I enjoyed this book. Mabel has to re-evaluate her life when her husband dies. She goes from not having many friends and living a boring life to meeting others who she finds a connection with. This book explores the different kinds of love we shares with friends or partners and how that love can change us, especially if it is frowned upon - Really enjoyable read.

'The Last List of Mabel Beaumont' is a beautifully written homage to love in its many guises.

Wrapped up in gorgeous prose are serious themes of grief, homophobia and injustice. I absolutely love Mabel's character arc as she works her way into your heart despite her curmudgeonly beginnings. The - sometimes unlikely - female friendships are inspiring and realistic. I loved returning to these women after a rough day.

This poignant but uplifting novel made me cry and I would recommend it to anyone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

What a lovely book this was and already I'm missing the company of Mabel and her friends.

Recommended.

The Last List of Mabel Beaumont is a sweeping tale of love, and all the forms that it takes. When Mabel Beaumont's husband passes away she goes on a journey to find her long last friend Dot. The people she meets along the way and the unfolding of the past meeting the present is beautiful.

The slow build of this story was excellently done. Mabel is such a nuanced character-much like the book itself, she slowly winds her way into your heart. There wasn't a particularly huge mystery, but even though you see it coming, the author writes in such an exceptional way that you are along for the ride and just can't stop reading. I absolutely loved this book. It was such a joy to read!

There are some themes of homophobia, but Laura Pearson handles it so respectfully while not downplaying the injustice. .This is a slow-burn contemporary, so if you do not enjoy that pace it may not be for you.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It would make the perfect buddy or book club read. I now will be keeping my eye out for anything else by this author. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this delight.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved everything about it! Mabel is a wonderful, complicated character. The supporting characters are interesting, relatable and I'd love to have a cuppa with them. Their developing friendships are quirky and fun. Mabel's list leads to an eye opening and thoughtful life review. The ending was excellent. Great book! Thanks #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks

Loved this book and more or less read it in one sitting. It reminded me very much of 'the girl on the 88 bus'. A wonderful story that made me laugh and cry.

One liner: Beautiful, heartwarming story of love and friendship and being there for each other.

Synopsis: Eighty-six-year-old Mabel has just been widowed. Her husband Arthur is gone all of a sudden with no signs of any kind of disease. Mabel is trying hard to adjust to a life without Arthur and when she is going through his things to clear them out, she finds a list with just one bullet point on it. "Find D". Mabel thinks that Arthur is telling her to find her estranged best friend Dot, whom Mabel hasn't seen since sometime before her wedding. Mabel decides to find Dot. She is unsure how to go about doing this. Mabel ends up with set of kind friends who are ready to help her with the quest. But they all come with baggage too. Mabel's effort of finding D along with her friends becomes a wonderful journey for this set of friends who are varying age ranges. The story comes to the reader in the first person POV of Mabel

My Thoughts:
Beautiful cover and the writing and the story stays true to that. Even though it starts off a tad bit slow in the beginning, it picks up a decent pace in the middle. Even with the slow pace, I did not find the book dragging on its feet rather I savored the conversations between friends, the locale and setting. Mabel's character is very well etched. Her reservations towards any kind of change or being friendly to anybody other than Arthur is justified very well. Her transformation from somebody who is reluctant to even greet somebody to forming friendships and helping her friends is beautiful. It comes across so normal and is not forced anywhere. The setting and the initial pages of the book seems like the story might be very simple and easy but then it comes with many secrets and is not as straight forward as it looks. The companionship between Arthur and Mabel shows the sacrifice people do to stay in love. I could easily guess her secrets but it did not deter my reading experience at all.

All in all its a warm and fuzzy book which leaves you satisficed. Go for it if you are looking for a cozy rainy day reader

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Last List of Mabel Beaumont”. This review is voluntary

Adorable but at the same time heartbreaking. Through her search, Mabel finds friendships in unexpected places, and she also reevaluates her life, discovering how isolated it was before her husband died. The book shows how people deal differently with grief and loss, but I especially loved the friendships that Mabel developed with the different women who come into her life.

I got this arc in exhange for an honest review.

What a wonderful book about picking up the pieces after a devastating loss. Mabel’s narrow life gets opened up after the death of her beloved husband. I found this a little close to home at first but as well as loss there developed a great deal of hope, not only for Mabel but those she collects on her journey. Fabulous.

A gorgeous and uplifting tale of grief, female friendship and regrets.

A love story that is beautifully written and poignant. I adored Mabel and was transfixed by her journey. There is so much to love here - authentic characters, a meticulous plot and a narrative taut with mystery and love.

Such an uplifting story and a message to live your life.

Mabel and Arthur Beaumont were married for over sixty years, and when he dies suddenly, Mabel is left isolated and grieving. Then she finds a list that he left her saying "Find D", and Mabel decides to act on it.

This sets her off on a journey to find her childhood friend Dorothy "Dot". Mabel, Dot, Arthur and Ben, Mabel's brother, hung out as teens, and it was generally assumed that Dot and Ben would marry, and it was expected that Mabel and Arthur would marry. After Ben died suddenly, everything fell apart, and though Mabel and Arthur did marry, Mabel lost contact with Dot, who left for London.

Mabel begins reaching out to others, opening up her formerly closed off life. Mabel learns to explore new things, something she refused to do for much of her marriage. She also realizes that she isolated herself, and she begins the process of reaching out and making friends. The women she brings into her life range greatly in ages and experiences, and all have their own troubles. All the women, including Mabel, gain tremendously from their new relationships with each other.

The overall impression I had of the story was that it was heartwarming and sweet, even though much of the book deals with grief and regrets. The developing friendships really made the book for me, and I liked the idea that opening one's heart to others enriches one's life immeasurably.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Mabel and Arthur Beaumont live in a small Surrey town and have been married for sixty-two years. They are the best of friends. When she wakes one morning to find Arthur has passed away in the night, she feels adrift. They never had children and now she is completely alone... When Arthur was alive he structured their days around lists he would make. Mabel finds his last, unfinished list which says only "Find D". Her mind immediately goes to Dot, her best friend, whom she hasn't seen since before her marriage to Arthur. Did he want her to find Dot again?

Surprisingly, Arthur has prepared for his passing by hiring someone to come in to their home for two hours each day. This carer is named Julie, and despite Mabel's initial misgivings, Julie becomes a true friend, helper, and confidant. Through Julie, and her own newfound courage, Mabel meets other friends. A teenager who works at the local market. A seventy year old dance instructor, and a young mother with a tiny daughter. Suddenly Mabel doesn't feel so alone and she is experiencing camaraderie for the first time in decades. She has a new lease on life at the tender age of eighty-six. Her new friends set about to help Mabel find her old friend Dot.

In return, when Mabel strives to 'help' her new friends by interfering in their lives, she comes close to jeopardizing her newfound friendships. They all have aspects of their lives which they wish to keep to themselves, as does Mabel. Everyone of them has secrets...

"We all have something that's broken us, I suppose. Nobody gets away unscathed."

This is a very uplifting novel. With themes of aging, loss, societal expectations, and the acceptance of change, it was a poignant and very satisfying story of female friendships.

Mabel is a wonderful, relatable character. She has lived a quiet life and been mostly happy. When her husband Arthur dies she is not sure what to do write herself. But Arthur has a plan for her from beyond the grave…

Mabel starts to make some new friends and realises that she has been missing out. She starts to make changes for her own life and those around her…some for the better and some not so….

Will Mabel find Dot? Will she come to terms with her past? Will her new friends stick around?

An emotional read.

Pearson's writing is a masterpiece of emotion and depth. The way she delves into Mabel's thoughts and feelings as she compiles her last list is nothing short of remarkable. The narrative is a testament to the power of introspection and self-discovery, inviting me to reflect on my own life and the things that truly matter.

If you're looking for a book that will touch your heart, make you reflect on life's journey, and leave you feeling profoundly moved, look no further. This is a novel that will stay with me long after I've turned the last page.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you so much!

Mabel and Arthur have been married 62 years. Arthur is the one that goes out and makes lists. Mabel stays home. One day Arthur dies and Mabel finds his last list. She decides to go out and start living.

Mabel has been married to Arthur for sixty-two years, and if they haven't exactly been happy years, they haven't been unhappy either. Now, though, Arthur is gone, and Mabel at eighty-six has to decide what to do with what remains of her life. Her self-imposedly narrow and constrained world begins to open up in surprising ways...

There was no surprise at all about the Dot "secret" - it could hardly have been more clearly signposted and I feel like I've read the same story several times lately - but it's well done and ultimately touching. It's more about the journey, though, and the women -Julie, Erin, Patty and Kirsty - who Mabel unexpectedly finds herself befriending along the way.

A warm hearted and engaging story which I very much enjoyed.

This book was full of emotion that can make you laugh out loud to being at the verge of tears. I loved every minute of this book.

I loved Mabel’s journey from playing it safe to being okay with being her own and being widowed. Because over the course of the book Mabel starts making friends that she may not have made if her husband was still alive. It seemed like since her husband died, it almost felt like she was set free after she grieved the loss of not having him around anymore.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Mabel trying to make her friends life better. But at the same time I could see why she was doing it. She didn’t want them to be lonely like she was and wanted them to have the relationship with the people that her friends didn’t want to have relationships with. But at the same time, her new friends could have alittle bit more honest with her.

This is a book that I would recommend to anyone and I can’t wait to reread this already after reading it!!

This was every kind of wonderful and I really didn't want it to end. I'm so much an 'Arthur' myself and have lists for absolutely everything - they work, trust me.

I worked it out pretty early into the book why Arthur wanted Mabel to find 'D', but it didn't distract from my enjoyment of the book at all.

The characters were all wonderful, warmly written and are the kind of people you'd want for your own friends. They all had their own stories to tell and self discovery was the journey they all embarked on together.

My emotions were definitely put through the wringer with this one, it made me laugh, it made me cry and left me smiling through the rears at the ending.

Enjoyable, heartwarming and absolutely delightful.

I decided to read this novel purely based on the beauty of the cover, and I am so glad that, in this case, I judged a book by its cover! What a marvellous story! In her 80s, Mabel loses her husband and gains a mission. But this book is so much more than the search for a missing friend. It is about love, friendship and the beauty of life. A must read!

Ok so I have a great book for you. Think back to Eleanor Oliphant and A Man Called Ove and you are on the right track.
Meet Mabel Beaumont. You will love her.....😍
Mabel is quirky, lovable and you will take her in to your heart immediately.
Her husband Arthur is her support and when he passes away one morning unexpectedly, Mabel finds herself having to navigate life without him or his famous lists. Until she goes in to her kitchen and finds his last list on the counter with only one item on it, Find D.
What could it mean? Could it be Find Dot, her closest friend whom she has lost contact with all those years ago..
So it in process of beginning her search for Dot she meets some wonderful people who will become her closest of friends, Erin, Julie, Kirsty and Patricia.
I loved how quiet, dare I say meek Mabel was before she started to make friends and find her voice and then to watch her come out of her shell and shine. It was wonderful.
For so long in her marriage she let Arthur lead them as a couple. She let Arthur make all the decisions and sometimes when you do that you lose a little of yourself.
For the first time in her life Mabel is able to make decisions without having to check with someone else and she begins to find she likes it. She misses Arthur of course she does but she needs to carry on with her life and not sit and wait for it to be over.
I found The Last List of Mabel Beaumont to be a beautiful read, quite emotional at times but really a story of friendship, love and never giving up on life.
And when you don't give up, then you might find friends in the unlikeliest of places, don't you...
So well worth your time.