This book was refreshingly unique. It had the flavor or southern authors, but it's set in Minnesota (who have some of the nicest people!)
Three lunch ladies are tasked with creating a role in a celebration for the bicentennial.

As the event planning proceeds, we learn about the lives the women have led, their history, and what they hope for their futures.

This is told with all of them experiencing grief, of different kinds. We see that everyone is shaped by their past and present.

This book has humor. made me reflect, and had a calming factor as I read. I loved it.

Thank you to Century House Press and Net Galley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #CenturyHousePress #LunchLadies #JodiThompsonCarr

Lunch Ladies by Jodi Thompson Carr contains all the ingredients for the perfect book. Not only did it grip my brain and heart within seconds but it held me captive until the last words. It's been percolating in my thoughts since and (thankfully) won't let go. In fact, it feels as though the author wrote it for me! It is THAT phenomenal. Carr insightfully writes a rich cast of fascinating characters with real traits and foibles as they live their moments in sorrow, joy, illness, disappointment, fear, wonderment, weighty loneliness, love and hope. The writing is sweet, kind (yes, that is possible!), warm, funny, tender and original. The foods and social mores of the 1970s are vivid and evoke nostalgia and the flashbacks to 1948 are wonderfully incorporated. Human nature and emotions are exquisitely detailed such as the bus ride descriptions, various friendships, marriage idiosyncracies, snippets of the past, matchmaking and raw pain of deep sorrow. Oh, how I loved it! My heart felt the gamut of emotions along with the characters as I laughed and cried.

Set in Hanley, Minnesota, the story is about lunch ladies Crystal, Coralene and Sheila, their friends and families. Getting to know the endearing ladies plus Tanner, Caroline, Jasper, Leonora, Sheila, Lexie, Tom, Darcy, the other Coras...pure pleasure. They enjoy their quirky routines, independence and sometimes acknowledging their reliance on each other. They pull together to create a memorable Fourth of July parade, share special moments and check up on each other. Details such as clever life metaphors, charming physical attributes, recognizing when we've been less than stellar, chapter quotes, letters, memos and the author's notes elevate the story from a five star to a five plus!

If you enjoy reading about ordinary life through the lenses of others, this gem has your name on it. It is sure to top my favourites of 2024 list.

My sincere thank you to Century House Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this extraordinarily wise novel. Those who have yet to read it for the first time are in for a treat!

This book reminded me so much of Fannie Flagg’s writing style and I loved it. This one takes place in Hanley, Minnesota. We get different points of view from the three main female characters and some of their family. We also get different timelines from earlier in their lives as well which gives us the back story of important events in each main character’s life.

And just like Flagg’s writing the story is full of humour. It’s about the community as a whole and the individual community members. The author created such a wonderful story here with small-town charm and a few goofy characters, but more serious topics are also involved. There’s plenty of death and loss, but that’s just life and it doesn’t make the book depressing in any way.

The best part of this book was the author’s delivery of complex human characters and their various relationships. Thompson Carr’s book is written with compassion, and because of that, her characters are true to life. She writes an entertaining tale while taking on important social commentary. This is about working women in 1976 Minnesota and these characters will stay with me for a long time. I remember my mom going back to work in the 70s.

This book surprised me in the best way possible, it was heartwarming and enjoyable a wonderful debut that has me asking what will Jodi Thompson Carr come up with next.

Hanley, Minnesota is Adam Sandler’s ‘Lunch Lady Land’, a place where remarkably unremarkable things happen. Despite their recent promotion, Crystal, Coralene and Sheila, three lunch ladies from across the district, are the corps de ballet for Minnesota’s public school system.

Author Jodi Thompson Carr cautions us from disregarding their power or influence and highlights these three women and their role in pulling off a successful community event. Like the corps de ballet who are positioned behind the principal dancers and often overlooked, these lunch ladies play a crucial role in the community celebration. Each woman has experienced loss and is responding to grief in a different way. This response has shaped their choices and their relationships. In a school kitchen, they may all blend together in a sea of white, but in the spotlight, readers see them for who they’ve become as a result of this pain and value them for the important role they provide.

Despite the author’s reliance on the storyline rather than the storytelling at times, I appreciated an examination of how illness, aging and end-of-life affect us all. I was intrigued by the concept of “rescuing travelers from the obituary page and finding them suitable companions” and reached for my journal to record the picture the author painted when Sheila explained how someone ‘frequented a spare room’ in her mind, arrived unexpectedly, overstayed his welcome, and left a mess.” I took heed and will make an effort to banish these types of visitors in the future; they always take rather than give. I don’t need to make room for them!

In an increasingly self-centered world, this focus on community was a welcome read.

I was gifted this copy by Century House Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Lunch Ladies by Jodi Thompson Carr ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Century House Press
Pub Date: 12-1-24

Thank you @netgalley, @victoryeditingngc, and @jodi.thompsoncarr for this eARC.

The subtitle says it all: A story of love, loss, redemption...and a parade.

It's 1976 in Hanley, Minnesota.

Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila are former lunch ladies, now working in the Nutrition Services Department of the Hanley School District.

Hanley is preparing for a bicentennial parade - or a "big whoop-ta-do" as Crystal calls it.

The ladies are tasked with managing the preparation and participation of each school's food service team during the festivities.

There are A LOT of characters in this story - multiple families, multiple generations, the living, and the dead. It took a while for me to settle in and know who was who. Then I was fully engaged in the story of these three women, their friends, family, and community.

The story provides insight into the personal history of each woman - and the life experiences and losses that shaped them.

I loved Coraline and Jasper, Leonora and Darcy, Sheila and Lexie!

#lunchladies #jodithompsoncarr #centuryhousepress #netgalley

I have a picture in my head when I hear Lunch Ladies. I'm taken back to elementary school and the women with hairnets serving hot lunch and keeping kids in line. This book's description and premise was a lot more than the title! It was a glimpse into the lives of friends in a town that come together for each other and the community. I enjoyed it and thank NetGalley for the ARC. Well written characters!