With vibes of Little Miss Sunshine, this was a quirky but chaotic read. I felt it took a while to get to the road trip part of the book, which I was waiting for.

Penny Rush has a lot of problems in her life - her marriage has ground to a halt, her parents have gone missing 5 years before in the Australian outback and she comes to Santa Barbara to deal with her elderly grandfather who's second wife wants to put him in a home.

We learn of her birth father - as ugly an individual as there can be, forever belittling his daughter; her grandmother who is a pretty vile piece of work, a bully who lashes out if she is crossed, and her grandfather Arlo who is lovely. Penny also meets her grandmother's accountant, Burt, and his van - Dog of the North. And she begins to make decisions that will affect her future, as events push and pull her along. The Dog provides a safe haven in her very uncertain world.

Its enjoyable, and doesn't become twee with neat bows on all the endings, which is as life really is.

Thank you to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer - I received a free digital download of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a book that takes you on an adventure with twists and turns that nobody could guess then look no further. Although I did finish the Dog of the North with far too many questions for which I didn’t find my answers, I think it’s safe to say that it will be a book that is remembered and thought on fondly for a long time to come.

Penny shows many signs of being neurodivergent without explicitly saying it herself. A very accidentally apt book for me as I started reading it during neurodivergent awareness week and didn’t realise that the book touched on topics involving this when I started it. However I did see much of myself in Penny and felt a comfort in reading about the world through her eyes, which I oftentimes find missing in many of the fictional pieces I read.

The book was very real and raw and I loved the attention to the building of the relationships and characters throughout the book. A book that makes you feel strongly is always a good book and this book definitely delivered on this front for me

Penny’s life is falling apart. She’s left her husband, she has missing parents, and now on top of everything she is having to deal with her difficult grandmother. She decides to go on a road trip in an old van called Dog of the North and has tons of adventures.

I think this one took too long to get to the road trip, which seemed to be the crux of the novel, for me.

What is the Dog of the North?
It's a borrowed van, with yellow gingham curtains, wood panelling, a futon, a pinata, clunky brakes and difficult steering. It is a getaway car for Penny. It takes her from a failed marriage, a family in crisis and an uncertain future. Can Penny find her way back, as she sets off in The Dog, to her true self and life?

Throughout this book I was feeling a Little Miss Sunshine vibe. Quirky, witty and often completely random, this is a wonderfully chaotic and unusual read.

Penny is our narrator and she has a lot to deal with. A grandmother who it's discovered has human remains in her shed.

A missing mum and stepfather.

A recent separation.

And a grandfather being forced into a retirement home by his harridan wife.

Add to that a new friendship with Burt, and a confusing crush on his brother Dale and it's safe to say Penny is bamboozled and totally overwhelmed.

Not to mention she has potential sepsis from being stabbed by a pin wielded by her Jekyll and Hyde grandmother.

Funny and wonderfully weird, we are taken on a journey that is redemptive and life-affirming.

The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie

Penny is escaping a failed marriage and career in a dental practice, rushing to the aid of her Grandma Pincer, and her Grandad Arlo. The Dog of the North is the van she borrows from Burt her Grandma's accountant to sleep in and travel.

I loved this book - Penny's story is accompanied by an entire cast of quirky characters who give comedy and heart to the story. I loved Penny and rooted for her all the way. Very VERY highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This was a strange book. I mostly enjoyed it, but I couldn’t really tell you why. The majority of the characters were weird at best and unpleasant at worst. Penny just seemed to go along with everything without much introspection and I found the ending deeply unsatisfying. And yet I couldn’t stop reading it. Absolutely baffled to see it on the Women’s Prize longlist.

Great characters and really well drawn relationships, this not quite on the road saga had me up late as well as and reading it on my way to and from work. I've never read any Elizabeth McKenzie books before, but have just ordered another one.

Encouraged by the amusing book cover with its synopsis suggesting a darkly comic plot (plus my sneaky peek at 5* reviews), I started to read with enthusiasm. What went wrong. It puzzles me why I seem to be in the minority and almost hated the book. Yes, I did laugh a few times but had absolutely no empathy with the characters, most of them seemed unpleasant. Penny's grandmother, weirdly known only by her family name of Pincer (who does that), was offensively disagreeable. I felt indifferent to Bert, just wished him a speedy recovery. Penny’s biological father Gaspard was scarily unbalanced. The one interesting character was Penny's elderly grandfather Arlo, but his much younger wife Doris was coarse, obnoxious and probably evil.

Lost interest at the point when Penny and her grandfather depart for Australia to search for her parents who went missing without trace five years previously.

DNF

Thank you 4th Estate and NetGalley for the ARC, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion

Penny Rush is one of a kind. Dippy and somewhat other worldly, but she loves her grandparents and when they need her she is happy to oblige. Pincer, Penny’s grandmother is a formidable women, slowly losing herself, but still a force to be reckoned with. Arlo, Penny’s grandfather is a sweetheart, but now married to the dreadful Doris, he definitely needs rescuing! Throw into the mix a batty accountant, a beat up van, a misnamed dog and a bit of a love story, the book is as out there as Penny!

I loved parts of this book, especially the American relatives and adventures. Not so keen when we travelled to Oz.

A lovely story, nicely told.

3.5*

Thank you NetGalley.

Selected as my favourite book of February.
This is one of the slightly offbeat, quirky novels I adore. I could tell from the cover it was going to be comedic, and it's laugh out loud funny in places.
Penny Rush, skint and recently separated from her husband, returns to Santa Monica to deal with her grandparents. Her grandmother, Pincer, a former doctor, has been terrifying locals with a weapon called "the scintillator" and has something awful in the woodshed. Meanwhile her grandfather has a cruel second wife who wants to cast him out of her life.
The novel develops into a whole lot more. Penny is being collected by her grandmother's accountant, Burt, who she's never met before, and she becomes instantly attached to him and his brother Dale after an incident involving major surgery at the hospital.
Penny starts sleeping nights in Burt's ugly utility vehicle, nicknmed "Dog of the North." And with her grandfather Aldo she flies to Australia to explore the outback looking for any sign of her parents, who disappeared on their travels a few years ago.

I was disappointed when I reached the end, having fallen for all the characters and in particular the indefatigable Pincer. I've discovered a rich seam from McKenzie which I will savour on holiday. To be published 14 March.

The Dog of the North by Elizabeth Mckenzie is moving, funny and relatable. One of those novels where you miss the characters after you've finished reading it.

I was not sure at first . Set in America. Penny went back to help her grandparents who were divorced . Her grandfather had a horrid second wife. The grandmother was mad but clever. Lots of twists . Penny’s parents had disappeared in Australia. So a closure was needed that. It’s a weird book . You also had a camper van, a dog, an accountant and love. Also a sister in Australia and a house that needs sorting .You need to read it. need to read it.