Heather and Alan Winterbottom are recently retired GP's. Heather has big plans for this new stage of her life, but all Alan wants is his garden. When Heather decides to jet off to Greece alone, can their relationship survive?

A gentle tale of aging and wanting different things from your partner. It took a long time to get going, but it was a pleasant enough read.

I’d like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year’ written by Joanna Nell in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

After forty years of working side by side at Netherwood Medical Centre, Doctors Heather and Alan Winterbottom hang up their stethoscopes and retire. Whilst Heather has dreams of travelling around Greece Alan is only interested in building a vegetable garden and greenhouse so she decides to take a year off from her home, her responsibilities and Alan.

‘Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year’ is a gentle story of a couple who have very different ideas of what they want to do in their retirement. It tells of relationships and the importance of family and friends, is easy to read with likeable characters. Although not my favourite novel by this author, it’s still a pleasantly involving story and ideal to take with you on holiday.

How I loved Mrs Winterbottom takes a gap year. It shows that life doesn't end when you retire and adventures can be fun but also a little scary. A really good read.

Dr Heather Winterbottom and her husband are newly retired GPs who have been attached to the same rural practice for years. Although it was a mutual decision, they have mixed feelings about being retired and what to do with their free time. Mrs Winterbottom longs to travel and is keen to go to Greece.

Her husband seems to sink more easily into a relaxed routine and when he finds a like-minded, more experienced friend, soon begins to pursue his own dream of establishing and pottering around a vegetable garden. While he’s quietly content simply staying at home, his wife feels lost and alone.

In conversation with her 90 year old friend, Esme, Heather expresses dissatisfaction with how her retirement is turning out so far, and receives encouragement to travel to Greece by herself, possibly take a previously missed gap year off, and abandon Alan to his vegetable plot. So she does.

Heather finds herself charmed, inspired, and tempted by the lifestyle of Greek fisherman Dennis who is attracted to her as a woman rather than a doctor. She feels the tug of husband and home, duty and desire, conflicting with the lure of the open seas and a different kind of life and culture she grows to love.

I’ve read 3 books by Joanna Nell and always enjoy her ability to understand and get under the skin of those of senior years, seeing them as sparky, interesting individuals rather than a drain on the government purse and health services. I also love the wry humour which is present here too.

This is a gently humorous story, a heartwarming read with much to say about the nature of belonging, senior years’ identity, achieving personal dreams, relationships and family, the choices we make, commitment and breaking free. Grateful thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC.

Mrs Winterbottom takes a Gap Year by Joanna Bell

Heather Winterbottom newly retired doctor alongside her similarly newly retired husband also a Dr are making plans for the next chapter in their lives. However , those decisions don't match !
He wants a more pipe and slippers retirement growing vegetables in the garden , whereas Heather wants to take the bull by the horn and take off to the Greek Islands.
Do they stay or do they go or is there an alternative ?

An easy read that can be read in a few sittings but entertaining nether the less.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Heather Winterbottom has worked side by side with her husband as a GP in their idyllic rural practice for over forty years. But as the time comes to hang up their stethoscopes, the Winterbottoms discover that they have rather different visions of retirement. Heather dreams of exploring Greek islands, of escaping the shackles of her routine life, and embracing and exciting new adventure. Alan dreams of growing his own vegetables. When things come to a head at a family lunch, Heather announces that she has decided to take a year off from her old life, from her marriage - from Alan.

After being married for over forty years, and both of them just having retired after they were Doctors in their own rural practice, Heather Winterbottom wants more out of their retirement than her husband Alan. This is a lovely story about relationships, making the most out of what you have, and being adventurous. I liked the humour and the characters, especially Heather, who had the courage to go and do what she wanted to do when she retired.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #JoannaNell for my ARC of #MrsWinterbottomTakesAGapYear in eschange for an honet review,

I have enjoyed other books by Joanna Nell but this one was not for me. The premise of 2 retiring GP's doing a Shirley Valentine just didn't work for me. 2 stars.

I received a free copy of, Mrs. Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year, by Joanna Nell, , from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Everyone deserve time off, vacation, for self care. Mrs. Winterbottom who is also a doctor, really needs a break. I found some of this book cringe worthy. I did not find this book humorous or enjoyable.

The Drs Winterbottom have worked and lived together for many years, and now, both in their 60s, retirement has come. Having said goodbye to the GP practice they have run together for their entire marriage, they must now find ways to fill their days together. But they have different ideas...
Heather dreams of travel to Greece, while Alan wants to create the perfect vegetable garden. It appears that retirement may not be the idyllic next stage of life they thought it would be.
When Heather announces to the family that she is taking a gap year and heading off to Greece, Alan and their daughters are shocked.
Will it end well? Will Heather and Alan reconcile their differences?

This is a charming, often funny, book. Great easy read!

Loved this book - Dr Winterbottom and Dr Winterbottom two 60 somethings, married for over 40 years both doctors, retire to enjoy life together after their stressful careers as GP's in a country practice. It very quickly becomes obvious that they want different things from retirement, one wants to stay at home and grow vegetables and be self sufficient while the other has a taste for travel and adventure. A lovely "coming of age" (retirement) novel. Likeable characters - I read it in one sitting!
Thanks to the author, NetGalley and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

After cutting off Aram Grigoryan’s trafficking operation at the knees, Dectective Jamie Johansson and her new ward Alina are square in the crosshairs. Retribution must be had, and to carry out the task, Grigoryan unleashes upon them a man like no other. The Nhang moves without being seen and kills without mercy. And he’s coming for them both. Can Jamie stay one step ahead of this deadly new adversary? She’ll have to use all of the skills at her disposal if she hopes to survive and finally close in on the elusive Aram Grigoryan. His operation seems to be recovering quickly, so there's no time to lose. With help from old friends and new, she’ll once again rise to face the people that want her dead, and stand for those who can’t defend themselves. Evil may never rest, but Jamie Johansson doesn’t either. And when they come, she’ll be waiting. *** The second, thrilling instalment of the pulse-pounding Jamie Johansson Files crime thriller series. Perfect for fans of Welsh crime, Simon McCleave, Anglea Marsons, and DS Butler.

Another wonderful novel by Joanna Neil interesting entertaining emotional.A married couple both gps now at the age of retirement trying to decide what they should do how they should live their lives and each with their own ideas,I really enjoyed their story will be recommending.#netgalley #hodderstoughton

Joanna Nell writes wonderful books with older leading characters, and this is her latest. The Mrs Winterbottom of the title is a recently retired GP, and her husband is in the same position. Heather has plenty of ideas about what she wants to do in retirement, but Alan is difficult to motivate. He wants to delay things rather than getting on and making the most of their time together. When Alan surprisingly finds a new hobby, and a friend to share it with, Heather feels even more isolated.

This is a book about making the most of your retirement, being adventurous and doing the things you couldn't squeeze into your previous busy working and family life. It is also about compromise since it can be a bit of a shock to the system being with a partner 24/7, without work to escape to.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

This is such an enjoyable book. Getting older isnt for the faint hearted and Heather Winterbottom wanted to seize her retirement from her GP practice with both hands. She has plans to travel, but her very boring husband, also a GP, prefers to make a garden. Personally I would have wrapped his greenhouse round his ears, but Heather simply left and found a delightful runaway in Greece. It's a sympathetic book as well as being amusing.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a great read this was had me smiling and laughing most of the way through. Would highly recommend.

Heather and Alan Winterbottom are retiring from their GPs practice and taking on retirement. Lots of retired people will appreciate how frightening the thought can be as to what you will do, how do you take the next step in your life and make it as fulfilling (or more than) your working life. We all face it differently with differing success. It’s still an adventure.

I liked the idea of Heather going off to have the gap year that she missed before she started her career, and that she would want to do a bit of travelling when she had the time to do so. Alan, too, has his own reasons for wanting to go his way, but it seemed to happen so quickly, finding the right new friend to help him. You have to put yourself out there to achieve this, so it felt false to me. I couldn’t empathise with the 2 main characters, but loved Dennis and Esme, the idea of having your own Greek Odyssey as Greece and its islands are a lovely place to visit. A nice light holiday read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 rounded up

It’s Dr Heather and Dr Alan Winterbottom‘s final day as GPs at the Netherwood Medical Centre as their retirement beckons. She’s already running 3/4 of an hour behind the appointment schedule and it’s the usual “war zone“. Heather dreams of adventure and the Greek isles, whilst Alan has set his heart on creating a vegetable patch. They are chalk and cheese with their opposing views of what constitutes a retirement good life. He wants to be Tom, but she definitely doesn’t want to be Barbara. When she can take the boredom no longer, Heather announces she is taking off on her own for her own Greek Odyssey. What lies in store? An adventure or a big mistake?

This is a very well written book but unlike other Joanna Nell books, this takes me longer to get into, perhaps because of Alan! Once it gets going, it becomes a most satisfying and enjoyable read. Heather is a very likeable central protagonist and I can’t blame her for doing a Shirley Valentine as she is definitely saying hello to the wall prior to jetting off to Greece. I think I’d have gone too if it’s a choice between that and Alan and his vegetables. I especially like that Heather has the revealing conversations she has with her friend 90-year-old Esme. What a fabulous woman she is.

I absolutely love the Greek setting which is principally in around the beautiful island of Cephalonia. It’s springs to life just as Heather does, the food, the wine, the history and the literature, especially that of Homer, who she takes with her for company, as well as Esme. The encounter with Greek Dion/Dennis is so well done as he challenges and tempts her in a multitude of ways.

There are, in addition to Heather and Alan navigating their way through the situation, several other themes. The take on post retirement is obviously central with the necessary adjustments and how a new life and a new pace can mean different things to different people. Everyone has their own dreams and some you want more than others. There are other topical references too that are touched upon such as the refugee crisis which Greece encounters, often daily, and this is thought provoking.

It becomes very entertaining, it’s funny at times and has witty chapter headings. It’s heartwarming but sad and moving on other occasions. I like the ending as it feels just right.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This is the fifth book by this excellent author and I've enjoyed every one and this is no exception.

Mrs Winterbottom is Dr Winterbottom, retired and who is reassessing her life and future. She seems completely out of sync with her husband, in terms of future dreams. Whereas she plans a Greek trip, he is happy turning the garden into a self sufficient vegetable patch and pottering. So, off she sets.

This is a gentle, easy read about retirement and relationships, both in marriage, friendship and family and it's an amusing, well observed piece of work. What I particularly loved, were the inclusions of elements of Homer's Odyssey and I'd highly recommend this as a wonderful, heartwarming read. It's definitely worth reading the back catalogue too as all are a delight!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to preview.

I've only read one of Joanna's books before - The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital - and I absolutely adored it. It was so warming and cosy and comfortable, that I leapt at the chance to read this. Just the very title conjured up happiness.

I instantly liked Heather Winterbottom. She was the perfect leading lady. Her husband on the other hand, took some time to warm up to. He was grumpy, self-absorbed, and didn't seem to care about anything other than his little world. I was worried I would never warm up to him, but he got me in the end.

What I liked about it was the idea that you're never too old to have an adventure. Gap years and worldwide travel tend to be the jaunts of the young, rather than the (relatively) old. Many see retirement as a stop to life, as such, time to take it easy and plod on through life. But they're only in their late sixties, and so have plenty of time to do what they wished they' done before. It also hammers home the fact that we only get one life, and so you have to make of it what you can.

I have never been to Greece, and whilst I like the look of it, it's not somewhere I've actually considered going to. But Greece in this book sounds beautiful. I know it's painted in the best light for this book, but I don't care. It sounded gorgeous and now I want to go on a trip around the Greek islands. I also liked the references to Homer's Odyssey and Iliad. Like most bibliophiles, I have a copy of both on my bookshelf. I've had them for many years. And it'll probably come as no surprise that I have read neither. But this has really peeked my interest in them and I may just have to give them a go.

It is such a charming story. Simple in idea but executed perfectly. Whilst I enjoy reading hard-hitting thrills and mysteries etc. sometimes you just want a warming, cosy story, and that is what Joanna has brought here. You get completely enveloped and wrapped up in the characters and their lives and you'll find yourself smiling throughout. It is such an uplifting book.

What I would say is I'd have preferred the action (Heather's trip) to have started a bit earlier. It's perfectly enjoyable as it is, and it works, it gives us time to get to know the character and their situation. But I felt the plot didn't really get started until about 40% of the way through, and so if I had to change anything, it would be to move this forward ever so slightly so we get more of it to enjoy. But apart from that it was as enjoyable book as I've come to expect from her.

This is the fifth novel by Joanna Nell that I've read, being a fan of the first four... this one wasn't for me.

Despite there being themes I do appreciate such as making up your own mind and refugees.

However, apart from it being flat when it comes to diversity, it was predictable, and all the loose ends far too beautifully tied up in a happy ending.

But most of all I couldn't deal with all the able-bodied characters of this book.
Let me be clear that indeed life is too short to be caught up in a boring marriage with a dull husband, soldiering on in such a situation is not an option if you are in a position to choose. Everyone's problems are validated, so is this one.
Yet, I couldn't warm to Heather as a character who was on a proverbial, emotional journey to reinvent herself at 66. Being ill with ME well over 18 years now, housebound, and an enigma for most general practitioners... I long for a body that I can rely on and feel full of confidence with.

My heart breaks when I read about the misery of all those people with Long Covid, and the uncertainties, hurt, and fear that comes with a troublesome health they are dealing with. Similar to my own and that of fellow ME patients as we've been struggling with this for years. There are some things that don't have happy endings, only loose ends and lots of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.