Member Reviews
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.
A really fabulous book which I will certainly recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.
I loved this book! It was such a heart-warming read featuring so many different characters from all walks of life. The storyline focusses around a local community centre and neighbouring nursery which is threatened with closure. We get to meet some wonderful characters in this book and they will all capture your heart from the very beginning. They are all different ages and social circumstances, and they all have their own individual issues or problems which are revealed as their stories move on.
The main storyline flows along so well and I really enjoyed the community rallying round together to save their local services. I also loved the individual side stories for the main characters, who were all so likeable! Whilst I liked them all, I have to admit that Daphne and Art were my favourite, with little Lucky coming a close second! The story is told from the perspectives of the different characters and their own individual storylines worked well. It is such a feel-good book with lots of fun and laughs, but it also had lots of emotional and tender moments which tugged at my heartstrings.
It was such a wonderful read which will appeal to many! The author does a great job of including topics which are easily relatable, and it was great to see how all the characters lives eventually work out. Like the author's other books, this is a definite must-read! Would recommend!
This was a great story with well developed characters. I enjoyed the escapades of the septuagenarians. Heartwarming and laugh out loud moments throughout.
Some great characters and unexpected twists in this feel good story of community action. I was a bit alarmed by 70 being depicted as such a great age -70 is the new 50- but there were some genuinely funny bits and some cheering moments.
Clare Pooley is a new author to me and I enjoyed this book. I don't usually get on with humerous fiction and the first few pages were a bit off-putting as I found the humour a bit too forced. I am glad that I stuck with the book as the story developed well with an interesting cast of characters. As a 70 year old I could relate well to most of them. A good sense of community spirit and a pretty good ending. With thanks to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an e-ARC to read and review.
I laughed out loud whilst reading this book it is fun, witty and compelling
The I no longer give a crap what you think of me attitude and the well written dialogue were a refreshing read considering how many older characters are written with the desire to still be liked by everyone and with the shame of wanting to but feeling unable to live life on their terms
Absolutely will be reading this again
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the arc in exchange of an honest review
Clare Pooley has done it again. I adore her novels. It's refreshing to follow an older main character, who needs to stake out a new direction in her life. As always Pooley perfectly mixes the humorous with the more serious. Her books are feelgood novels with some depth, they explore relationships outside the normal romantic ones and that's something I really appreciate. I'd recommend it for fans of Fredrik Backman and for anyone looking for a great laugh or a tear.
Readers of Claire Pooley will know that she usually writes about groups of people who find themselves together in different situations and in any other circumstances they are unlikely to be friends. All of her books are very sweet and have some great moral messages throughout them. They are very easy reads and this book is no different.
This time our group of people are thrown together through the use of a local community centre. It’s unusual because the age range are babies all the way through to octogenarians. Each character is introduced throughout the story and we slowly learn each of their flaws or goals that they are working towards.
There are some hilarious moments, you will laugh throughout, but then they’re also some very serious moments too. It’s a very happy balance.
I think this is my favourite book of hers so far. I really fell in love with each of the characters. Each of them were very lovable and you wanted each of them to be successful in what they were working towards. It’s not often that conclusions of books are satisfying but it loved every ending in this book. My favourite character was Daphne. I’ll let you work out why when you read it. You won’t want to miss it.
I struggled with the pacing of the plot and was never fully immersed in the story, but I imagine this book will be a great fit for many readers as we head into summer. I can especially see it appealing to fans of Fredrik Backman.
Cozy found family fiction, goes down easy, but ultimately not memorable.