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Member Reviews
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'How to Age Disgracefully' is a fabulously funny, upbeat novel with an interesting cast of characters. Humorous and fun.
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A delightful cast of characters who will worm their way into your heart. So great to see older characters with a bit of spunk and spirit. Daphne and her fellow pensioners are on a mission to save the community hall. In addition, they are determined to expose a philandering husband. Hilarity ensues.
Funny and poignant, this is a book with depth and loads of humor. My appreciation to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance digital copy. I highly recommend.
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How does Clare Pooley do it? Bring together such a diverse and eclectic group of people and tell all their stories in such an interesting and relatable way. I loved the older characters in this story, we don’t get enough book dealing with the older generations and their zest for life. (My almost 70 year old father is off exploring the South Island of New Zealand in his caravan and sending us photos of his many adventures!) Such a heartwarming story. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this.
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Clare Pooley has done it again - an absolute joy of a book. She has secured her place as an author whose books are not to be missed. Fabulous characters and laugh out loud situations, but maintaining a depth that makes you emotionally involved in the story.
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This was a really fun read featuring a misfit band of pensioners whose first meeting at a friendship group arranged by struggling fifty-something Lydia ends in disaster leaving the community centre they meet in under threat and care off a scruffy dog to boot. This is a joyful book with plenty humour and utterly fabulous characters as each of their secrets are revealed whilst they unite to save the community centre. There’s some fabulous shenanigans and excellent relationships between the group which make for a highly enjoyable and uplifting read. 9/10
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Really fun heartwarming story! Thank you for the ARC, really enjoyed reading this! The characters were great and wonderfully unconventional each of them in their own way, I loved how all the stories were well developed and that it had a slightly unusual happy ending too! Would definitely recommend this!
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Warm and funny, How to Age Disgracefully is such a joyous read
Focussing on a doomed community centre and a group of senior citizens with an appearance from ‘Maggie Thatcher’ it’s a brilliant story.
As I’ve come to expect from Clare, the characters are just fantastic and you feel a real sense of connection. The group are not your stereotypical seniors with blue rinses armed with bingo dabbers. This lot have had a life - are having a life - and one full of fun, mischief and intrigue.
I loved the character of Lydia the groups co-ordinator a woman in her 50s who feels all but invisible but is spurred into action by the group
While a light and fun read this book makes us consider how we view and sideline older members of society and women of a certain age, more often than not lumping them into one big lazy stereotype.
As someone whose 73 year old mother has just returned from ziplining across a river in Spain I certainly feel Clare fresh take is much more true to life
Thanks to Netgalley & Random House for the chance to read an early copy
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Joyous! Clare Pooley takes a brilliant ensemble cast of characters led by the feisty Daphne and embroils them in a plot that tackles ageist stereotypes. A group of senior citizens are brought together by a new social club at a rundown community centre and each of them has a distinct and brilliant personality and backstory - all cleverly unwoven through the narrative. Joined by club leader Lydia, teenage father Ziggy, a dog called Margaret Thatcher and a cast of toddlers - this ensemble make us laugh and think and rally behind them from the beginning. A perfectly paced book that I couldn't recommend more highly.
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Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a copy for review. All opinions are my own.
The book starts with a police officer being barraged with confessions and begging for them to stop. We follow the lives of several characters that meet through their local community centre and essentially cause chaos everywhere they go. My favourite character was Daphne, a 70 year old woman with a mysterious past and a dislike of being caught on camera. I’d love to be as chaotic as her when I’m older.
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JUST finished How To Grow Old Disgracefully and I'm speechless, and now I have to tell you all to pre-order/buy this book!
I'll admit, she is one of favourite authors and I'm always excited to read her books, but...with that comes a level of expectation so I'm always a little nervous too. I didn't have to worry. These are the safest hands you can be in.
Warm, charming, witty and LOL funny! Characters with so much depth they leap off the page and into your heart. Flawed but beautiful. Incredible storytelling, nuanced, a solid but heartplucking plot, I was invested from the prologue.
There's no spoilers here, but I said 'bloody hell, that's good' a lot, and got teary at the Authors Note which really hit home. Also, Clare does Easter Eggs like no other!
As much as I love 'The Authenticity Project' and 'The People on Platform 5', I think this might be my favourite. I want to be besties with Daphne, hit the road with Anna, get coffee and cake with Lydia and head to an am-dram night with Art. And the ending was perfectly gorgeous. A masterclass in how to write uplifting stories with a whole lot of heart. Absolutely sublime and I'm sorry it's over. I'll miss the gang.
Clare Pooley has, once again, knocked it out the park. Incredible.
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Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book! Clare Polley has done it again with a splendid myriad of characters which covers a diverse age range. From the opening chapter where everyone confesses to something, I knew i was on an excellent journey. I became so invested in Ziggy, Lydia, Art and of course the wonderful Daphne. I loved the way Daphne found herself involved in everyones lives, whether she wanted to be or not. This story is so vibrant, colourful and relevant. The way the narrative brings everyone together to help try and save the community centre but also to help each other was wonderful. I also enjoyed the little touches of karma along the way too! As you can tell I'm a huge fan. This could so easily be made into a TV series. Already looking forward to your next book Clare. I shall be recommending this to all my friends.
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Lydia is starting her first job in many years as an activities coordinator at a social club for older people. However, it seems that the participants have their own ideas about what they want to do. They haven’t been running for very long before the council announce they can’t afford to repair the hall and have plans to sell it to developers. The social club and their fellow hall users set about trying to raise the necessary funds to save it for themselves and the community. Claire Pooley introduces an engaging collection of characters. Apart from Lydia, there is Daphne with the shady past, Art the aging unsuccessful actor and estranged family, William the retired paparazzo and Ziggy the teenage single dad and his daughter Kylie. These characters are all brought to life so successfully, that I am missing them now I’ve finished the book, a talent Clare Pooley has shown in all of her books. The stories that are woven around the central theme of the hall fundraising are touching, humorous and interesting, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way, one of which is effectively teased in the amusing prologue. This book was well written, amusing, touching and well paced. As you can tell, I loved it.
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How to Age Disgracefully is a really fun character driven read. The plot felt fresh - it's always nice to read something fun and fluffy (and I mean this in a good way) that isn't driven by a love story.
I'd also really recommend The People on Platform 5 and look forward to reading The Authenticity Project.
4.5 stars.
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Firstly I would like to thank netgalley/the publisher for sending me a copy of this arc as I love the authors books and currently re reading her first book after I finished this one! I don't give five stars lightly and this is definately deserving of it! The plot is so different and its nice to read something different every once in a while and Daphne and Margaret made me laugh out loud many times and mixing in a younger character was a very interesting part to the plot. Loved it and would highly recommend this book!!
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Really enjoyed this and thought the characters were brilliant. I would love to read more Clare Pooley in the future.
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What a fun read this was! Clare Pooley has written another cracker, with all her signature warmth, depth, and humour. Authentic, memorable characters, a rollicking, page-turning plot and a welcome message that's it's never the wrong time to grab life by the ears and live it your way. I loved it!
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Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for my honest review.
Lydia sets up a group for over 70’s at her local community centre, as she wants to do something for herself. Her children have now left home and her husband is always working. She thinks it’s just going to be quiet elderly people wanting to play bingo and do some knitting. She has no idea of the colourful characters she is going to meet! When the Council are planning to close the centre and develop into flats, the group and the nursery have to work together to stop them closing it down.
Daphne joins the group after she decides to get her life together after her 70th birthday. She has no friends and has hardly left her flat in 15 years, but wants to change that. No one knows why she is this way and what life she lived before her husband died.
This is the first book I have read from Claire Pooley and I will certainly be picking up her other books now. The characters she creates are great and you really feel connected to them. A lot of humour and sadness throughout, it’s a nice mix. You really feel like you know the characters by the time the story ends. I would recommend this to everyone!
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Clare Pooley is the master of connecting an eclectic group of people, who at first you would not expect to get on, but who become firm friends by the end. And that is exactly what happens in this story of a group of elderly people including Daphne and Art, brought together by Lydia, a middle aged woman dealing with her own issues as well as a young single dad called Ziggy, his daughter and a dog named Maggie Thatcher!
The impending closure of a community centre brings out the best, and sometimes worst in this bunch of characters that will have you wanting to be their friend to join them in their crusade to save it.
I am a huge fan of the first two fiction books by the author and thoroughly recommend you read them if you like this one because you will not be disappointed. (And for fans of The People on Platform 5 will have a little surprise when YouTube gets discussed in this new book). The similar thread to the other stories is a joy to read and be part of with plenty of laughs along the way whilst dealing with some heavy topics too. So many things are covered in such a sympathetic and empathetic way that have you routing for each and every one of the memorable characters that stay in your mind long after you have finished the story.
I honestly highly recommend this book as a must read if you enjoy a feel good story that is well written, thoughtful and very funny too. Brilliant.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.
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This was my first Clare Pooley book, and it was an incredibly fun read with a fabulous cast of characters centred around a local community centre and its new "senior citizens' social club" run by downtrodden fiftysomething Lydia. There's less-than-successful, now septuagenarian actor Art, knitting guerrilla Ruby, ex-trucker Anna, retired paparazzo William, and of course the redoubtable Daphne, who has a rather unexpected set of skills. Not to mention teenage father Ziggy, and a dog called Margaret Thatcher.
All have their stories, but at the centre is Daphne, who is both magnificent and terrifying, with a past that constantly threatens to catch up with her.
Far-fetched? - absolutely, but a cracking good read, and as a fiftysomething woman myself I very much appreciated Clare Pooley's mission to shatter fictional stereotypes about ageing and what the future holds!
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The Authenticity Project made it to my top books of 2022, The People on Platorm 5 was my top book of 2023, and How to Age Disgracefully will definitely be in my top 5 of 2024 and we're only in January.
I absolutely love Clare's writing style and the characters she creates. The unlikely friendships trope is one of my absolute favourites and Clare does it so well. I just know everyone is going to love this book.