What I love about Sandi Toksvig's writing is that she knows us. She knows our hearts, our weaknesses, our very British need to be polite even when it is awkward and how bonkers women can be at all times. She writes and we are there, in the room, seeing and feeling it all - smelling the smells and shutting our fingers in the broken door.
I felt cosy and comfortable within the first few paragraphs of the book and I kept turning pages because I was comfortable - I was with people I wanted to read about in a situation that was just so bonkers.
Do read this, and breathe out. Have a cup of tea and a biscuit. Let yourself enjoy the pleasure of being told a great story by one of our national treasures. She simply brings joy.

The rebuilding of a community mostly at the hand of Dorothy, who gently meddles in the lives and business of new Grimaldi square residents Stevie and Amber, their friend Jack, a trio of builders and countless other people.
Full of lovely, flamboyant and believable characters with lots of joy to counter the sad parts and heartache this is a fantastic read!
Loved it!

Fun and enjoyable book from Sandi full of quirky but believable characters. Sad in part but also uplifting and full of warmth from the evident community spirit. Dorothy is just a delightful, slightly eccentric, old lady re-evaluating her life and is a catalyst to those around her to boost their own lives. Certainly a book to lift the spirits.

A fabulous story! So funny, and still poignant at times. The characters really came alive and had some wonderful stories to tell. I loved the idea of a made family. Very supportive and accepting.
Brilliant!

Another wonderful read from Sandi! A lovely company of unique and well-rounded characters who are more than friends for Dorothy - they are her family. This is very much a book about made families and not blood relations. I loved their individual pocket stories and how they were all skillfully woven together to make the whole. A lovely cost read that will make you smile :)

A nice idea and funny in parts, it just didn't hit the spot for me. A bit too complicated and far fetched.

I loved this book so much, the characters were fabulous and it was so easy to get into the story. The idea of moving into your new home and the previous owner is still in residence is an inspired idea. I enjoyed how the story unfolded and how creative Sandy is. The whole premise made me smile.

This is the second book by Sandi Toksvig which I have read, and always enjoy her dry wit and sense of humour. The main characters Stevie and her wife Amber, have bought their first home in Grimaldi Road, but are disconcerted to find Dorothy, the previous owner still living there.

The dialogue is filled with laugh out loud laughter as the story unfolds. Stevie and Amber are compassionate, empathetic personalities, along with others such as Dorothy and Jack, who bring so much humour to the plot. All characters are well drawn, especially Dorothy with her wicked straight talking, and Jack doing his best (in his own way) to help Stevie and Amber.

Along with the humour, issues such as homophobia and LGBT issues are sensitively explored. Character driven, the setting is in a faded area of London, with many people leaving and houses becoming derelict, yet communities thrive and help each other.

The book is a celebration about people and communities facing hardship and tough times, yet, through laughter and making light of serious issues, survive and thrive. I loved this book, and would love to see a sequel with the same wonderful cast of characters.

'Friends of Dorothy' by Sandi Toksvig.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
A heartwarming story about finding families in the most unusual of places. You'll laugh and you'll cry.

After much searching, Amber and Stevie find the perfect house - a bit shabby but with potential - in Grimaldi Square. Just the two of them; a place where they can start their lives together. Recently married, they want to begin a family (with the help of their gay best friend, Jack). Despite the rundown pub across the way, the overgrown garden and a decidedly nosy neighbour, it's the house of their dreams.
But they are not alone in this dream.
Upstairs, squatting on an old red sofa, is the former owner - eighty-year-old foul-mouthed, straight-talking, wise-cracking Dorothy - and she's not going anywhere.

Thanks so much to NetGallery UK, the publishers and the author for letting me read this in return for an honest review.

Wow! This is a delight. It’s a story that had me laughing out loud and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

It’s so well written and I cared deeply about every (well, nearly every) character.

Stevie and Amber are a young married couple who are very excited to move into their recently purchased new home. Upon arrival, however, they find Dorothy, the previous owner asleep upstairs and it appears she is staying.

What follows is a brilliant observation about English society, prejudices, family dynamics and all interspersed with the residents of a tightly knit close and others who come and go. It’s the perfect escapism read and I highly recommend it. Would make a fabulous Christmas gift.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Group for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review and I wish the author every success.

Stevie and Amber have bought a house together to start their new life as long term partners, but unfortunately the previous owner- Dorothy is still there sitting on the sofa. I was intrigued to read one of Sandi’s novels, expecting it to be light hearted and funny, I’m sorry to say I found it hard to engage with this one.

Despite this not being was I was expecting, it was still an enjoyable read. I went in thinking it was going to be a funny + lighthearted but some heavy topics are covered, which is life but just unexpected. There are genuine moments of genuine laugh out loud humour where Sandi Toksvig’s humour & wit shine through.

★★★
———————
I want to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the opportunity to review this book.

A soul searching, intelligent novel, with a plethora of eccentric, unique characters.
Something of an emotional roller coaster......with the wit and humour we have come to expect from Sandi, mixed with huge dollops of thought provoking stuff.
A good read.

A warm, good humoured read. Dorothy was utterly charming, if only the world was “more Dorothy”!
The book goes from one unlikely incident to another, covers gay relationships , the elderly, is funny and sad in parts, it touches your soul, an easy read, lots of characters but written so well that you don’t lose track of who is who.

Having said all that, I’m sorry to say I lost interest about 70% of the way and gave up, I think it just became too far fetched for me!

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I found this book quite emotionally devastating! It’s a rare thing to find a novel that’s warm and funny, but in no way cheesy or predictable. The witty one liners made me smile so much, and I love to see gay relationships represented in fiction, so it ticked a lot of boxes for me. It also satisfied my craving for interesting older women characters. Can’t wait to re-read!

With thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was completely joyful and Dorothy is one of my favourite characters ever. Absolutely marvellous.

Amber and Stevie have just bought their first home, a slightly rundown house in Grimaldi Square. But they didn't expect the previous owner still to be in residence. So Dorothy comes into their lives, and wreaks her own havoc, interfering and helping as they become friends and family. Learning why Dorothy hasn't moved on brings a darker twist to the tale.

The book has some really funny, laugh out loud, moments, especially when we meet Stevie's disfunctional parents (her father is easy to loathe, but one can also feel sorry him, painted into a corner by his own ambitions). It also handles being gay, homophobia, has unpleasant characters and moments of beauty.

Its a great read, and although it did start to run out of steam a little as the author tried to tie up all the loose ends, overall its a great read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story of a happily (and quite newly) married couple, Amber and Stevie. The couple have just bought a house in Grimaldi Square but as Stevie arrives for their first day there (Amber is late - being a paramedic, she's just unexpectedly helped a woman give birth!), Stevie discovers the house is still occupied by the previous owner - when Stevie enters the building she discovers 80-year-old Dorothy sitting upstairs on an old red sofa.

For both Stevie and Amber this is very unexpected and rather unwelcome but over the course of the novel, their relationship with Dorothy and Dorothy's friends develops. They become a family - non-related but family nonetheless.

A charming,heart-warming novel about the nature of friendship and family.

I was really pleased to get a chance to read this book having not read any of her books before, but being a fan. This was very light hearted ,and funny and an easy read. Quite different from my usual dark thrillers, I couldn't read too many books like this ,but the occasional one is fun to read. I enjoyed it.

What a fun, witty and delightful read.

Amber and Stevie have just bought their first home together. On moving in day they find Dorothy, the elderly former owner, accidentally locked in a room upstairs. Why is she still there? Does she plan on leaving shortly? Well, no actually.

So begins Sandi Toksvig’s Friends of Dorothy, an absolutely bonkers book filled with a loveable mad cast of characters. Birdie, Jack, Bobby, Arun, Agnes, even the curtain twitching next door neighbour Mrs Haggerston grew on me. More than anything I wished I lived in the community that Sandi Tokvig created.

The pace of the novel is quick with lots going on, but not so fast or confusing that you get lost or don’t know who is who. While it does approach some tender topics, I feel it’s the perfect read if you need a good laugh out loud book and a break from the daily grind of life.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Little Brown Book Group UK and Virago for an ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review.