thoroughly invested by this heartwarming tale.

The underlying themes of grief and moving on from bereavement and trauma really hit home with me and I really must applaud O'Leary in her skill at keeping such an uplifting tone throughout. At points, the tone sometimes felt a bit too saccharine for my taste, but perhaps this was a result of not expecting such an emotional novel. Indeed, while it seems to have been billed as a romance, I would argue that the romance is actually fairly light-handed, and is often pushed to the periphery with the familial relationships and mental health taking centre stage. Nevertheless, I thoroughly recommend picking this one up, particularly in the current climate - it's an fantastic lighthearted novel to escape into for a few days.

Absolutely loved Flatshare and Beth O'Leary smashes it again with her second book The Switch.

Rich with real characters that I cared about and felt I knew from the get go.

A real joy and a great book to stay at home with.

Highly Recommend.