A lovely heartwarming story of community and family. A great cast of characters and a lovely ending. Highly recommended.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. As a pension and one who still works full time I could really relate to the characters in this book and it also had a great storyline. I really enjoyed it.

The unretirement is a total joy of a book!
Championing the older woman , showing that ageing, retirement and widowhood is not the end of the road but could successfully be navigated in such a way as to provide a second chance at life!
The sense of community, friendship and general wholesomeness makes this book such an endearing read that will give you hope and inspiration as you face getting older!
Absolutely loved the storyline, setting and the vastly diverse range of characters who despite their age, background,gender, sexuality or experience all came together for one worthwhile cause , all under the instructions of the magnificent Maggie!
A great read that I would highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for this early read

Entertaining, heartwarming and inspirational.

Following some amazing travelling in her early retirement, the now recently widowed Maggie is feeling a little lost and unclear what she should do with her time.

Enjoying an evening out with her daughter Hannah, at an old favourite place, all doesn't seem to be as she remembered it. It turns our the owners have returned to India and their son has taken over. However he is a tech geek and not a trained chef... Maggie realises that the kitchen is struggling and jumps in to rescue the evening.

Afterwards she's full of positive energy and she's taking charge trying to help the restaurant to survive - and to get back her own purpose in life.

Full of inspiration, hope, community spirit and an annoying baddie...

Overall this was very enjoyable, cosy read and a really solid debut novel.

It followed some very familiar patterns that I’ve seen in similar books of this genre (I’m thinking specifically of the memory library which explores similar themes but with more emotional investment). But for me The Unretirement is overall just a very ‘light’ book. It’s a definite easy read and it doesn’t really get gritty with anything, there’s no deep emotional exploration, gripping plot, or significant relationship developments really - it’s just a sweet little book with some relatively likeable characters.

Something I do absolutely love though, is that I am seeing more and more books like this that are centred around women who aren’t teenagers or in their early twenties. I feel like there’s so much more that should be explored here as I really enjoy reading about women who have lived a little and have real world responsibilities to juggle alongside the ‘fun plot’ that unfolds.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

The Unretirement is Penny Mirren's debut novel. I really enjoyed this novel. It was light and clean and featured mature women characters. There were many references to food that sounded delicious and i was happy to find recipes at the end of The Unretirement. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there actually is a town named Saffron Walden.

If you like books about how a community comes together, you would like The Unretirement. (I was reading a book with very serious content and very happy to mix in The Unretirement.)

I'd be quite pleased to read another book by Penny Mirren and i hope she keeps writing!

Many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to another new to me author! Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Papaperback for the opportunity to read the advance review copy of The Unretirement in exchange for an honest review. Approx 384 (paperback) pages. Publication date is Nov 12, 2024.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Maggie is happy to be home. Har favorite restaurant has changed and is no longer the same . She decides that they need her assistance with this endeavor. A quick. read.

This is a heartfelt book. It’s full of characters that were unhappy in their circumstances. Through the chapters they find themselves. Working together they find friendship, pride in accomplishment and their futures. It was a bit slow for me, but it is a solid book well worth reading.

I picked out this book because the main character is a retired woman who has just lost her husband, who now wants to use the skills she went to school for, so long ago, and get a job as a chef. There aren’t that many books out there where the protagonist is in their 60s, so I thought, why not.

This is set in a small town in Essex UK, that is touristy, and Maggie thinks for sure she can get a job at any of the many restaurants in town, but they all reject her. It isn’t until her daughter Maggie, takes her to eat at one of their old-time favorite restaurants, and they realize that there is no one there. And the reason being that the owners have left for India, and their son, who is in high tech, is trying to run it, and not doing a good job of it.

And so, Maggie gets out of retirement, and helps not only the restaurant, but herself, and anyone else who the place has ever touched.
The novel is a cute story, with a good sort of villain, who wants to buy the restaurant, because he knows it is failing. But the real bad guy is that not enough people are coming in to eat, and Maggie tweaks the menu, and with the help of social media, gets the word out.
Enjoyable story. I do enjoy the interaction with the side characters, such as Maggie’s retired neighbor who collects things to resell them, such as jigsaw puzzles, and also takes life drawing classes (and he posed at one too in a pinch).

There is, of course, a cute granddaughter, but not so cloying that you want to skip pages where she appears.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. The book is due to come out the 23 of May 2024.

Oh I do love a good book about retirement, ageing and living life no matter what age you are. And that is just what this book is and does. I was entertained by this story and I loved the passion that Maggie has to save her favourite local restaurant. With great characters, a great story and just the right length, this is a book I read in no time and enjoyed every minute of it.

Entertaining, enjoyable, funny, serious and passionate. What more do you want? Loved it!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a sweet concept for a book! This reminds me so much if my own grandmother! I love how god willing and being blessed with good health a woman decides it’s nerver too late for a second act or third! I cannot wait to see how this one unfolds and share with readers. I think oftentimes we get the message it’s always too late for this or that and this novel teaches us that’s certainly not the case,