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Toni B
Changing your life
For those readers who were anxiously awaiting Anne Youngson's next book after enjoying "Meet me at the museum": you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a fast moving, action-packed thriller, this is not for you. I knew nothing of the canals and narrowboats of Britain and enjoyed learning quite a bit about them.
It is primarily a character study of Eve and Sally, two women who meet quite by accident at a time when both of their lives are at a crossroad. It tells of a summer when they meet Anastasia and decide to travel with her narrowboat while they decide the path for the rest of their lives.
…more Anastasia, Trompette, Arthur, Jacob and Owen are also very interesting characters who have stories of their own. It is a tale of family : the family that we are born in to and the families that we create and how those families evolve.
I have read a few reviews that complain that it is too slow moving. I disagree. It is slow like a meandering ride on the canals. It is a summer trip and what occurs during those few months. The pace fit the story.
If you enjoy stories with interesting multi-dimensional characters and new environments or ways of life with which you may not be familiar, this tale is for you. I loved all of the characters and wanted to learn more about all of them. Although I would have been happy to learn more about their lives, I was also content with how the story ended. I felt it was perfect way to finish this tale..
It is always fun to read a book that breaks the usual mold and opens the reader up to new discoveries and insights.I highly recommend this book. (less)What is the mark of a talented novelist? That question can have many answers. The one I have in mind by asking the question follows here: A talented novelist can tell many stories and surprise the readers by telling quite diverse stories. Such is the case with Anne Youngson who debuted Meet me at the Museum after she had a long career in the car industry.
I discovered Meet me at the Museum and reviewed it for my blog, calling it a gem of a novel. And it is! I have recommended it to many friends and chose it for a book club discussion. I also nominated it for the Books Sandwiched In series, a program sponsored by
…more the Friends of the Tulsa City-County Libraries and it was chosen for the book talk.
When I discovered Youngson was publishing The Narrowboat Summer, her next novel, in January 2021, I very much wanted to be an early reader. Luckily for me, I received an advance e-copy from BookBrowse.
Many readers could read Meet me at the Museum and then read The Narrowboat Summer and not realize the two are by the same author. Indeed, the two stories are that different, and yet, one will find commonalities surfacing, particularly in view of friendship, love, kindness, hope and forgiveness.
The Narrowboat Summer opens with three women, strangers to one another, and all at a crossroads in their lives, converging on a towpath of a canal. Eve and Sally are walking toward one another when they hear a terrible howling; clearly, the howling comes from a dog confined on the narrowboat named Number One. Is the dog hurt? In pain? Without a thought to themselves, both Eve and Sally jump onto the boat to rescue the dog even though as readers will come to learn Sally does not like dogs.
In order to rescue the dog, Eve and Sally break a window in the door on the Number One in order to reach the dog. About that time, Anastasia, the boat’s owner and, also coincidentally, the dog’s owner, arrives. Anastasia says to Eve and Sally, “You’ve been on my boat. You’d better explain why.”
Strangely, Anastasia approves Eve and Sally’s method of rescuing the dog rather than reporting Anastasia to the RSPCA. Eve and Sally offer to pay for replacing the glass in the door. After a short discussion, Anastasia refuses the offer to pay for the glass, but does allow Eve and Sally a chance to clean up the broken glass, so then, of course, the three must have tea.
Readers quickly learn that Eve, an engineer, has been made redundant at the Rambusch Corporation after an American outfit purchased the company. Sally has decided she no longer wishes to be married nor does she wish to continue living in the cottage on Beech Grove where she and Duncan, her husband, have raised their son and daughter. Anastasia’s cross to bear is illness. She needs tests and possibly an operation which may also require follow-up chemo treatments.
A chance meeting of three women, all in need of something with only Anastasia being the most certain of those needs, will set the three on a unusual course. Anastasia’s boat needs some repair and must go through the locks and down the canal to Chester where Owen who runs a boat repair yard will make the repairs. Although they know nothing about conducting a narrowboat along the canals, Eve and Sally agree to take Anastasia’s boat to Chester while Anastasia stays in Eve’s flat to have the medical tests she needs.
Over the course of the journey, Eve and Sally meet an unusual cast of characters, all of whom know Anastasia in some capacity. As the journey progresses, Eve and Sally become expert at handing the Number One. They fall into the water culture, meeting new people and learning a bit more about Anastasia along the way. However, the surprise to both Eve and Sally is that they also learn about themselves and their own capabilities.
Eve has a peripheral knowledge of Jacob and Vic, her neighbors in her building. Jacob befriends Anastasia, prickly as she is, and that friendship also creates a new relationship between Eve and Jacob and eventually Vic as well. These friendships deepen because Anastasia needs the new and old friends as she confronts her illness and thus connections begin to strengthen like bits of tether from the boat itself.
The Narrowboat Summer will be a winner for a book club discussion. First, the story is simply beguiling. Second, readers will find much to ponder as the three women’s stories unfold. Third, The Narrowboat Summer is just plain fun with the added bonus of engendering a thoughtful, stimulating discussion. (less)How delightful to read a book about mature women navigating changes in their lives.
Eve, single and an engineer, has been fired by the company in which she has worked most of her life. Through dedication to the work she rose through the ranks of men to a prominent administrative position only to be found redundant and unnecessary.
Sally, a married woman with grown children, has found her life in the suburbs boring and unsatisfying. She has decided to leave her husband and, when revealing this bit of news to her hairdresser, has found that most people find that unacceptable and her reasons trivial.
Both women find
…more themselves walking the towpath along the side of a canal in opposite directions, but both headed home with no idea of what they are going to do now that their lives have changed so drastically. As they meet, alongside a narrowboat named Number One, they come to a halt at the sound of distress emanating from the seemingly empty vessel--but for the thing wailing so distressingly, of course. They look in the windows and doors --finding no easy means of entrance, Eve breaks the window in the door, opens it and is almost bowled over by dog racing by and off into the distance.
Approaching along the path is an irritated older woman, the owner of the boat. She has left to do errands and the dog, Noah, as usual raised a racket to bring attention to his desolation as being locked up for the duration. And, as usual, some helpful soul came along to release him or at least commiserate as they berated his mistress, Anastasia, for her inhumane treatment. And, as usual, once free, he took off for parts unknown--not worrying her in the least--he always returns.
Since the women are already aboard, Anastasia invites them for tea--sort of--and so begins the tale. A woman, sick possibly dying, needing someone to take her narrowboat through English canals to a man's shop for repairs and maintenance. Two women, strangers to her and to each other, at loose ends, knowing not what they want to do with the path of unknowns rising before them. And so, Eve and Sally embark on a weeks long voyage in more ways than one or even two or three, as Anastasia, too, remains behind to face her unknown future in the form of medical tests and possible surgery.
Noah returns and off they all go--meeting so many others along the canals, familiar to and with Anastasia--who is not easily known nor abided. As the narrowboat travels ups and down through the locks of the beautiful countryside and into tunnels long, dark and dank, so too the adventures of these women and others move slowly to a satisfying end.
Loved it so much, I'm off to find Meet Me at the Museum. Enjoy! (less)For those readers who were anxiously awaiting Anne Youngson's next book after enjoying "Meet me at the museum": you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a fast moving, action-packed thriller, this is not for you. I knew nothing of the canals and narrowboats of Britain and enjoyed learning quite a bit about them.
It is primarily a character study of Eve and Sally, two women who meet quite by accident at a time when both of their lives are at a crossroad. It tells of a summer when they meet Anastasia and decide to travel with her narrowboat while they decide the path for the rest of their lives.
…more Anastasia, Trompette, Arthur, Jacob and Owen are also very interesting characters who have stories of their own. It is a tale of family : the family that we are born in to and the families that we create and how those families evolve.
I have read a few reviews that complain that it is too slow moving. I disagree. It is slow like a meandering ride on the canals. It is a summer trip and what occurs during those few months. The pace fit the story.
If you enjoy stories with interesting multi-dimensional characters and new environments or ways of life with which you may not be familiar, this tale is for you. I loved all of the characters and wanted to learn more about all of them. Although I would have been happy to learn more about their lives, I was also content with how the story ended. I felt it was perfect way to finish this tale.
It is always fun to read a book that breaks the usual mold and opens the reader up to new discoveries and insights. I highly recommend this book. (less)
CarolT
Women I believe
Anne Youngson has done it again - created a world so warm and women so believable that I to turn the book back to the beginning so I can start again and meet them all once more. Not many authors make me want to do that any more, let alone those with believable older women with believable problems.
Dorothy
A Must-Read
What is the mark of a talented novelist? That question can have many answers. The one I have in mind by asking the question follows here: A talented novelist can tell many stories and surprise the readers by telling quite diverse stories. Such is the case with Anne Youngson who debuted Meet me at the Museum after she had a long career in the car industry.
I discovered Meet me at the Museum and reviewed it for my blog, calling it a gem of a novel. And it is! I have recommended it to many friends and chose it for a book club discussion. I also nominated it for the Books Sandwiched In series, a program sponsored by
…more the Friends of the Tulsa City-County Libraries and it was chosen for the book talk.
When I discovered Youngson was publishing The Narrowboat Summer, her next novel, in January 2021, I very much wanted to be an early reader. Luckily for me, I received an advance e-copy from BookBrowse.
Many readers could read Meet me at the Museum and then read The Narrowboat Summer and not realize the two are by the same author. Indeed, the two stories are that different, and yet, one will find commonalities surfacing, particularly in view of friendship, love, kindness, hope and forgiveness.
The Narrowboat Summer opens with three women, strangers to one another, and all at a crossroads in their lives, converging on a towpath of a canal. Eve and Sally are walking toward one another when they hear a terrible howling; clearly, the howling comes from a dog confined on the narrowboat named Number One. Is the dog hurt? In pain? Without a thought to themselves, both Eve and Sally jump onto the boat to rescue the dog even though as readers will come to learn Sally does not like dogs.
In order to rescue the dog, Eve and Sally break a window in the door on the Number One in order to reach the dog. About that time, Anastasia, the boat’s owner and, also coincidentally, the dog’s owner, arrives. Anastasia says to Eve and Sally, “You’ve been on my boat. You’d better explain why.”
Strangely, Anastasia approves Eve and Sally’s method of rescuing the dog rather than reporting Anastasia to the RSPCA. Eve and Sally offer to pay for replacing the glass in the door. After a short discussion, Anastasia refuses the offer to pay for the glass, but does allow Eve and Sally a chance to clean up the broken glass, so then, of course, the three must have tea.
Readers quickly learn that Eve, an engineer, has been made redundant at the Rambusch Corporation after an American outfit purchased the company. Sally has decided she no longer wishes to be married nor does she wish to continue living in the cottage on Beech Grove where she and Duncan, her husband, have raised their son and daughter. Anastasia’s cross to bear is illness. She needs tests and possibly an operation which may also require follow-up chemo treatments.
A chance meeting of three women, all in need of something with only Anastasia being the most certain of those needs, will set the three on a unusual course. Anastasia’s boat needs some repair and must go through the locks and down the canal to Chester where Owen who runs a boat repair yard will make the repairs. Although they know nothing about conducting a narrowboat along the canals, Eve and Sally agree to take Anastasia’s boat to Chester while Anastasia stays in Eve’s flat to have the medical tests she needs.
Over the course of the journey, Eve and Sally meet an unusual cast of characters, all of whom know Anastasia in some capacity. As the journey progresses, Eve and Sally become expert at handing the Number One. They fall into the water culture, meeting new people and learning a bit more about Anastasia along the way. However, the surprise to both Eve and Sally is that they also learn about themselves and their own capabilities.
Eve has a peripheral knowledge of Jacob and Vic, her neighbors in her building. Jacob befriends Anastasia, prickly as she is, and that friendship also creates a new relationship between Eve and Jacob and eventually Vic as well. These friendships deepen because Anastasia needs the new and old friends as she confronts her illness and thus connections begin to strengthen like bits of tether from the boat itself.
The Narrowboat Summer will be a winner for a book club discussion. First, the story is simply beguiling. Second, readers will find much to ponder as the three women’s stories unfold. Third, The Narrowboat Summer is just plain fun with the added bonus of engendering a thoughtful, stimulating discussion.
To learn a bit about narrow boats and their history, I looked up some information. Originally, the narrow boats were prominent during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries as working boats which carried all manner of goods along the narrow canals. No longer needed to transport goods, the narrow boats became pleasure boats. Some people live on the boats full time while others rent them for a vacation or recreation.
The Number Ones, like Anastasia’s boat, were boats owned by self-employed boatmen. (less)No sooner do Sally, Eve, and ailing Anastasia haphazardly meet for the first time over a howling dog than readers are treated to a leisurely contemplative tale centered around the unlikeliest of sisterhoods. During the time the women spend getting to know one another on their journey, they encounter a kaleidoscope of memorable eccentric – often funny, at times dubious - boat dwellers whose experiences and stories force the two middle-aged women into rethinking their own life choices.
If there's one thing that Youngson excels in it is her mastery in depicting the whole range of individual varieties of human
…more interactions, emotions and eccentricities rendering her characters – both primary and peripheral - relatable, grounded in reality and redeemable despite their many flaws. As the characters' histories slowly unravel, we better understand not only the motives behind their interactions with each other, but also their personal struggles, past regrets and future longings as we are simultaneously treated to the challenges as well as the serenity and simplicity of a life lived on the water.
That said, the novel's themes, around friendship, love, kindness, hope and forgiveness, makes "The Narrowboat Summer" a perfect bookclub choice. (less)Life is full of changes and transitions but most coming of age stories focus on the transition for youth to adulthood. It was refreshing to read a story that focused on older adults "coming of age" and realizing their full potential. I also enjoyed that the author allowed both Sally and Eve to find happiness without the necessity of a romantic pairing. That struck me as more authentic than if one or both of them found a "happily ever after" romantic partner. Many of us are happily single older adults and it was nice to have the book reflect that.
The pacing of the book is appropriately slow and in that, I felt
…more it reflected the movement of the narrowboat. I really enjoyed reading about the mechanics of maneuvering a boat through the locks and the descriptions of taking the boat through tunnels was so vivid I could almost feel the claustrophobia.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I will happily add Anne Youngson to my "must read" author list. (less)
