How to Age Disgracefully had me laughing from the very first chapter. So many older people describe themselves as invisible. They won’t be invisible if they act like the characters in this book. Daphne, Art, William and the rest of the bunch who join the new senior citizens’ social club are determined to go out in a blaze of glory. When the council threaten to close the Mandel Community Centre because the building is in need of expensive repairs, the new group joins forces with the day nursery that also uses the building. In a bid to save the Community Centre the group will stop at nothing to reach their goal and mayhem results but will they succeed?
There are so many brilliant characters in this book, from the youngest to the eldest and I loved every minute spent reading it. It’s a real tonic and the first book I have read by this author. I can’t recommend it highly enough. 5 stars from me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for an advanced reading copy in return for an honest review.

Hammersmith’s Mandel Centre & it’s visitors ✨

🍰At 54, Lydia’s daughters have left home and her husband is focused elsewhere. When she starts her new job as the facilitator for a seniors group at the local community centre, she isn’t expecting it to change her whole life.

📸Pensioners Art, a former actor, his childhood best friend and ex-paparazzi William, Daphne with an intrepid past, former truck driver Anna and clandestine knitter Ruby start teaming up with the group in day care next door. Kylie’s the 8 month old daughter of teen dad Ziggy, Lucky is the foster child who doesn’t speak.

🐶The centre is under threat and as a result each one of the characters, with their own unique background, starts to share their feelings and fears with each other. Soon the oddballs have have used their age and life experiences to benefit the community and right some wrongs.

📚I loved reading The People on Platform 5, and was thrilled to be offered a chance to read Clare Pooley’s latest by her publisher. There is just someone so distinctive above this genre of British writer. I loved the feisty characters in this world that’s been created, how they take care of each other, despite their own struggles. It’s another great read! ❤️

Read an eARC copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher
My rating 4.5/5 - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Pub date 20 Jun 2024

The author says in their note that they "loved the idea of older people who refused to age gracefully or to play by the rules". That's exactly what this was - the prologue is a minibus full of pensioners being pulled over by the police and all confessing to various misdemeanors whilst the 'wanted' OAP leaps over the central reservation "quite athletically for their age". As one of them says: "by the time you reach your eighth decade, you're bound to have collected many bad habits along the way and to have a fair few secrets."

I loved each and every one of the rebellious OAPs from main characters Daphne who carries a walking stick not for actual walking but "for clearing people out of her way" and Art who began shoplifting at sixty-five for an adrenaline rush to Ruby a knitting Banksy and Anna "an old woman in a leather jacket with lilac hair, riding a pimped-up mobility scooter". There's also a cute baby and mangy dog called Margaret Thatcher.

In case it's not obvious this was brillantly funny particularly the banter between the characters. For example, teenage Ziggy says to Daphne: "You're not young enough to wear those jeans. You're barely young enough to be alive." But beyond the humour though there's plenty of touching sentiments too. I totally sympathised with the difficulties of making friends as an adult when you can't "ask someone to play hopscotch with you or give them one of your sherbet lemons". And, a great storyline slightly mirroring one
of my favourite TV shows where the nursery kids and care home residents mix.

So, in guess you hadn't guessed I absolutely loved this and was disappointed when it ended. Totally recommend.

I hugely enjoyed reading this book. This was my first book from the author, though I had seen her previous books popularly being recommended on Bookstagram, I hadn't read it. Now I'm thinking I need to pick up more of this author's work. The book has charm and it has a gang of elderly ladies and gentlemen, well ganging up together to save a community center from destruction. Aiding this motley group are few kids of varying ages and a teenage dad. It cannot get bizarre than this. But somehow the whole thing comes together. The characters, the humor, the way they develop bonds with each other, It was perfect. My favorite character would be Daphne for sure, she somehow reminds me of Elizabeth from the Thursday Murder Club- she has the same chutzpah and the aura, There is some mystery too in the plot but nothing related to murder. Overall a fun, light-hearted book which will leave you with a smile on your face once you complete it.

It’s as simple as this really; reading Claire Pooley’s books make me happy. How to age disgracefully is no different.
Once again, Clare Pooley has written. amazing, flawed and loveable characters. There is one absolute powerhouse and legend of a woman who I wish was real so I could befriend her and get caught up in her shenanigans. I loved the Easter egg hidden in the plot about one of her other novels. The story is a perfect balance of emotion and humour, with salient messages about stereotyping to make you think. I’’ll read anything this author writes and if you haven’t read her work yet, I would highly recommend you start with this book and thank me later.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book.

When you become a certain age you become invisible. . A group of the older generation meet up at a local community centre. The heart of the story is the community centre attendees, the over 70's group integrates with the children's nursery.
Corrupt councillors, estate gangs, teen parents. Then the oldies all have secrets as well.
The first chapter says it all and the rest of the book is the explanation.
Don't ever overlook anyone, it could be your undoing

Clare Pooley writes great people centred books that restore ones faith in humanity. I am a fan, and have enjoyed all her others, and this one does not disappoint. This time her cast is mainly a group of geriatrics at a day care centre, but they are all well drawn fully rounded characters who come alive on the page. Clare Pooley's books are always enjoyable and light, but she brings depth to her characters and there is a lot more to her writing than you would expect from her light hearted plot lines. I enjoyed this book immensely.

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

Loved this as much as I loved Claire Pooley's other books and have already recommended to others!

Fabulous book.

This is Clare Pooley’s third novel after The Authenticity Project and the People on Platform 5. In both those books, which were delightful, she deftly brought together by circumstance a group of people who initially felt little common cause, yet who grew closer as they learned more about each other and themselves. How To Age Disgracefully moves this lens to a shabby community centre under threat, and the people who have come to rely on it.

The opening, a minibus full of elders and children being pulled over by the police and their reaction as the officer boards, is wonderful. In her notes, Pooley says this was the inciting incident for her conception of the book, and I can see why.

She also says she set out in this book to feature older people who refuse to age “gracefully” and she certainly achieves this with flair. As she brings the characters together, though, she creates a specific incident to remove a cliched “old battleaxe” type from the group which is clearly pitched as funny, but which struck a sour note with me.

After that, I lost a bit of faith in the book for a few chapters; I sulked, wondered if it was going to be a bit undercooked, slightly cartoonish.

It wasn’t long before I found myself seduced back in, charmed by the story and the perfectly timed switching of POVs. I was rooting for them all, but particularly for Lydia, the (alleged) leader of the senior citizens group, and Ziggy, a teenage father you rarely see in books. I was also very fond of “Maggie Thatcher”, a sentence I never thought I’d type.

Overall, I had a great time with this book. Pooley can seed, call-back, and build upon a joke with perfect comic timing, and her unfussy style is so winning, infusing a sweet warmth throughout, like tea spilled on cake.

As the book ended I had a genuine tear in my eye. - because I am a giant clart.

(I am so pleased Ange was having a nap or I’d never hear the end of it).

I left the book with a satisfying sense that THIS story is told, but that the characters have the hope of so much more to come.

Thanks to @netgalley and @penguinukbooks and of course Clare Pooley for another lovely book, out in uk 20th June

#bookstagram #books

This book was,so much fun to read. I enjoyed it from cover to cover. A cautionary tale about never underestimating old age pensioners. A story full of acceptance and new beginnings for the over seventies,
with attitude.

I loved the people on platform 5 and enjoyed the authenticity project so I actually squealed when I got a Netgalley ARC of how to age disgracefully!

I started this one and thought...uh oh...is this just a combination of the characters from the previous two books...but quickly realised this wasn't the case and this is a different gang altogether and one which I rapidly grew to love! Told from multiple perspectives, this is a story spanning the ages to save a community centre from closure whilst also saving a lot of the individuals who use it. A nursery is based there...relied upon by a teenage single dad, a group for the over 70s run by the lovely Lydia, AA and an antenatal group.

This author really brings characters to life...I felt like I knew and loved them all. Daphne was hands down the best character (and yes...I absolutely adore a badass old lady) I think we could all do with a bit of Daphne in our lives to be honest and one of my favourite relationships was that between her and Ziggy.

While I often cry at the drop of a hat...it is rare that I laugh out loud at a book and this one made me laugh out loud several times...a delightful feel good read for the summer!

This is delightfully fun, warm hearted, entertaining, laugh out loud and exuberant fiction from Clare Pooley that I can see being well received by a wide range of readers, it is character driven, and what a great bunch of people they are, and there is a wonderful dog, Maggie, too. Middle aged Lydia's personal circumstances are enough to grind a person down, particularly her awful husband. She imagined her job at the Senior Citizens’ Social Club being of a gentle nature, planning andorganising activities accordingly, but she soon has to adjust to the realities of senior citizens who have other ideas, and soon the state of the building is responsible for an accident, and it transpires that it is under threat from developers.

The is a wide ranging group of distinct and offbeat people who are intent on saving the building, who feel they are unseen. With her 70th birthday approaching, Daphne is bright, cutting, and a force of nature, who feels the need to emerge and participate, and is harbouring a secret history, and does not always go down well with others as she can be rather brash and upfront. Kleptomaniac and compassionate Art is a disappointed former small time actor whose career has seeped away from him, leaving him frustrated. Teenage Zach is a sweetheart, has a baby daughter, along with other problems, and he needs the daycare centre to realise his plans for his future and Rosie is a knitter extraordinaire.

A show is planned, with dog, to underline the necessity, importance of the centre, and raise funds. Pooley is a gem when it comes to creating and developing characters with their issues, the darkness and light, that make an impact, and burrow their way into your heart. This is a fabulously vibrant, chaotic, charismatic, and comic read that I can see readers appreciating particularly when an uplift in life is required. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I hadn't read any of the Clare Pooley's previous books, but had always heard they were great - and I can confirm that How to Age Disgracefully definitely falls into that category. There is a plot to keep you turning the pages, but it's the characters that you stay for. I really did care what happened to the women in the book, and it's always a sign of a good book when you find yourself thinking about them long after you've finished the last page.

The fact that Clare has used Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" as her epigraph means I love it already. That poem is so tender and moving and it's one of my favourites.

For some reason, I never got around to reading her debut novel The Authenticity Project, but I adored The People On Platform 5. And this builds on what I loved about that, this ability to create an entire community of characters that work so well together, without making any of them week or unimportant or surplus. She is great at writing a spectrum of characters, all ages, genders, backgrounds, jobs etc. but for me it is her ability, especially in this book, to write older characters, those seen as past their prime, as it were.

There are many characters in this book, some more prominent than others, but I won't go into all of them because we'll be here all night, but I will just mention a few.

Firstly we have Daphne who is the central character, whom everyone's else's stories orbit. She is 70, but not necessarily what society believes a 70 year old should be or should act. I mean, she's rude and blunt and introverted and mouthy - although she is clearly hiding something behind her persona - and I loved her all the more for it. And I hope I'm like her at that age.

Then we have Art, a 75-year-old actor, not really in demand anymore. I instantly warmed to him. He was having difficulties that a lot of readers may sympathise with, a lack of regular employment, money troubles, having to choose between food and heating sometimes. He was an old soul with obvious trauma in his background, and I just really loved him.

Another character I liked was Lydia, who runs the senior citizen social club. She seems to have lost her way in life; menopausal, children at University, and a husband she barely sees. She felt so real and so familiar and it's a feeling a lot of middle-aged women in particular will go through, and I think Clare has depicted her perfectly.

And finally there's Ziggy, a teenager, not much older than a boy himself, who is a single dad to a new-ish baby. He is caught up in some dangerous goings-on when all he wants to do is better himself and his family's situation.

It's not all happiness and sunshine. We have relationship problems, affairs, drugs, criminal activity, loneliness, ageing, feeling lost, bullying, depression kleptomania, estranged relatives; and yet it's done with such a tender touch that it never brings the story down. If anything, the way the characters deal with it all and rally round each other makes it all the more positive.

I was completely enamoured and absorbed by it. It made the perfect accompaniment to a cold, rainy spring day. If you're looking for a book that simply puts a smile on your face and fills you with joy, then you can't go far wrong with this one.

Its a fun book that kept a smile on my face. I read it in a matter of hours. It's quick to read, interesting, entertaining, funny, tender, sad, hopeful, and just a real, real pleasure to read. Clare just gets better and better.

I really enjoyed this book, it is an easy and joyful read. The characters are delightful, you can but hope to have as much fun as them as you age, and the plot keeps you fully engaged and interested. Definitely worth reading.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This uplifting and humorous read follows three main characters, Daphne, Art and Lydia. Lydia has started a new job running a Senior Citizens Social club at the local community centre. The first session doesn’t go as planned, and an unusual mix of people choose to attend.

Daphne has just turned Seventy, and she believes it’s the right time to make some new friends, however it’s been such a long time she isn’t sure where to start. When she sees the advert for the social club she decides to attend. Art encourages his long-time friend William to come along with him to the social club.

Suddenly the council announce their plans to tear down the community centre, and although the social club is quite new, they are determined to save the centre. With some drama and a lot of laughs the group develop plans not only to save the community centre but to help each other.

Will they save the community centre? What are the members of the social group hiding?

This book is hilarious, it has so many moments that make you laugh, and it is nice to see the mix of the people in the group and the mischief they want to get up to.

I loved Daphne’s character, as although she is a bit stand offish, she still learns to interact with the group, and she becomes a lovable character for not only the whole social club but the reader.

You get to hear from all these main characters throughout the chapters, and the ups and downs of their lives. It is heart-warming to see how a group of strangers can come together to support each other.

Overall, an uplifting and humorous read where a group of strangers plan to save the community turns into unexpected friendships.

I’ve loved Claire Pooley’s previous books and this is another enjoyable book. The mix of great characters range from babies to feisty septuagenarians were diverse and show that you can’t write off people after 55 and consign them to bingo and knitting. An observant and humorous story which I recommend.

"Lydia felt a warm glow of satisfaction, watching her club members collaborating over something that wasn't borderline illegal, or possibly dangerous. Or perhaps it was just a hit flush? It was hard to tell the difference."

A community centre is threatened with closure and its new senior citizens social club and day-nursery take action. The reader meets lonely septegenerians Daphne (with a mysterious past), Art (out-of-work actor) and his friend William (retired paparazzo), put-upon Lydia (who runs the social club) with her hideous husband and teenage father Ziggy (whose baby Kylie attends the day-nursery), who is trying to avoid a life of crime. This proactive and determined bunch prove age is just a number as they band together to help one another, forming new friendships.

This is another engaging and heartwarming, character-driven tale of finding one's place in your local community from this author, who mixes a group of eclectic strangers together with panache. My only gripe (as a council planner) was finding the local council and its planners the villains of the piece, as they usually are when they appear in fiction. I loved that Iona Iverson, from The People On Platform 5, appears briefly having her own agnoy aunt YouTube channel! Witty, entertaining, joyous and emotional, I thoroughly enjoyed the author's latest novel.

The members of the recently formed senior citizens club at Mandel Community Centre spring into action when they learn the council is going to demolish the building and redevelop the site. Little does the council realise who they are dealing with.

Clare Pooley has two previous novels, The Authenticity Project and The People On Platform Five, so fans will have an idea of what to expect from How To Age Disgracefully. I'm happy to report that the author has worked her magic again, showing that age is just a state of mind and woe-betide anyone who overlooks someone simply because they look old.

The hilarious opening pages give us a glimpse of what to expect. A minibus carrying a mixture of pensioners and young children is stopped by the police. To much amazement various passengers begin admitting crimes and insist that they are the person that needs to be arrested. The story then jumps back a few months and introduces us to some of those passengers as they join the newly formed social club at the community centre.

Daphne is the main character. Seventy years old and feeling lonely, Daphne talks to her dead husband, the house plants and even the TV, but she doesn't talk to her neighbours. Daphne has barely left her flat in fifteen years but decides now is the time to try and make some friends. It is very easy for the reader to immediately make assumptions about Daphne, however, despite being seventy she's not a pushover. Daphne is feisty, quick-witted, speaks her mind and has some amazing hidden skills. I was convinced throughout that she was a retired spy hiding from an unknown enemy.

Art is very different. He's a little bit older than Daphne and is struggling to accept that his career as an actor is over, a career that never really took off. The main reason for Art's refusal to accept enforced retirement is that he needs the money.

When Daphne and Art stumble across the newly formed social club they meet a strange collection of people. Lydia is nominally in charge, returning to employment now her children have left home. Anna used to be a long-distance lorry driver and terrorises everyone with her mobility scooter. Ruby seems to do nothing but knit strange creations and Penelope is a forthright retired headteacher. We also meet a few others who use the community centre such as Ziggy. Ziggy is still at Sixth Form and has dreams of going to university. Unfortunately, those dreams were dashed when he became a single father. His only hope of finishing Sixth Form is the nursery at the community centre.

You cannot help but like the cast of eccentric characters, particularly when you learn more about their backgrounds. We learn not to jump to conclusions based on age, looks or where someone lives. Through a variety of situations, you are cheering each and every one of the group on. It is impossible to even consider any of them failing, mainly because Daphne is such a formidable leader, able to talk her way out of any situation. While Daphne is able to solve everyone else's problems, it looks like time has run out for her and the secret she has been living with for a long time.

‘Why does everyone assume that once you get past the age of seventy, all you want to do is play bingo and knit?’🧶

Daphne is a woman with a secret and a sense of humour like no other. She joins the Senior Citzen's Club in the hope of making new friends after spending her 70th birthday alone. Horrified at the thought of doing gentle crafts and playing games, Daphne is pleased when her fellow club members, a failed actor turned prolific pilfirer, and a Banksy style yarn bomber agree.

This was hilarious! Such a wide range of characters with great senses of humour all pulled together in the most random circumstances. Daphne is a character I will remember for a long time she has left a huge smile on my face.